Daniel Dae Kim says playing Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender essentially allowed him to be the Darth Vader of the upcoming Netflix series.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Kim provided some new details about his take on Fire Lord Ozai, the iconic villain from Avatar: The Last Airbender who he’s portraying in the live-action remake releasing in February 2024.
“He’s deliciously a villain, and that’s what I sank my teeth into,” Kim said. “That’s one of the things that I was really looking forward to doing. He reminded me of the Darth Vader of this show.”
Regarding why Kim was selected to play the role in the series, showrunner Albert Kim said, “I’ve known Daniel for years as a friend, and we’ve talked on and off about trying to find something to work on together, whether it was his involvement as a producer or as a performer. We could never really land on something exactly right. Then, when we got around to talking about by Lord Ozai, I very, very quickly jumped to Daniel’s name in my mind.”
What is Avatar: The Last Airbender about?
“Water. Earth. Fire. Air. The four nations once lived in harmony, with the Avatar, master of all four elements, keeping peace between them,” the official synopsis reads. “But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads, the first step taken by the firebenders towards conquering the world. With the current incarnation of the Avatar yet to emerge, the world has lost hope.
“But like a light in the darkness, hope springs forth when Aang, a young Air Nomad — and the last of his kind — reawakens to take his rightful place as the next Avatar. Alongside his newfound friends Sokka and Katara, siblings and members of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang embarks on a fantastical, action-packed quest to save the world and fight back against the fearsome onslaught of Fire Lord Ozai. But with a driven Crown Prince Zuko determined to capture them, it won’t be an easy task. They’ll need the help of the many allies and colorful characters they meet along the way.”
Based on the Nickelodeon animated series of the same name, Avatar: The Last Airbender premieres on Netflix on February 22, 2024.
