Mick Foley, Mark Hamill, And 14 Other Voices You May Recognize While Rewatching 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'
I just completed my rewatch of this series (which still holds up as one of the better animated ones ever by the way) but with one major difference in viewing experience compared to when I was a kid. This time, I was religiously googling every voice I heard that sounded even vaguely familiar to see if they were a famous actor doing a guest spot. Beyond some of the ones that I already knew, there were some pretty surprising results. Note: Sorry I had to make a burner and embed all the comp pictures as tweets, but blame copyright laws.
Ming (Serena Williams)
The motherfucking champ herself! She was apparently a huge fan of the show and requested a cameo from the showrunners after season 2.
Mako (Uncle Iroh)
Mako is a guy that might not be instantly recognizable to younger people, but he had big roles in 'Conan the Barbarian', 'The Sand Pebbles', and 'Seven Years in Tibet'. If you're a fan of another awesome cartoon by the name of 'Samurai Jack', he is the voice of Aku in that. RIP king.
Dante Basco (Prince Zuko)
While maybe not instantly recognizable, Basco played Rufio in 'Hook' and voiced Jake Long in ' American Dragon: Jake Long'.
Ron Perlman (Firelord Sozin)
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I mean, who doesn't love Ron Perlman. Whether you're a fan of SOA ,'Hellboy' guy or his various other roles and voice work, you know he's the shit.
Mark Hamill (Sozin)
I think most people are aware that Hamill has had a prolific voice-acting career post-Star Wars. I think his Joker performance in 'Batman: The Animated Series' is one of his more recognizable roles, but he also kills it in Avatar as the sadistic fire lord.
Jason Isaacs (Zhao)
Jason Isaacs is one of the most underappreciated actors in Hollywood. He's the perfect bad guy (The Patriot, Harry Potter) and he is also completely hysterical when given the opportunity(The Death of Stalin).
Phil Lamarr (Earth King)
Non-cartoon watchers probably know him best from either getting his brains blown out in 'Pulp Fiction' or his part in Mad TV. Cartoon watchers like myself will recognize his voice from, well, everything. Name a famous cartoon and he probably had a role in it at some point.
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Kevin Michael Richardson (Tyro) and Clancy Brown (Long Feng)
KMR and Clancy Brown are two of the most distinct voices in Hollywood, and I don't really think either of them gets the recognition they deserve for it. You'll recognize KMR from voicing the Joker in the 2004 animated Batman series, multiple roles in McFarlane shows like Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show, and more. Brown is the voice of Mr. Krabs in Spongebob, as well as his live-action roles in 'Highlander' and 'Starship Troopers'.
Robert Patrick ( Piandao)
The motherfucking T-1000, man. Would T2 have been as successful without him? I don't think so. He trained himself to shoot without blinking or flinching to look more robotic.
Rene Auberjonois (Mechanist)
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I will always recognize Auberjonois as Odo from DS9, but other people might recognize him as the preacher from 'The Patriot' who died and threw his gun up to Heath Ledger so he could shoot Jason Isaacs (featured above). He also had plenty of roles in TV shows and was a fantastic stage actor. He also lent his voice to a bunch of other animated series and also video games, and you may know him as Mr. House from Fallout: New Vegas (one of my favorite games ever). RIP king.
James Hong (Mayor Tong)
James Hong has one of the longest and most expansive filmographies you will ever see. You will definitely remember his voice as the dickhead administrator from 'Mulan', which you can see they modeled his Avatar character after a little bit. He also lent his voice to the "Kung Fu Panda' franchise, the Jackie Chan Adventures, and much more. In live-action, he had a role in 'Blade Runner', 'Big Trouble in Little China', and a lot of TV shows.
Mick Foley (The Boulder)
The Boulder was always one of my favorite roles in the show because of how funny it was. Finding out Cactus Jack was behind the voice was a huge treat for me.
George Takei (Warden)
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Maybe out of all the voice actors here, Takei is the most instantly recognizable.
Daniel Dae Kim (General Fong)
When him and his wife died in LOST, man that hurt. Besides LOST, he has appeared in a bunch of other TV roles. Both he and Grace Park famously quit 'Hawaii Five-0' a few years ago because CBS refused to pay them equally with Scott Caan and Alex O’Loughlin. Baller move, in my opinion.
Grey DeLisle (Azula)
Name a cartoon you watched growing up, and Grey DeLisle was probably behind the mic at some point. The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and much more. She was also in a ton of video games for all you gamers out there.
Make sure to tune in tonight for our fictional 5v5 basketball matchups. If it's anything like last time, it should be an hour of us all laughing and Coley getting pissed off as hell. Who doesn't love that?