When Avatar fans watched the first episode of The Dragon Prince, the moment Callum started speaking an image of Sokka immediately popped up at the recognition of Jack DeSena’s voice. Understandable, but not all voices are quite so obvious, even to super-fans. Sometimes, even if we do recognize the voice we can’t quite remember who it belongs to. Other times, the actors change their voice so drastically that it’s virtually impossible to tell who the voice belongs to.
Over the course of three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender and four seasons of The Legend of Korra, a lot of actors provided voices for the myriad of characters. Here are some big names you may have missed, or forgotten, did voices on Avatar and Korra.
Updated By Amanda Bruce On June 12th, 2020: With Avatar: The Last Airbender now available to stream on Netflix, fans have another chance to rediscover the beloved anime. They also have the chance to rediscover some serious voice talent, so this list has been updated from its original publishing with even more actors fans might have forgotten about.
JOHANNA BRADDY
Yue won the hearts of the Avatar fans with her kind heart and her commitment to her people, even if she broke Sokka’s, but not everyone will have realized which actress voiced the character.
Johanna Braddy got her start in children’s programming and voiceover work before she got her big break with Greek. Since then, she’s probably best known for her role as southern belle Shelby Wyatt in the spy drama Quantico.
KIERNAN SHIPKA
Korra had a lot of allies in the sequel series. One of those was Jinora, the granddaughter of Katara and Aang. Studious and in tune with the spirit world, Jinora was a little quiet. She was played to perfection by a young Kiernan Shipka.
Audiences know Shipka from her work on Mad Men, but also as the newest incarnation of Sabrina Spellman. She currently stars in the Netflix adaptation Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina. She’s also been perfecting her voiceover work, lending her talents to dialogue for Marvel video games and Disney animated series alike.
CAMERON MONAGHAN
Even the biggest Avatar fans might not have realized that Cameron Monaghan did work for the series. His voice work only appeared in a single episode. He played a pair of twins in “The Fortuneteller,” perhaps foreshadowing his work as twins on Gotham? Monaghan also provided “additional voices” for the episode, which likely means he recorded dialogue for the crowd of townspeople.
He’s come a long way since then as one of the stars of Shameless and as the proto version of the Joker in the Batman prequel series Gotham.
ALYSON STONER
Opal, the granddaughter of original character Toph Beifong, spent time in The Legend Of Korra learning airbending techniques from the titular character. She was sweet and studious but could have a serious temper when provoked. Some fans might not realize she was voiced by someone who got their start in Missy Elliott’s music videos.
Stoner got her start as a young dancer before taking the path to acting through the Disney Channel. She continued working for the network in shows like The Suite Life Of Zack and Cody and voicing numerous animated characters. In fact, she’ll be returning to voice Isabella in Phineas And Ferb The Movie: Candace Against The Universe.
SERENA WILLIAMS
She’s best known as one of the greatest tennis players in the world, but Serena Williams has also dabbled in acting, including a bit of voiceover work. In fact, she’s voiced characters in both The Last Airbender and in The Legend Of Korra. In the original series, Williams voiced Ming, the kind guard who brought Uncle Iroh more food while he was in prison. In the sequel series, she lent her voice to a sage when Korra learned about the first Avatar.
While she doesn’t appear to have a lot of acting roles on the horizon right now, she’s sure to be back on screens in no time.
RON PERLMAN
One of the many reboots we’re getting this year is Hellboy. The original film by Guillermo del Toro came out fifteen years ago and it starred Ron Perlman, who is still best known for portraying Hellboy. Perlman has also done many voice roles, including Slade on Teen Titans, The Stabbington Brothers on Tangled, The Lich on Adventure Time, as well as Fire Lord Sozin on Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The grandfather of Iroh and Ozai, the Fire Lord who instigated the Hundred Year War, Sozin used the fire-enhancing power of a comet to eradicate the Air Nomads in an attempt to eliminate the next Avatar.
LISA EDELSTEIN
The Legend of Korra introduced us to Aang and Katara’s three children: Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi. Kya is the couple’s only daughter and the only waterbender. Named after her maternal grandmother, Kya was a skilled healer and waterbender. She helped Team Avatar through some tough times, including the Harmonic Convergence and the whole ordeal with Zaheer.
If the voice of Kya sounded familiar, you may have recognized the actress Lisa Edelstein. Edelstein is best known for portraying Dr. Lisa Cuddy on Fox’s medical drama House. Currently, she’s back in the hospital setting as Dr. Marina Blaize on NBC’s The Good Doctor.
