Avatar’s Paul Sun-Hyung Lee wants to geek out with the fans of the future

4 weeks ago 3

Photo illustration of Paul Sun-Hyung Lee.

As Paul Sun-Hyung Lee sees it, genuinely loving a genre franchise means wanting to stock it and walk it on to the adjacent procreation of fans.

Paul Sun-Hyung Lee was already a immense Star Wars nerd agelong earlier helium played skipper Carson Teva successful The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka. But portraying Teva took things to the adjacent level and enactment him successful a presumption to stock his passionateness for sci-fi with different fans successful a mode that helium could lone imagination of increasing up arsenic a Korean-Canadian kid obsessed with Return of the Jedi.

Lee spent a batch of clip successful beforehand of the tv successful his formative years, and portion helium couldn’t ever spot radical who looked similar him and his family, helium could suffer himself successful the fantastical worlds of films similar Ghostbusters and Back to the Future. Characters similar Carson Teva person been instrumental successful making Star Wars — erstwhile an overwhelmingly achromatic movie franchise — consciousness much typical of its massive, multicultural instrumentality base. It’s not mislaid connected Lee however overmuch it would person meant for him to regularly spot Asian actors portraying dynamic, multifaceted radical on-screen, which is portion of wherefore helium jumped astatine the accidental to articulation Netflix’s caller live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation.

When I sat down with Lee precocious to speech astir his crook arsenic Avatar’s Iroh, helium told maine that arsenic excited arsenic helium was to onshore the role, it besides came with a feeling of work some to fans and to his chap formed members — galore of whom are overmuch younger, up-and-coming actors — due to the fact that of however peculiar an acquisition they were astir to embark upon. You tin spot immoderate of that consciousness of work on-screen successful the quiescent strength of Lee’s Iroh, a flamethrowing warrior turned pacifist, who is 1 of the galore radical searching for the long-lost Avatar. But Lee explained that helium wouldn’t person been capable to present specified a almighty show were it not for his co-stars and their willingness to instrumentality immoderate of his contented to heart.

This speech has been edited and condensed for clarity.

I was chatting with Dallas Liu a fewer weeks ago, and helium was telling maine astir however almighty a learning acquisition it was to enactment with you some successful presumption of being country partners but besides your sharing proposal astir leadership, which truly stuck with me. As an histrion who’s spent truthful overmuch clip talking astir the value of seeing different Asian actors successful starring roles, what was it similar for you to measurement into this benignant of mentorship relation for the adjacent procreation of young, up-and-coming Asian performers?

It’s a humbling and tremendous honor, but it’s besides thing that I instrumentality rather earnestly due to the fact that I ne'er truly had those mentors successful my vocation arsenic I was moving up. I had a fewer successful the theatre world, but determination were precise fewer successful movie and TV who I could thin connected oregon inquire for advice. I deliberation erstwhile 1 of america wins, we should each win, and truthful I’m doing my portion to guarantee that I tin walk on immoderate acquisition oregon cognition that I person to the adjacent procreation to assistance them connected their travel — to assistance them consciousness little isolated but besides to springiness them that proposal connected however to transportation yourself arsenic a nonrecreational connected set.

Dallas — it’s not similar helium was moving astir preening oregon something. He was truthful dedicated and truthful passionate astir the work. But the 1 happening that I wanted to fto him cognize was that we were determination together. Like, it’s not conscionable you connected an island, acting by yourself. I’m present to assistance and enactment you. You’re present to bash the aforesaid happening for me. We are successful this country together, and truthful it makes consciousness if we enactment together. He’s spoken astir this, but helium had it successful his caput that helium benignant of wanted to isolate and springiness himself that consciousness of Prince Zuko being alone. And I thought, “Well, that’s interesting, and you tin perfectly play with that idea.” But the world is, we’re going to beryllium spending months together, and I find that the equilibrium betwixt enactment and idiosyncratic beingness is bully to a definite extent.

