Gordon Cormier Says 16-Year-Old Aang Is Almost a New Person in Avatar Season 2

Q: Is embracing an actor's growth a new blueprint for shows with young stars, or a gamble that only worked for 'Avatar'?

It is not a universal blueprint yet; it is a smart but situational strategy that happened to fit “Avatar” unusually well. What worked for Netflix’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender” is the rare alignment between production reality and story design. Gordon Cormier aged from 12 to 16 between seasons, and the showrunners chose to acknowledge that openly rather than disguise it. Because Season 2 adapts the darker, more emotionally demanding “Book 2,” Aang looking and sounding older supports the material instead of undermining it. Filming Seasons 2 and 3 back-to-back also reduced the long-gap risk. That does not mean every youth-led series can copy it. Many shows depend on compressed timelines, where only weeks or months pass in the story while years pass in real life. In those cases, a visible growth spurt can break continuity. That is why television has often relied on older actors playing younger characters, or on styling, camera work and scheduling to mask age changes. The industry examples are numerous, from “Hannah Montana” to “Never Have I Ever” and “Pretty Little Liars.” The broader lesson is narrower than a blueprint: if a series is already a coming-of-age story, if its tone matures over time, and if producers can plan production tightly, embracing visible aging can add honesty and emotional credibility. If the narrative requires children to remain essentially unchanged, it is still a gamble. So “Avatar” is better seen as a strong case study, not a new rule for Hollywood.

3 articles · Updated · tvline.com · Jun 25

Cormier, now 16, said Aang feels "almost a completely new person" in Season 2 after the more than two-year gap since Netflix released Season 1.
That jump is visible on screen: Cormier was 12 when Season 1 began filming, and showrunners said they chose to acknowledge his height and deeper voice rather than hide them.
Jabbar Raisani and Christine Boylan said the change helps the series, because Book 2 pushes Aang and his friends into darker, more physically and emotionally complex material.
Netflix is already treating that maturation as part of the longer arc, with Season 2 now streaming and a third and final season already renewed.