'The Legend Of Aang: The Last Airbender' Casting Director Admits Casting Decisions Were Made Due To Woke Ideology And DEI Policies

May 03, 2025

Jenny Jue, the casting director for Paramount’s upcoming animated film The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender admitted she cast the film due to woke ideology and DEI policies.

During an Ask Me Anything on the Movies Subreddit, Jue was asked, “Is there any reason why you guys decided not to bring the original cast back for the ultimate nostalgia trip? The characters' voices are just so iconic and distinct I find it hard to really accept anyone else in their roles.”

She replied, “I told Mike and Bryan that I understood how important it was to get this right for them and for the fans~ because I’m a fan too, also my favorite IP!”

Next, she admitted, “Since the original show was released, there’s been more emphasis in VO to match actors’ ethnic/racial background to the characters they’re portraying. ATLA is a fictional world, but there are cultural influences for each nation/kingdom, and we wanted to explore the talent from those groups.”

Jue concluded, “I can’t say much more about it the film, except that I’m really proud of this cast and I hope the other fans keep an open mind to this new iteration of our beloved characters!”

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This is not at all surprising. Casting director Sophie Holland, who has done work on Netflix’s Wednesday, The Witcher, Shadow and Bone as well as Prime Video’s The Peripheral had previously admitted back in 2023 she used her position to push her ideology and political worldview.

In an interview as part of Jenelle Riley’s Acting Up newsletter that was subsequently published by Variety, Holland said, “You can affect change in whatever tiny way because you are in people’s homes and they’re watching this world. And that sort of solidified when I had a child, she’s five now, and I thought how hard it is to be a girl.”

“I remember thinking I have to help her because she’s going to come under attack, just like I did, just because she’s a girl,” Holland elaborated. “Maybe she’ll be lucky and get to nine before somebody calls her a b***h. And it made me so sad that she was going to experience that and I couldn’t protect her from that.”

“But what I could do is change the way people see women through casting. I can make them powerful and empowering and then the floodgates will open to them,” she asserted.

She then shared how she applies this to all of her jobs, ““I do apply this theory to everything and it makes me push boundaries a little harder because I think representation is important. Not just for women, but all minority groups.”

“Like, people have different physical abilities and I think it’s important they’re seen in strong and fierce roles. Realizing this was a real moment of falling in love with my craft in a way that feels very specific to me,” she said.

She even went on to explain how she did this with the casting of Yennefer in The Witcher series, “I am always the first to champion diversity in all its glory. One that springs to mind was the character of Yennefer on The Witcher. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is the showrunner and we work so well together and she’s so open to conversations.”

“In the book, she’s described as the most beautiful woman in the world. This was a few years ago and I’d like to think things have changed. But when you think about people’s unconscious bias – especially in the fantasy world, it felt like these worlds were predominantly white. And I remember saying, ‘I feel like we need to challenge what people think of as the standard of beauty. And having a woman of color in this role does incredibly powerful things to the people watching,” she admitted.

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The Legend Of Aang: The Last Airbender was announced back in June 2022 as the first of three films with director Lauren Montgomery attached. Original Avatar co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino are also attached and producing the film.

Paramount and Nickelodeon Animation President Ramsey Naito said at the time, “As original creators Mike and Bryan expand the Avatar universe with us, we’re keeping it all in the family with Lauren bringing the same kind of expert, beautiful work she did on the original series to her new directing duties on the forthcoming theatrical.”

Actress Janet Varney, who voiced Korra in the Legend of Korra sequel, revealed that the film would focus on Aang and his friends as adults. She said, “The first feature length movie focusing on Avatar Aang and his friends.”

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A year later and Paramount revealed at Cinema Con that Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and Toph would be in their late 20s and early 30s for the film.

The cast currently includes Eric Nam as Aang, Jessica Matten as Katara, Dante Basco as Zuko, Román Zaragoza as Sokka, and Dionne Quan as Toph Beifong.

This is completely different from the original animated show’s cast. Aang was played by Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman voiced Katara, Jack De Sena played Sokka, and Michaela Jill Murphy played Toph. Dante Basco is the only one to reprise his role as Zuko.