Avatar: The Last Airbender spoilers follow.
Avatar: The Last Airbender star Ken Leung has opened up on the show's intense season finale fight between Commander Zhao and Prince Zuko
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, the actor - who plays Commander Zhao in the Netflix series - spoke about the climactic battle with Prince Zuko, saying the moment came after a "whole season" of build-up.
Leung went on to explain that he personally felt that Zhao "sees himself" in Zuko a little bit, adding that his character's ambition comes from a place of "not having something."
"The way he talks with Iroh when Zuko is out of the picture almost feels like a longing for this missing kind of paternal figure and that started to accumulate in my head and I think Zuko represents him to himself," he said.
Related: The Last Airbender star explains why he thought audition was for Avatar films
"It's kind of like a secret, in a way which is why everything comes out. Zuko is the him that can't accomplish what he feels destined to accomplish."
Explaining where he came up with his take on the character, Leung revealed that for him as an actor he needed Zhao to be more than "he's just an ambitious guy who wants to do this and that" to drive him.
"I needed to find a place where that came from. So that's what I came up with," he said.
Zhao met an ambiguous ending in the finale, with his character appearing to meet his demise in the fiery battle with Prince Zuko after the intense fight.
Related: Don't let Avatar: The Last Airbender controversy put you off the Netflix remake
When asked if the fight scene was a "culmination" of Zhao's feelings towards Zuko, the actor said it wasn't a "conscious" action.
"It comes out in the playing of it and you have this elaborate, exhausting, intense fight and then you get to this place where it’s just you and the other," he said.
"Unconscious things happen and the scene kind of plays itself."
Avatar: The Last Airbender is available to stream now on Netflix.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Brenna Cooper is a freelance journalist, who currently specialises in entertainment reporting. She joined Digital Spy in 2022, writing TV and movies stories for the site. After graduating with an NCTJ accredited Journalism Masters from the University of Sheffield in 2020 she has since embarked on a freelance career.
Brenna previously produced lifestyle content for Checklists.co.uk and has a specific interest in music, reviewing live acts and interviewing bands such as Confidence Man and Amyl and the Sniffers.
TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
