by Laura Janota, Reporter

This past weekend at C2E2, three talented voice actors got together to celebrate Avatar the Last Airbender’s 15th anniversary panel. While Dante Basco (voice of Zuko) and Jack de Sena (voice of Sokka) are no strangers to the con scene, this was Zach Tyler Eisen’s (voice of Aang) first convention ever, and his presence made this cast reunion extra special. 

At the time of recording, all three actors knew the show was good, but they had no idea it would touch so many fans, nor did they anticipate it would see such a renaissance in 2020 when Netflix aired it. From the renaissance, Avatar Studios formed and now plans on releasing an animated TV show featuring the adult members of the “Gaang”, a live action movie of Avatar the Last Airbender, and more content to expand the Avatar universe. What the voice actors thought was just a job they did 15 years ago, continues to touch the lives of fans across the globe. 

Dante Basco reflected on his time working with Mako (voice of Iroh) and it was hard not to see the parallels of Zuko following in the footsteps of his wise Uncle Iroh. Dante Basco looked up to Mako for his acting prowess and his commitment to lifting fellow asian american actors up in a media landscape with very little asian representation. Frustrated with the lack of roles for asian american actors, Mako created the West East Players theater to exclusively feature asian american artists. Dante Basco expressed that it’s his responsibility to continue Mako’s legacy of fostering representation by producing and directing asian american films himself such as The Fabulous Filipino Brothers (2021).

Watching Jack de Sena on stage, it was hard to see where Sokka began and Jack ended – both character and voice actor seemed intertwined. Just as Sokka was “just a guy who likes comedy”, Jack de Sena took on the role as comic relief during the entire panel, circling back to a joke about a show where the Gaang opens their own tea shop. Jack didn’t just use comedy for comic relief, he used it to maneuver the conversation so Zach Tyler Eisen felt more at ease in an environment he’d never been in before, and that was classy as hell. He also encouraged aspiring artists to “be a non-bender in a world of benders” – to put yourself in situations where you can learn from masters to get better at your craft. 

As a fan, I hope Zach Tyler Eisen feels welcomed in the geek community. With his reference to feeling like he was in the last scene of Tar, he didn’t hide the fact that he felt uncomfortable in front of a giant audience of cosplayers. Zach Tyler Eisen famously removed himself from the Avatar fandom up until very recently, and this panel shed some light as to why. During the voice recording of the show, Zach wasn’t in the California studio with the other actors, he recorded his lines in a studio in New York completely alone. It’s a testament to the voice actors and editors to make the character conversations sound so expressive and dynamic when they recorded separately. While he didn’t say it outright, it’s not a far leap to guess that Zach never felt the camaraderie the other voice actors had because he was physically so disconnected from them. He expressed his shock that the show saw such a resurgence when it aired on Netflix, and since then he’s come out of his shell and started to embrace the impact he’s helped make on fans all over the world. 

Watch the full C2E2 panel here, or catch them at a convention near you. The voice actors continue their 15 Year Reunion Tour at conventions throughout the year. 

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