Dallas Liu talks “nerve-wracking” job of playing Zuko in Last Airbender remake

If Dallas Liu isn’t yet a household name, there’s every chance he will be in the near future. Having already got his Marvel break playing Katy’s (Awkwafina) brother Ruihua Chen in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the 20-year-old actor has also been cast as Prince Zuko in Netflix’s live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Now that he’s in the MCU canon, there’s every chance of future appearances, and playing the live-action version of a beloved animated character like Zuko can’t hurt his career, either.

As for his continuing to play Ruihua Chen in the MCU, he’s certainly got the taste for more. “With Marvel, even like the smallest characters, the smallest cameos, can somehow have a huge impact. And obviously, that’s what I’m hoping for in the future,” Liu told Insider. And he even know who he’d like to play when the X-Men are inevitably added to the MCU. “I think it would be cool to play Iceman. He would be first on my list.”

Since Liu’s Shang-Chi role was small, he went into the movie without getting to read the script. “I had no idea what to even expect from this movie,” he told ComicBook.com. “Like I think when I had originally gotten on set to shoot, I don’t know if they had finished the script yet or not. So I was just there to do my scenes and then I was out. But to see the outcome and watch it with everyone for the first time was truly a special experience. And now all my friends are sending me pictures and telling me it’s like a top-three for them. It’s a great feeling.”

Liu has a lot of skills that would be useful in the MCU, such as experience with martial arts. “[O]bviously I was kind of bummed that I didn’t get to showcase that in the movie, but you know, hopefully, one day in the future that’d be pretty cool.”

Interestingly, despite Shang-Chi being the biggest movie he’s ever worked on, he didn’t feel the weight of it on his shoulders. “I honestly didn’t feel a ton of pressure just because I was surrounded by such amazing people, as far as the cast and even the people working on set.”

"I felt like there was a lot of trust between everyone and we knew what we could get done and showcase everything that we had been working on. I mean, I wasn’t there for long, but seeing the people that were working on set, I had no doubt that this movie was going to be great."

Here’s hoping he has a bright future in the Marvel Universe!

Dallas Liu discusses his role in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Liu will be able to show off his martial arts skills in abundance is his role as Prince Zuko in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender remake. And Liu is already feeling the immense pressure that comes with adapting one of the most successful animated shows of all time… especially given the highly disappointing previous big-screen attempt from M. Night Shyamalan in 2010.

Liu has been a long-time admirer of the animated Avatar show. “I was just asking people like if you had four options, which one would you bend? Then I would like, determine whether I thought they were cool enough to hang out with,” he said, referring to the four “bendable” elements in the show: Earth, Fire, Water, Air. Zuko is a super-powerful firebender.

Since he’s part of the fandom himself, Liu is more than aware of how passionate the fans are. He admits that it’s a “little nerve-wracking” taking on the role, but he does seem perfect for it.

So far, besides Liu, the main cast consists of Gordon Cormier (Aang), Kiawentiio (Katara), and Ian Ousley (Sokka). Unfortunately, original series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko dropped out of the project, and are instead developing their own projects under the Avatar Studios production company.

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