Avatar: The Last Airbender is finally returning with Season 2 on Netflix, featuring seven new episodes and dropping on June 25, bringing Book 2 of the original animated series to life. One new element of the show is an additional focus on Azula's lieutenants and close friends, Ty Lee and Mai.
The Direct sat down with star Momona Tamada, who portrays the chi-blocking acrobat Ty Lee, to discuss how her abilities work, the process the team went through to make it look convincing, how she's evolved going into Season 2, and what makes her character tick.
When it comes to how Ty Lee's chi-blocking abilities work, the actress said: "There was a lot of conversation of what paralyzes a person, and what blocks their bending."
"Non-benders get paralyzed," Tamada noted, while "a bender, they usually are just not really able to bend as well" thanks to them having "that extra one more kind of layer of energy when it comes to bending." The entire process "was really fun to play around," she noted, reiterating that the stunt team and the showrunners had extensive discussions about how to do the chi-blocking.
For Season 2, Tamada revealed that she "was training in some martial arts," something that "was really, really helpful to make it feel a lot more natural." Thanks to that, she was "able to step into Season 2 with confidence in what [she] was doing."
The rest of The Direct's interview with Avatar: The Last Airbender star Momona Tamada, who can also be seen in the upcoming horror movie Hide and Don't Speak, is available below. Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender should be sure to read up on the new benders that will be introduced in Season 2.
The Evolution of Bringing Ty Lee's Chi-Blocking To Live Action
There Were Tons of Conversations of How Exactly Her Abilities Worked.
- The Direct: "I want to talk about your iconic chi blocking abilities. Can you talk about how you and the team developed that visual style, and certainly in relation to Season 2, how you took what you did in Season 1 and went, okay, you're doing more, how do we keep evolving this?"
Momona Tamada: I mean, her fighting style, Ty Lee, originally is like circus and super acrobatic and flexible, but I think for these two seasons they really leaned into more of her, like tumbling, tricky, like flippy side, because that is also something that I have a background in. So, I was able to do all the stunts. Regarding the chi-blocking, there was a lot of conversation of what paralyzes a person, and what blocks their bending...
Tamada explained the difference between how her chi-blocking abilities work on benders and non-benders:
Tamada: So, it was like non-benders get paralyzed, but if you are... a bender, they usually are just not really able to bend as well, you know what I mean? They still kind of are, but like Sokka, for example, is like down and out. Katara, like she can't really do much, but they have that extra one more kind of layer of energy when it comes to bending. That was really fun to play around with, for sure, with the stunt team and with the showrunners. We had a lot of discussion about that.
- The Direct: "I know you already had a season doing this, but like, how difficult was it for you to catch on, and did it often feel silly when you were doing it, and you just had to trust that, okay, it's gonna look great?"
Tamada: Between the first season and the second season, I was training in some martial arts, so that was really, really helpful to make it feel a lot more natural. I think, honestly, because of that training, I was able to step into Season 2 with like confidence in what I was doing, and it didn't feel very silly... I felt like, oh, there's intention behind everything that I'm doing, and so I'm very grateful that I didn't have that experience, because I think Season 1, they didn't—we didn't see it, but we did do some fight sequences that were not in the first season, it did feel a little bit funny, because like this is very foreign to my body, into my movement, and so, yeah,
- The Direct: "What action sequence didn't make it into the first season?"
Tamada: It was a scene in the very first season, it was a training scene between the three girls, and it was like us fighting each other, basically, not to the death, like in the second season, but yeah, it was like a little training montage, and it wasn't in Season 1.
What Makes Ty Lee Tick & How She Really Feels About Azula
Ty Lee Doesn't Want to Be Part of a Matched Set.
- The Direct: "[Ty Lee] grew up with six identical sisters. In your own words, how would you describe how that experience kind of influenced who she became and who we are watching on screen?"
