Toph is one of the legendary characters of Avatar: The Last Airbender. No, seriously, name another character who is as unapologetic, sassy, and powerful as her. She invented a new type of bending while imprisoned in a metal cell. If that’s not greatness, you need to get your eyes checked.
If anyone knows Toph inside out, then it’s Jessie Flower, the voice actor for Toph in the Avatar animation. In an interview with her, Flower revealed her observations of the character and how easy it is to mess it up.
Jessie Flower’s Advice to Netflix for Toph
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action performed well in its first season, but a pivotal character has yet to be introduced in the series. Toph Beifong, one of the strongest benders of her generation, has yet to make her debut, and you bet when she does appear, it will be a make-or-break scene for the show.
In an interview, Jessie Flower points out what she thinks is the most important factor in playing Toph.
“But at the end of the day, Toph Beifong is above anything else true to herself. She is a hundred thousand percent authentically herself. So, I think when making acting choices, you just follow your gut.”
If there was ever a character that needed actors to follow their guts, it was Toph. She is simple and straightforward in the most brutal way. She does not care how her words will be perceived and believes in stating what she thinks,
“She does everything with her gut. She can’t even see, so she literally does everything by feeling it out.”
Flower’s advice to Toph’s actor is to just react to something as it deserves. If something feels weird, they have to act like it’s weird. Toph is a grounded person (pun intended) who is extremely chill and relatable, and the actor needs to cater to their base instincts.
Toph’s Blindness Shouldn’t Be Her Personality Trait in Avatar: The Last Airbender Live-Action
Yes, Toph is a blind character. Yes, she does great things despite it. But in no way has she or any other main character in Avatar perceived her through the veil of disability. If anything, she uses her blindness to make a joke out of other characters.
The trope of overcoming one’s disability is overused and was never a theme in Toph’s character. She was born blind and achieved powers beyond the comprehension of common benders without ever thinking twice about the limitations placed on her.
From the very beginning, Toph has always accepted herself, even Jessie Flower admits to it. When individuals accept themselves to such an extreme degree, they never consider themselves short of others.
The struggles that Toph faced in the series were mainly due to her bratty nature. The argument with Katara and Aang, the gambling problem, and other scenes stand as proof of this. The only time she got captured, she invented metal bending to escape. She is iconic due to her powers, unique personality, and impact, not because of her blindness.
Netflix should thus wake up and recognize Toph’s talent. Otherwise, the result might be another disaster like the first Avatar movie.
You can watch Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action on Netflix.