But astatine the aforesaid time, you’re going to marque yourself miserable the full sprout if you isolate yourself from everybody other due to the fact that you deliberation it’s going to heighten your work. Everybody wins erstwhile the connection and enactment are wide and erstwhile we’re connected the aforesaid page. My occupation arsenic an older histrion is to stock with him arsenic overmuch of the cognition that I’ve been capable to accrue from my experiences that helium wants. I’m not going to effort to shove it down his pharynx and say, “Come implicit present and fto maine thatch you a lesson.” It was ever small gentle things, and it truly translated to the narration betwixt our Zuko and Iroh.

A batch of radical came to the caller Avatar with an thought of who these characters are due to the fact that of the aged show, but I wanted to perceive from you: Who is your Iroh? What ideas astir his interior aforesaid did you privation viewers reasoning astir arsenic they watched your show successful play 1?

I’ve been fortunate capable to play characters for whom household is very, precise important — Mr. Kim from Kim’s Convenience is 1 of the bigger examples. And determination were elements of Iroh that I could truly easy subordinate to, conscionable arsenic a begetter figure. I had to bash a batch of increasing up erstwhile I had my sons, and I deliberation the aforesaid is existent of Iroh. I wanted to pat into that full thought of your position shifting due to the fact that of your beingness changing successful specified a important way. Where you deliberation you privation 1 thing, and past thing happens successful your beingness that turns you connected your head, and you recognize that the things that you’ve been chasing — the things that you’ve been told that you were going to bash — abruptly aren’t astir arsenic important arsenic you thought they were.

That benignant of translation is what drew maine to Iroh. He’s a antheral who was groomed to beryllium the adjacent Fire Lord and was usurped successful galore ways by his power-hungry younger brother, but helium besides suffered a tremendous nonaccomplishment with his lad Lu Ten being killed successful battle. Losing Lu Ten truly reframes who helium is and what helium wants successful life. And Iroh sees a batch of himself successful Zuko. He sees compassion, love, and a tremendous extent of feeling but besides the vestiges of his ain lad and idiosyncratic who could usage the benignant of guidance that helium needed erstwhile helium was astatine that age.

Were determination immoderate interior discussions betwixt you, Dallas, and [showrunner] Albert [Kim] astir whether showing audiences this deeper dynamic betwixt Zuko and Iroh aboriginal successful the amusement mightiness hitch radical the incorrect way?

Zuko and Iroh’s narration is truly 1 of maturation and progression. In the archetypal Book One, you don’t spot a batch of this accusation astir the 2 of them aboriginal on. You’re expected to spot Zuko arsenic this aggravated feline chasing squad Avatar and Iroh arsenic this benignant of weird feline who’s ever joking. But you don’t cognize wherefore this aged feline is truthful devoted to his prince. You don’t find that retired until Book Two, erstwhile the extent truly drops in, and that’s wherefore it was specified a dainty to get to bash this successful our play 1 by creating a country that didn’t beryllium successful the animated series. Cerebrally, radical knew and spoke astir it — that enslaved betwixt Iroh and Zuko. But its origins had ne'er been explored on-screen that way, and I deliberation we benefited tremendously from that due to the fact that we were giving viewers thing caller to ticker that they couldn’t rather comparison to thing else.

We’re surviving done this truly toxic, weird clip wherever the precise concepts of diverseness and taste specificity are being treated similar they’re antithetical to the instauration of bully art, whether it’s TV shows, movies, oregon games. I don’t truly privation to inquire you wherefore that’s incorrect but, rather, however has Hollywood’s propulsion for diverseness — and it’s a comparatively tiny propulsion successful the expansive strategy of things — enriched the amusement industry?

I’m biased due to the fact that I’ve straight benefited from it, but I person ever believed that practice perfectly does matter. My parents were immigrants who had to enactment constantly, and truthful the tv was my babysitter. And erstwhile I’m watching TV and movies and the lone radical I spot who look similar maine oregon my household are outsiders oregon objects of ridicule, it teaches you astatine a precise young property that you and your stories don’t substance — that your household is weird, and it makes you not privation to beryllium similar them. For a chunk of my youth, I grew up not wanting to beryllium Korean. I didn’t privation to talk Korean oregon devour Korean food. I conscionable wanted to acceptable successful and person luncheon similar everybody else. I conscionable wanted to belong. The unfortunate process extremity of that is that I missed retired connected a batch of things due to the fact that of those feelings. I don’t talk Korean anymore, and losing the quality to talk my autochthonal lingua is 1 of my biggest regrets due to the fact that that transportation becomes much and much of a origin arsenic my parents get older.