ROBERT PATRICK
Aside from firebending, Zuko also possesses masterful skill in swordsmanship, specializing in dual-wielding swordplay, which he learned from the renowned sword master Piandao. That same sword master thought Sokka the art of swordsmanship later in the series. Piandao was voiced by Robert Patrick whom you may remember as Agent John Doggett from The X-Files, T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, or Agent Frank Gallo on Scorpion.
Fun fact, Piandao described the use of the sword as an “extra-long, really sharp arm” alluding to Patrick’s role as the T-1000, who had a penchant for turning his arms into swords.
AUBREY PLAZA
In season two of The Legend of Korra, we meet some of Korra’s closest relatives: the twins Desna and Eska. Bolin approached Eska with the intention of charming her and Eska, thinking it be interesting to spend some time with someone who’s ways are uncultured, proclaimed he was now hers. Though, it’s debatable whether she meant as a boyfriend or a slave.
The bossy and comically serious Eska is voiced by Aubrey Plaza, who’s best known as April Ludgate on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, as well as her deadpan-style comedy. Unsurprisingly, Plaza turned Eska into a hilarious character with her outstanding performance.
MARK HAMILL
Mark Hamill is, of course, best known for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise. But, he also has a reputation as a prolific voice actor, famously voicing the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, which many believe to be the best version of the villain ever put on the screen. Alongside his many voice acting roles, Hamill provided the voice for the big bad in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Fire Lord Ozai.
In what is widely considered one of his best voice acting roles, Hamill managed to convey a truly frightening man bent on world domination. The mere sound of Hamill’s voice was enough to intimidate both the characters on the show and those of us watching.
J. K. SIMMONS
J. K. Simmons is certainly a man who needs no introduction. The winner of many prestigious awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Whiplash, Simmons’ filmography is nothing short of impressive, whether we’re talking movies or TV shows. Marvel fans will forever remember him as J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, which is probably his most popular role.
But, fans of The Legend of Korra should also have fond memories of J. K. Simmons, since he provided the voice for Tenzin, Aang and Katara’s son who becomes Kara’s airbending teacher and spiritual mentor.
DANIEL DAE KIM
Daniel Dae Kim, whom you most likely know as Jin from Lost and Chin Ho Kelly from Hawaii Five-o, provided the voice of two different characters – one from Avatar: The Last Airbender, the other from The Legend of Korra. In The Last Airbender, Kim voiced General Fong in the first episode of Book Two: Earth. Fong believed that the only way to end the war was for Aang to go into the Avatar State and defeat Fire Lord Ozai, so he did everything he could to trigger Aang. Including making him think he had killed Katara.
In The Legend of Korra, Kim was the voice of Asami Sato’s father, Hiroshi. Hiroshi Sato was a brilliant inventor and founder of Future Industries, who joined forces with the Equalists but came through for Team Avatar against Kuvira.
JASON ISAACS
The leader of the Fire Nation Navy, Admiral Zhao was a powerful firebender who took it upon himself to capture the Avatar, putting him in conflict with Prince Zuko, and, of course, Team Avatar. Zhao orchestrated and led the Siege of the Northern Water Tribe and forced Sokka’s girlfriend to turn into the Moon (damn you, Zhao).
The villainous Admiral was voiced by Jason Isaacs, who is best known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies. However, it was his performance in The Patriot that served as inspiration for Zhao. Isaacs said in an interview that he was instructed to “be his American self” when recording the role.
GEORGE TAKEI
In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book One: Water, episode “Imprisoned”, Team Avatar encounters an Earth Kingdom town where earthbending has been outlawed by the Fire Nation. Katara convinces a boy named Haru to use earthbending to save an old man’s life, which lands the boy in prison. She then concocts a plan to get locked up herself and free Haru from the inside.
Inside the horrific prison rig, Katara encounters the cruel warden who treats the prisoners as savages and uses brutal punishments to maintain order and suppress morale. That sadistic warden was voiced by none other than George Takei, aka Sulu from Star Trek.
RAMI MALEK
Rami Malek became world famous for his portrayal of Elliot Anderson on USA Network’s Mr. Robot, for which he received wide critical acclaim. In 2019, Malek won an Oscar for Best Actor for his work on the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody in which he played Freddie Mercury.
Before his big break, Malek had a number of supporting roles on TV, including a small part on The Legend of Korra. In several season-one episodes, this Academy Award winner voiced Tahno, a waterbender, and captain of the pro-bending team White Falls Wolfbats. Initially, Tahno was arrogant and sneaky, but he changed his ways after Amon took away his bending.
