DALLAS LIU, CONTRARY TO WHAT HIS NAME SUGGESTS, IS A LA-BORN AND RAISED ACTOR WHO PLAYS THE MOODY FIRE PRINCE ZUKO IN NETFLIX’S LIVE-ACTION AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER SERIES. HE GREW UP DOING MARTIAL ARTS FROM THE AGES OF 5 TO 13 AND WAS DISCOVERED ON YOUTUBE BY HIS MANAGER. WHEN HE ISN’T OUT DOING CRAZY STUNTS WHILE SHOOTING THE SHOW IN VANCOUVER, HE SPENDS TIME WITH HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS, WHO HE DISCERNS HIS HUMILITY TO, AND IS GRATEFUL TO HAVE A SUPPORT SYSTEM AS LOYAL AS THEM. AS THE SHOW WAS RENEWED FOR A SECOND AND THIRD SEASON, WE REFLECTED WITH DALLAS LIU ON THE FIRST SEASON THAT CAME OUT IN APRIL, AND HOW HE WANTS TO WORK ON HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENTS.

Left Full look **Diesel**
Right Full look **Kenzo**

You grew up doing martial arts. What have they taught you in life?

Martial arts gave me a lot of discipline in the things that I take on. Whether it's in school or doing acting, martial arts taught me how to remain calm, to really think out my process and to have the discipline to focus and practice. I always felt like it helped me develop my own way of doing things.

How did you get into martial arts? Do you have any idols whose careers you admire?

I wish it was that serious, but it was the Power Rangers, Avatar: The Last Airbender and a few different animes. There was one sports athlete who went by the name of Sugar Shane Moseley, my friend’s dad who was a boxer, and when we saw him on TV, I got really invested in combat sports.

How did you juggle being a kid with having to be professionally present at competitions and on film production sets?

Martial arts is just like any other sport: you go to tournaments, you go to practices and then you go do your homework after school. And I think with acting, because I live far from Los Angeles, I'm like an hour’s drive out, and you would be surprised by how much it changes just by driving an hour out of the city. The world where I live is nothing like the online portrayal of what Los Angeles is. The people here, my friends and family, they kept me grounded so I don't think there's a real change in my lifestyle. I did treat it like something that I loved, so it didn't feel like work. I was still going to school, I was still hanging out with my friends on the weekends, it wasn't something that I moved across the world for. This was something that I cared for and that my parents were willing to support me in. But I wasn't working either, I was auditioning, don’t get me wrong, but I wasn’t like, “Yeah, man, just booked 5 seasons of a show and my parents are signing contracts for me.” It was nothing like that. I was very much a newbie actor. I think it wasn’t until PEN15 that I felt like I matured.

Speaking of PEN15, did you get what the show was about when you booked the role?

When I auditioned I had no idea that it was gonna be that funny, because with a concept like that, you really don’t know how it’s gonna turn out until the day of the shoot. But Maya and Anna are such comedic geniuses that they already knew, “Oh yeah, this is what we're doing,” and so seeing their confidence every day on set gave me a lot of comfort. When I was on set, I knew what was going on but it was weird because I was also the oldest of the actual teenagers, so they were making fun of me too. I was so confused, I was like, “Why do I feel old here too?”

Left Pants and belt **Prada**, jewellery **The Diamond Plug**
Right Hat **Heurueh**, top **Lohavete**, jewellery **The Diamond Plug**

Your role in PEN15 is quite different to the other roles in your acting career, what would you say that role taught you?

I would say comedic improvisation. There were some times when Anna and Maya would just let a take keep on going and I was in the scene. I would think, “Oh my gosh, we're still going? Okay then, you kind of just have to figure out how to roll along with it.” But it was really watching them do their thing that helped me develop my own particular way of going about comedy. I became comfortable with the unexpected.

You were inspired to start martial arts because of Avatar: The Last Airbender and now fast-forward a few years you play Prince Zuko in the Netflix live-action remake. Were you excited to portray Zuko?

