"It Really Is An Honor": "Avatar: The Last Airbender" Star Momona Tamada On Bringing Ty Lee To Life In Season 2

For Momona Tamada, becoming Ty Lee was a dream come true. Before she joined Netflix's live-action adaptation as the fan-favorite Fire Nation acrobat, Avatar was one of the shows that got her through 2020. When she heard a live-action adaptation was in the works, she immediately wanted in.

To celebrate Season 2, I sat down with Momona to talk about bringing Ty Lee to live action, training for her stunts and fight sequences, building the Fire Nation trio's chemistry, and the moment it really hit her that she was part of the Avatar universe.

Note: This interview has been slightly modified for length and clarity. It is spoiler-free, though we do discuss a few plot points at a high level.

Momona: I'm a massive Avatar: The Last Airbender fan — it was the show that got me through 2020. My friend and I started watching it, and if you scroll far enough back on my Instagram, there's a video of me watching the finale. 

Right around the time I finished watching the series, the live-action adaptation was announced. I was like, "Wait, can I please audition? I'll be anything, even a tree!"

From the beginning, what I love so much about Ty Lee is how she's the complete opposite of what you expect from the Fire Nation. Her two best friends, Azula and Mai, are a little bit darker, and Ty Lee brings such a wonderful contrast. 

That's something I had a lot of fun exploring this season. It was a conversation that I had with our acting coach: "How do we keep that brightness alive, and really balance the trio's energy out?"

Momona: There is definitely pressure. I'm a fan myself, so I understand both sides. 

I think, especially with this season, there was a lot of trust in what we are creating. It is a little bit different from the animation, but it feels like we're creating something new — a live-action version, not exact mirror images or frame-by-frame recreations. 

There are aspects of the live-action that offer exciting perspectives and play with the story in new ways. I'm very proud, and I can't wait for people to see it.

Momona: We had so many moments where the girls and I would look at each other and be like, "Oh my gosh, we're in Avatar!" Being on the set and in the costume made it feel real, but there is a specific memory I'll never forget.

I was standing on set, and there was a spotlight, so I saw the silhouette of myself with Ty Lee's braid. Something about seeing that silhouette image really clicked for me. In that moment, I was thinking, "Wow. This is really happening."

Momona: I grew up in dance and gymnastics, so I had that background, and I got to do all the stunts myself, which was so awesome. In this season, we definitely lean towards Ty Lee's acrobatic side rather than her contortion side. 

After Season 1, I started learning Wushu and training in martial arts. It helped me get much more comfortable, especially with punching and things like that.

Ty Lee is so quick, agile, and precise. I think dance has definitely taught me how to be more precise. Especially with how she has all these little punches, I would practice them over and over again, just to make sure I had the speed and precision.

Chi-blocking is all about hitting certain pressure points. I've always been a big fan of chi and acupuncture, and how that works. I remember writing myself a chart of all the pressure points. We didn't stick to them specifically, but it was helpful to know.

Momona: Ty Lee has this bright, bubbly, elevated energy. The challenge was: "How do we take this animated character who we love so much and ground her into a real-life character?" 

I think it was about finding the truth in her. There are moments where she is super fun and bright and bubbly, but she also understands they're in a war and there's so much going on around them. 

There is this element of "realness" in live-action. Not to say that the animation doesn't feel real — it totally does — but there is a bit of separation when you're experiencing it with real people versus animation. So Ty Lee really came together as we were filming and living in those characters.

(L-R: Momona Tamada [Ty Lee], Elizabeth Yu [Azula], Thalia Tran [Mai])

Momona: Those girls are my best friends — my sisters for sure. Because we have such an incredible relationship, it really allows us to be free and live in those characters. We have so much love and trust between each other, and something that we always discuss is the love between these three. 

As toxic as Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai's friendship is at times, they really love each other so, so deeply. 

We would do a lot of improv exercises together. There are times where we'd be improvising scenes, and Lizzie [Elizabeth Yu] would say, "I feel so protective over you guys." Genuinely, all the good parts of our relationship as a cast seep into our characters.

Momona: I really love our Kyoshi moment. It's the scene where we're with Long Feng, and Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai are finessing him a little bit. There was a moment between the three of us where we were like, "Yes, we're so evil right now!" I just felt so connected to the girls in that moment.

I also love the fight at the very end of Episode 1. That was really fun because I got to do the stunts. Another really fun scene was in the field, where we meet a part of the Gaang for the first time.

Momona: There is something so special about having a character to look to and be inspired by. Pulling from inspiration versus creating a character yourself is a different experience.

It really is an honor, and I think you're not only doing it for yourself, but for all the people that already love the character. There is a drive and fire that gets lit under you, because you want to serve everybody. 

Finding the creativity and getting to do something like that is so beautiful. It's such a gift. I feel very blessed to be able to bring these characters that are so loved to life.