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Simu Liu commends Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, his Kim’s Convenience co-star, for his recent casting as Uncle Iroh in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Simu Liu congratulated fellow Kim’s Convenience alum Paul Sun-Hyung Lee for landing the role of Uncle Iroh in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Netflix recently began principle photography on Avatar: The Last Airbender, a live-action adaptation of the martial arts fantasy cartoon of the same name, and production kicked off with a casting announcement revealing the actors who will portray some of the show’s iconic supporting characters. Among these announcements was the news that Uncle Iroh will be portrayed by Lee, best known for his starring role as Sang-il “Appa” Kim on the five-season sitcom Kim’s Convenience. Liu, who played Mr. Kim’s son, took to Twitter to congratulate his co-star on the new role, writing “From Appa to Uncle. I’m so happy for you [Lee]!!” Lee replied with a gif of himself as Appa calling for a hug.
Lee starred alongside Liu in Kim’s Convenience for the entirety of its five-season run, which lasted from 2016 to 2021 on the Canadian television network CBC. Based on the 2011 play of the same name, the sitcom followed the story of Mr. Kim and his family owning and operating a convenience store in Toronto after Kim’s immigration from South Korea. The series netted a positive reception from critics, but was ultimately cancelled in 2021 due to the departure of the show’s two co-creators, and a controversy in which Liu and other cast members took issue with “racist” Season 5 scripts and a lack of diversity behind the scenes.
Beyond his award-winning performance in Kim’s Convenience, sci-fi/fantasy fans may recognize Lee for his role in Disney+’s The Mandalorian, in which he played Season 2 character Captain Carson Teva, a pilot of the Star Wars universe’s New Republic. In the same vein, Liu went on to play Shang-Chi in Marvel’s superhero martial arts flick Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
In the original Avatar: The Last Airbender, which ran across three seasons on Nickelodeon between 2005 and 2008, Iroh served as a mentor and father figure to his nephew, Prince Zuko. The wise, tea-loving firebender was originally voiced by Makoto “Mako” Iwamatsu in the show’s first two seasons before his tragic passing required Greg Baldwin to inherit the role.
Before news broke that Lee would play the retired general into the live action adaptation, Netflix’s Avatar casting calls described the personality of Iroh as that of a former top athletics coach who is now retired and “takes the time to smell the roses and taste the pleasures in life.”
Alongside Lee as Iroh, Avatar: The Last Airbender will star Gordon Cormier as the titular last airbender, Avatar Aang. Kiawentiio and Ian Ousley will portray Water Tribe siblings Katara and Sokka, respectively, and Iroh’s nephew Prince Zuko will be played by Dallas Liu. Daniel Dae Kim will portray Fire Lord Ozai, father to Zuko, brother to Iroh, and the main antagonist of the series.
Netflix has yet to confirm a release date for its take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, but all three seasons of the original cartoon are available to stream on the platform in the United States, as are its sequel series The Legend of Korra and the 2010 live-action movie The Last Airbender.
Source: Twitter
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