Momona Tamada: That is something I did a lot of work on, and just like thinking on, but there's something about her, and I think she says it in the animation, about not wanting to be a part of a matched set. And I think something that Azula and Mai have brought to her is that all three of them are so different, and she's individual, and she's seen as who she is, and accepted as who she is as Ty Lee...
"She knows what's right for her and what isn't right for her," Tamada elaborated:
Tamada: I think a lot of that love and why she loves to be around them is because of that, but also having strayed from her family at such a young age, there is a level of awareness and alignment that Ty Lee has that maybe Azula doesn't have. Like, she's very aware of herself and aware of her energy and her space, and she knows what's right for her and what isn't right for her, and that's kind of the wisdom that I think comes with having experienced something like that.
- The Direct: "I'm curious, just the inner monologue, the inner thoughts of your character, and how she really feels about Azula during Season 2, and how much of it is just she doesn't want to die, she doesn't want to get killed by Azula, and so she's just kind of following orders, versus she is actually enjoying this and is perfectly fine doing everything she's doing."
Tamada: I think it's on the second season, especially, there's a very fine line of like, oh, this is too much, and this is so fun, but I think for a majority of the season, it is really fun for her. That first moment is a bit scary, but I think after that it's like we have to remember that as fun and bubbly as Ty Lee is, she loves this stuff... and so I know that I remember really tapping into that energy, especially when it came to our fight sequences, like with the gaang and stuff like that...
Momona Tamada on Returning for Season 2 & Beyond
"We Get to Really Map Out These Characters and Where They Go..."
- The Direct: "How different was the production, and just getting back into it, especially knowing that, okay, we're gonna be here for a while?"
Momona Tamada: Yeah, there was something so nice about that, and having that security of like, okay, like we get to really map out these characters and where they go, and start planting things from Season 2 that we are revealing in Season 3, and so that process was so fun. Our showrunners on the second and third season, Christine [Boylan] and Jabbar [Raisani], from the beginning, they were so open...
Thanks to Avatar: The Last Airbender showrunners Christine Boylan and Jabbar Raisani's "smooth ship," the show created the perfect environment for everyone to grow alongside their fictional characters:
Tamada: I feel like they were running such a smooth ship, and I feel like that just like really gave us the confidence, and I think a lot more power into being like, okay, now we can really, really dive even deeper, and because we know who these characters are already, it was just more so like you're able to let go a little bit more, I think, because you have had a little bit of experience, like portraying them, and it becomes more comfortable, and so you grow as the character grows, you know.
One key difference in Avatar: The Last Airbender's Season 2 is that, when production began, everyone knew Season 3 would be filmed back-to-back. While efficient, it didn't give everyone the usual time to reflect between seasons—something that could inform and evolve their performances in different ways going into future episodes:
Tamada: I think that's always really scary to think about, because no matter what happens, I think actors a lot of the time experience this, but they watch it back, and they're like, oh my god, what was I doing? And I've definitely had that experience before, but I mean, you have to, I think, accept the fact that this is something that is going to be forever now. No pressure, but that's just like—that was Momona portraying Ty Lee at like this year. You know what I mean? At this point in her life, and I think I have to like fully accept and gift that part of myself to her to be like that's what it was for who she was.
While they didn't have time to sit with their Season 2 performances, Tamada revealed that they had "an incredible acting coach this season" who provided feedback when needed:
Tamada: There is a reflection that comes with having the time. I think the reflection we were able to do... Thankfully, we had an incredible acting coach this season, Sarah Arrington, and she was like really open and honest with all of us, and I think it was like, if we felt like, oh, was that okay, like she was there for that reassurance, and I mean, we saw a couple of dailies here and there, but it's really interesting to—Sometimes it feels really good in your body, and then you watch it back, and you're like, oh, I could have done that way different, and it's, it's such a learning process..
For The Direct's entire interview with Avatar: The Last Airbender star Momona Tamada, be sure to check out the full video when it drops with Season 2 of the series on June 25.
