Popverse's top stories of the day

• How Disney+'s What If...? is the moonshot for the next 50 years of Marvel Studios & the MCU
• Watch: Dune: Prophecy's Desmond Hart explained: His secret identity, his past, and his possible future [SPOILERS]
• Dune: Prophecy's Desmond Hart explained: His secret identity, his past, and his possible future [SPOILERS]

If you thought Aang was impressive, wait until you read about his voice actor. Zach Tyler Eisen was a middle school student when he was cast as Aang, the lead character in the hit animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

However, there was still the matter of finishing school. While the rest of the Avatar voice actors recorded their dialogue in California, Eisen recorded his lines in New York. Although Eisen never recorded with his castmates, viewers were still able to feel the unique chemistry Aang had with all the other characters.

The cast reminisced about the strange dynamic during an Avatar reunion panel at Florida Supercon 2024.

“We never met,” Jack DeSena recalls.

“Zach was a voice in the ether. We’d be like, ‘Hey Zach!’ He was like, ‘Hi.’ ‘How is elementary school,’” Dante Basco jokes.

“It was middle school,” Eisen corrects them.

The cast clarified that they did eventually meet Zach at a premiere party for the series. However, they never recorded with him while the show was in production.

“We have literally never recorded together,” DeSena continues. “Anything that you attribute to chemistry between Sokka and Aang, that’s [voice director] Andrea Romano. She created that and knew what to get from each of us to pull that together.”

While Eisen’s location kept him from spending time with his costars, it allowed him to finish school in New York and enjoy his childhood.

“It’s not so often that you get a kid playing a kid, and that’s something that I really appreciated, and it helped me make the character my own,” Eisen recalls.

The next time you watch the series, pay attention to the way Aang interacts with the other characters. The chemistry is undeniable, even though they weren’t in the same recording session. That’s a talent more impressive than airbending. 

Netflix has renewed Avatar: The Last Airbender for season 2! While you wait, check out our watch order for newcomers, an exclusive Avatar reunion panel from ECCC 2024, and a couple recommendations on what to watch after the series. Heck, we've even interviewed some of the best Avatar cosplayers from across the four nations - why not check it out?