Posted 29 minutes agoSubscribe to Screen Time NewsletterCaret Down"I Ended Up Really Sobbing": Grey DeLisle On Finding The Humanity In Azula, And The Powerful "Avatar: The Last Airbender" FinaleIconic voice actor Grey DeLisle reflects on bringing the Fire Nation princess to life, and how Azula's tragic finale still moves her 20 years later.by Andrew FirrioloBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLink Azula is hands down one of the most iconic characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon Animation Studios To celebrate the show's 20th anniversary, we're spotlighting the voices and creators behind the beloved series. Introduced in Season 2, Azula quickly cemented herself as a cold, calculating, and ruthless villain who would stop at nothing to achieve her goals.
Legendary voice actor Grey DeLisle brought both the terrifying and witty sides of the Fire Nation princess to life, delivering some of the most memorable quotes in the entire series. Her performance of Azula's emotional breakdown during the final Agni Kai remains one of the most powerful moments I've ever seen on television. To reflect on bringing such a complex character to life, I sat down with Grey to talk about Azula's evolution, the joy of playing a villain, and what it was like watching Avatar for the first time nearly 20 years later.
Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Spike and the Camera / Via Grey DeLisle Grey took a "calmer" approach in her Azula audition, which helped her stand out. Nickelodeon Animation Studios Grey: When I started Avatar, I had just finished playing Padme Amidala for Star Wars: Clone Wars, the series Genndy Tartakovsky did at Cartoon Network. Padme was also a princess so I thought I could use a similar voice for Azula, but make the voice a little darker and kind of evil-sounding. The speech I had to do for her audition was (in Azula's voice) "Do the tides command this ship? You should worry less about the tides who've already made up their mind about killing you, and worry more about me, who's still mulling it over." I just thought, "I'm not going to yell at them. I'm going to be very calm and creepy!" Apparently a lot of people yelled in their auditions, and I didn't, which made me creepier! Grey was really crying when Azula broke down during the Agni Kai. Nickelodeon Animation Studios Grey: I always thought of Azula as just a villain all the way until the final Agni Kai. That was where it sort of all came together for me, of what a tragic character I was playing. A lot of empathy came up for me around that scene, and I ended up really sobbing. It was this big burst of emotion that came forth, and I was crying in between takes. [Voice Director] Andrea Romano was like, "Are you going to be okay? Do you need to take a break?"I think I had repressed that for a while. There's a lot of mental illness in my family, so that scene was really close to the bone for me. I felt a great swell of empathy for folks who suffer with mental illness.
It all came together, all the work that I'd done up to that point with Azula. It was a real catharsis for me as an actor. Grey recorded often with Dante Basco [Zuko], Olivia Hack [Ty Lee], and even Mark Hamill [Ozai]. Nickelodeon Animation Studios Grey: I was often in the booth with Dante and Mark. I love Mark so much - I had worked with him on several other projects, such as playing Catwoman, and he was the Joker. I also worked a lot with Olivia Hack, who played Ty Lee. Andrea Romano is the best voiceover director in history. There are several amazing directors out there, but she's definitely one of the top, and also a good friend. I love her so much! She really assembled many fine film actors mixed in with the voiceover people. I'm also still really good friends with Michaela Murphy, who played Toph. It's been so fun to watch her grow up, and now she's this badass woman. I loved working with her on Avatar. Grey's favorite things about portraying Azula: Nickelodeon Animation Studios Grey: I love the quotable quality of Azula! One of my favorites is (in Azula's voice), "Don't flatter yourself, you were never even a player!" There are so many good quotes to choose from. It's so cool that many people want her to have a redemption arc, but I really love that she's just a villain. There aren't enough villains anymore. Everybody's got some backstory where you're supposed to feel bad for them, and I do feel a little bit bad for her! Obviously she didn't have the best parental guidance, and she probably could have used some medication, but it's so fun to have just a villain.
BuzzFeed: You've played villains like Azula and Vicky from The Fairly OddParents, and heroes like Emily Elizabeth from Clifford! Which do you prefer?Grey: Villains are way more fun to play! I used to have to take breaks in the middle of playing Emily Elizabeth to just cuss! (Laughs) In the show, Emily's friend Jetta treated Emily so terribly - so I would call her names between takes just to get it off my che