September 21, 2024 | 12:30pm
MANILA, Philippines — Teen actress Miya Cech will portray fan-favorite blind earthbender Toph Beifong in the upcoming seasons of Netflix’s live-action series adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
Netflix teased Toph’s arrival with a video confirming that the second season of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” had entered production. It then confirmed the casting of Cech.
Executive producers Jabbar Raisani and Christine Boylan told Netflix’s companion site Tudum that thousands auditioned for the role of Toph.
“Miya is a brilliant performer who knows how to precisely balance the sarcastic sense of humor, stubbornness, and vulnerability that is Toph Beifong,” they said. “Her physicality and emotional dexterity really put her in a class of one.”
The two praised Toph for her abrasively hilarious energy complementing and clashing with the other characters, “She’s funny, she’s very smart about the world around her, and a very accomplished earthbender. Underneath all that, she’s got emotional layers we can’t wait to explore.”
WATCH: Netflix’s ‘Avatar’ starts season 2 production
Cech’s — who is of Chinese and Japanese American descent — acting credits include “Beef,” “Young Rock,” “The Santa Clauses,” “Surfside Girls,” “Are You Afraid of the Dark?,” and “Always Be My Maybe.”
The young actress shared to Tudum how the diversity of the Asian cultures is one of the show’s most incredible aspects, “Even though the universe is fantasy, it feels like every culture is represented in some way and tied to the history and traditions of that culture or country.”
A long-time fan of the original animated show (who also enjoyed the first season), Cech is currently training for the role of Toph through a boot camp, private classes, past dance experience, and consultations with a professional from the blindness community.
Raisani and Boylan teased the second season would show more of the Earth Kingdom, particularly the city of Ba Sing Se.
The titular Avatar is an airbender named Aang, played by Filipino-Canadian Gordon Cormier, who must master the four elements to restore harmony to the world before the Fire Nation reaches the heights of its power.
Making up the main cast with Cormier and Cech are Kiawentiio as Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka, Dallas Liu as Zuko, Paul Sun-hyung Lee as Uncle Iroh, Elizabeth Yu as Azula, and Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai. — Video from Netflix
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