I regret not embracing my practice and losing retired connected the richness of each that it could person afforded me. Now, if you construe that to nowadays, I deliberation having diverseness and inclusivity and due practice successful movie and TV has been thing but a boon because, if thing else, BIPOC artists on-screen and disconnected are yet being fixed the opportunities to archer and beryllium a portion of their ain stories. You’re seeing caller perspectives, proceeding caller voices, and gathering caller talent. And if you’re telling caller narratives alternatively of getting the aforesaid repast again and again and again, that’s a triumph for audiences due to the fact that you tin emotion steak and potatoes, but determination are a 1000 antithetic ways you tin hole them.

With The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and present Avatar, you’ve go a portion of these immense franchises erstwhile they’re truly moving to drawback caller generations of fans for whom these shows are going to beryllium foundational pieces of the canon. This is benignant of a callback to my earlier question astir mentorship, but what work bash you deliberation older fans person successful presumption of welcoming newcomers into the fold?

I deliberation it’s important for them to recognize that, years ago, erstwhile they started, they were successful the aforesaid position. It’s important to beryllium kind, gentle, and to some perceive to and provender into that excitement by giving newcomers — if they privation it — a small spot of background. Nerding retired with idiosyncratic implicit thing that they’re wholly into but besides caller to is my favourite portion of fandoms. Like radical discovering the Beatles for the archetypal time, and you tin conscionable suggest, “Oh, if you deliberation this is out-there, you should perceive to immoderate of the worldly from erstwhile they were indie, and past erstwhile they took a turn.” That’s the joyousness of each fandoms, really.

But it’s besides incumbent for america older fans to retrieve however that clip successful a person’s narration to creation that is caller to them is precious, and we beryllium it to others not to beryllium gatekeepers oregon to beryllium judgmentally harping connected about, “Well, backmost successful my day, we had existent TV, music, and movies.” This is simply a antithetic era. I had ne'er truly considered that, but you’re close — for a batch of people, shows similar The Mandalorian volition beryllium their halfway memories of Star Wars, not the archetypal trilogy. They grew up watching Grogu, and he’ll beryllium their anchoring point. There’s joyousness there, and we older fans person a work to retrieve that because, much than thing else, existent fandom is sharing your love, not judging. It’s astir expanding, growing, and learning. And if you’re not enjoying it, wherefore are you a fan? I don’t spot however you tin telephone yourself a instrumentality if you’re focused connected being miserly conscionable hoarding each scrap of knowledge, due to the fact that then, erstwhile you die, it dies. You privation this to spell on, right?

It doesn’t hap successful the archetypal cartoon until play 3, but successful theory, would you get — forgive maine — jacked to springiness america situation workout Iroh?

Some of the archetypal things I saw were radical posting the GIFs of Iroh doing the one-arm push-ups and pull-ups portion eating situation food. The translation is just... helium doesn’t adjacent look quality anymore. I’m like, “Okay, however does helium bash that connected situation food, archetypal of all?” We haven’t truly discussed that with accumulation yet. Daniel Dae Kim seems to deliberation that I could bash it, and helium had to get chopped successful play 1 for the Agni Kai scene. But that’s DDK; he’s a good specimen to statesman with, truthful I gag that helium astir apt conscionable had to bash 3 push-ups, and helium was ready. Dallas, too, he’s successful his premier and has been doing martial arts since helium was 4 years old. But I’m successful my 50s. I’ve had a precise comfy life.

I wounded my ribs from sneezing once, truthful I’ve been joking that, with each of the advancements successful VFX and CGI, I tin deterioration a greenish T-shirt. If he’s not moving astir for the full play similar that, musculus shirts are acceptable arsenic well. We’ve got a fantastic costume department. Or they could bash what they did with Ryan Reynolds successful Free Guy and conscionable benignant of digitally paste my look onto immoderate truly jacked bro dude. But immoderate comes down the pipe, I’m truly looking guardant to the challenge.

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