Despite the poor attempt at a movie adaptation years ago, the nostalgia and love for Nickelodeon's animated series
Avatar: The Last Airbender has never waned. The show warranted a spin-off in the form of
Legend of Korra and a live-action Netflix series is in the works.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is filled with memorable characters like Aang, Appa, Momo, Uncle Iroh, Prince Zuko, and more. The latter character resonates with a lot of fans due to his voice actor being a fan-favorite in the form of Dante Basco. Basco is best known for his role in
Hook alongside Robin Williams and Julia Roberts. Over the years Dante has moved more into the voice acting side of the business showing his versatility in the field.
We were lucky enough to score an exclusive interview with Basco and managed to discuss
Avatar: The Last Airbender with him as well as
Hook and his experience with the late legend Robin Williams. We learn about how Williams inspired the actor to get into poetry, about the 25th reunion of the lost boys and what character he is most hopeful to play so without further ado, check it out!
Joe: As an actor who has spent the majority of their career being recognized for your role as Rufio from Hook, what made you decide to take the leap to voice acting?
Dante Basco: Man, you know how this career goes, you know? Journeys keep ambling forward in your career and you might have an idea of what you want to do but the way these things work is that sometimes doors open and you have to have the wherewithall to kind of like, walk through those doors.
Sometimes things can happen that are beyond your imagination and that's kind of what happened to me with voice acting. I didn't come to Hollywood to be a voice actor but I've gotten to tell some really great stories and play some really great characters so I've been very fortunate to do that.
Joe: Although you have many voice credits to your name, Prince Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender is likely the most popular of them. Would you say that it is your favorite character that you have helped bring to life?
Dante Basco: Yeah I mean Prince Zuko is one of my favorite characters that I've gotten to play in my whole career over the last 35 years now. Just because of who he was and the story around him. He is such a wonderful character and he's definitely my favorite voiced character for sure.
Joe: Are you a fan of shows with a similar aesthetic or anime or is your work on Avatar: The Last Airbender an unusual escape for you?
Dante Basco: A lot of different anime inspires me like One Punch Man, Sword Art Online, Attack on Titan, and other great anime stuff. When I was growing up we didn't even call it anime we called them Japanese cartoons.
Joe: It seems like you really like Zuko a lot and that the role touched you. Given the opportunity to reprise the role in another project today, would you take it?
Dante Basco: Oh yeah, in a heartbeat. Like I said Zuko is one of my favorite roles in my career. As with most character actors there are roles you are known for, like with me and Zuko and Rufio - there's a lot of me in that character, and maybe a lot of that character in me too, you know?
Joe: Yeah I can see what you mean. Do you have any idea what a project like that would look like? It's been fifteen years since the end of the show - do you know what direction you want to take that character in now?
Dante Basco: I would definitely look towards Mike and Brian, the creators, to see what Zuko would be doing now. Especially after his teenage years and going on to his adult years and becoming a Fire Lord. I'd like to see what adventures he's gotten into since then. How he became a sage for his Uncle Iroh or whether he continued to make more mistakes in his life.
Joe: The new steelbook collection has just been released in celebration of the fifteenth anniversary of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Do you remember any fun stories or specific trivia from back when it was still in production?
Dante Basco: There are so many fun stories because we did it for such a long time. I just saw Jack recently and I see May all the time. Uncle Iroh... he played my uncle and father several times in my career. As far as trivia, there could be several things that you could write about - offhand as far as funny stories it is always a blast with those guys and Greg DeLyle.
It's weird you kind of reconnect over the years, I recently reconnected with Jessie Flower who played Toph and now she's a grown up. She's a grown up now! She's like in her 20's and she was such a young kid back then, its pretty wonderful to reconnect in that way.
Joe: Well I'm sure some people feel that way about you when they watch Hook and then they see you now.
Dante Basco: (Laughs) Yeah, right? It's been like 25 years now. We just had the 25 year reunion with some of the lost boys and that was really fun. You know, when you're around Hollywood you get these longer reunions which is cool because when you're a kid actor these reunions kind of become like your high school reunions.
Joe: Speaking of Hook and the lost boys, you worked alongside Robin Williams when you were younger. Do you feel like he imparted any skills on you which have helped in your career?
Dante Basco: Of course man, Robin was an amazing, amazing guy - rest in peace. He was very loving and such a great mentor in my life at that time. Going into working with him I was such a big fan of course with Mork and Mindy and then a lot of his films like Moscow on the Hudson and The World According to Garp which is a great film, I love that film.
And then one of my favorite films to this day is Dead Poet's Society. We would spend a lot of days talking about poetry and I became a poet after the film and I gave him a lot of props for kind of supporting me as a poet. But he was magic on set everyday and to see him work and to work with him to this day still kind of resonates with me.
Joe: Yeah, that's amazing. The last question I have is that if you were able to lend your voice to a character in any franchise which would you choose?
Dante Basco: There's so many great franchises out there. I always wanted to play Robin from Batman. I've auditioned for Robin so many times on screen and voice so many times and I always thought I could voice for Robin. So maybe Robin, the Boy Wonder? Robin, the Boy Wonder!
What do you think of our conversation with Dante? Do you think he would be a good fit to portray the boy wonder? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and get nostalgic with the intro to
Avatar: The Last Airbender below.
The Avatar upholds the balance between the nations, but everything changed when the Fire Nation invaded. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, can stop them. But when the world needs him most, he vanishes. A hundred years later Katara and Sokka discover the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang.
Avatar: The Last Airbender The Complete Series 15th Anniversary Limited Edition Steelbook Collection is available on Blu-ray and DVD and can be ordered here!