Joey King wants to make it clear that she never auditioned to play Katara in the Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action series on Netflix. Also, she doesn’t believe that any white actresses should be playing characters of color. The 21-year-old took to Twitter to tamp down the rumors and speak for herself. It’s been a busy day in the Avatar fandom as series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko took their leave of the live-action series. There were some creative differences that were just too much to account for between the Avatar creators and the streaming giant. As the fandom runs wild with speculation, King wanted to make sure nobody got the wrong idea about her and possible involvement in the show. Animation has grappled with a serious reckoning when it comes to casting actors that match the experience of the characters they play on-screen.
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King wrote, “I have 0 involvement in this project and didn’t know this project even existed until I logged onto Twitter today and my timeline was floooded with these rumors. I do not believe a white woman should play a character of color. Not me or any white woman for that matter.”
The Avatar creators shared their thoughts about walking away from the live-action series earlier today:
“Well, friends… there you have it. Big sigh. I’m sure many of you will understandably want to know more and will ask me questions in the comments, here and on subsequent posts and live-streams and in-person encounters and everywhere else ad infinitum,” Konietzko began. “I wish I could explain things in greater detail, but the above statement is really all I can say about the matter so I won’t be answering any of those.”
He continued, “I encourage you to head over to my partner Michael DiMartino’s account to get his take on our departure too: @mike_dante_d Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of the Avatar: The Last Airbender fans, and I’m sorry our involvement in the live-action project did not work out. Time to get on with my life. Onward and upward. Love, Bryan”
DiMartino said, “Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar has the potential to be good. It might turn out to be a show many of you end up enjoying. But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make.”
Are you still excited for Netflix’s Avatar? Let us know down in the comments!