When I got the job, it really was just worlds colliding because I think Zuko is one of the best fictional and animated characters of all time, and I think that his character arc is up there with some of the best character arcs in TV history. So when I found out that it was this role, I was stoked. Also knowing that I would be able to use my martial arts background in the series, that's why it felt like I was able to combine my present and my past, just because I spent so much time doing martial arts. I’d done it from the ages of 5 to 13, and now I'm 22, so it felt like a long time for me, and I'm glad that I was able to you know use both of my skills for something that I love. They tried to hide the identity of the characters in the script. They gave us fake character names. So for example, Zuko’s fake name was Juno. But with the way the script was written, it was very clearly his character – nobody else has daddy issues as bad as Zuko, in my opinion. But I think because I knew that it was Zuko, it definitely helped that I understood Zuko already so strongly because I favoured him so much as a child.

Left Full look **Amiri**
Right Hat **Heurueh**, top **Lohavete**, pants **Ashton Michael**, jewellery **The Diamond Plug**

This is a long-awaited remake of a beloved animated series. How did you feel at the time it came out?

I was definitely more nervous than I had ever been in my entire life. This is certainly the biggest project I’ve ever done and also my first time being a series regular. I was terrified just because you carry a huge part of how people view the show and I am not sure I was ready for that. Leading up to that point, my character was always there for the other characters, to support the other characters, whereas then, people were really going to be watching me. I was scared of being under a microscope for a very long time. It also didn’t help that the executives of our show didn't give us a sneak peek until like 2 weeks out. So we had no idea what our show was gonna look like for three years. We hadn't seen any playback footage. I was terrified, but knowing everyone else was also terrified, you know, me and the cast members really bonded and spent a lot of time with each other, finding comfort in those relationships that we had and also looking back at our hard work and effort. I started shooting the show when I was 19 and at the time of the release, I was 22. So not only did I feel like I had developed as an actor but I had just grown into a different person. I think I was scared but that pressure was a privilege in itself. I also knew that not many people would have the opportunity to feel responsible for the next generation of Avatar: The Last Airbender viewers that's why I felt also really excited for people to see my take on Zuko.

People often criticize remakes, specifically live-action ones. But as you said, when you’re doing a remake, you’re reintroducing characters to a newer generation, and that’s important to consider because kids nowadays maybe weren’t as affected and influenced by Avatar: The Last Airbender because it wasn’t an integral part of their childhood.

I was really excited for the new viewers. And with the original voice actor being so supportive of my take on the character, we just had a talk like a human being to human being and he told me…The words that he used were, “It’s your turn,” and it was sort of permission to make Zuko the way I see fit. Because some of the relationships might not be the same therefore that might change the character – he definitely has a little more attitude in our show, he’s a spoiled teenager. But that was also one thing that I had no idea how it was going to turn out. I was like, “Are we sure we like this version of Zuko?”

Left Full look **Celine Homme**
Right Full look **Yohji Yamamoto**

Zuko is quite a complex and hard-to-embrace character. Where did you draw inspiration from to portray the role?

To prepare, I obviously rewatched the show a bunch of times, but I only stuck to the first season because that’s what we were shooting. And then a lot of research online. There are so many character analysis videos and essays that you can find on the internet about Zuko, about his past and about the way he thinks. I just lived with that every day, there was always something new I was learning about him. For example, which side of his head he likes to sleep on. Because his scar is on the left side of his eye, he would sleep on his scar so he could hear better out of the other ear when he was with people he wasn’t comfortable around. But when it was people he was comfortable with, he didn’t mind sleeping on his other side and having his scar out. That was something super unique to Zuko. A performance I drew from was probably Adam Driver’s Ky Loren.

Wait, the way he chooses to sleep, was that in the script or the original screenplay?

It’s a fan theory, it’s never explicitly stated but it’s something the viewers paid attention to when he’d go to bed. When you truly love a series, you pay attention to so many of those small scenes and that's what it was for me growing up. From Zuko’s facial expressions to his mannerisms, those were all things that I thought about with a lot of intention, especially when I was working with some of my co-stars.

What do you want people to take away from watching the series?

As cliché as this might be, I hope that this gives them a lot of hope in the adventure that they take on in life, the adventure that is life. And I think enjoying the adventure is all about the friendships and bonds that you create along the way, whether they are there forever or not. Our show has many different elements, you've got the heroes and you've got the questionable villains, and there are so many characters that you can relate to.

You’ve played in dramedies, crime series, Marvel movies and Netflix remakes. In what direction do you hope to go next?

I’m drawn to anime remakes. Have you heard of Death Note?

Of course! Who would you play though?

I love Death Note, I would be ok with Light or L, they’re both great characters. I think another genre I’d be interested in would be a dark thriller. I really love the film Oldboy.