At 10 years old, Miyako couldn’t imagine herself playing Toph Beifong — mostly because the lifelong Avatar: The Last Airbender devotee couldn’t fathom getting to reimagine the fan-favorite earthbending master for live action. Now she’s realizing she may be many new fans’ first Toph.
“When they started releasing less press stuff and more actual in-character clips, it kind of hit me,” Miyako tells Tudum shortly before the premiere of Season 2, which is streaming now. “I realized that I will be some generation’s version of Toph before they see the animated series. And that’s wild.”
Bringing the beloved earthbender to life required Miyako to master new skills: a physical vocabulary, intricate stunt choreography, vision-obscuring contact lenses, and even some oversize silicone feet. She spent six weeks in “Toph training” with blindness consultant Joe Strechay and his assistant, Cara Lee Hrdlitschka. Miyako learned precise details, such as how Toph might measure a stair with her foot or check the level of tea in a cup.
Miyako first began to feel like her character during her camera test, when all the preparation came together with Toph’s iconic hair, costume, and makeup. But she says the performance continued evolving throughout Season 2 and Season 3, which has already wrapped filming.
“There wasn’t really one moment where it was, ‘Ah, yes, this is what it is,’” Miyako says. “It was so many people and so many different layers coming together.” Read on for more secrets about building a new version of the legendary character.
Toph Beifong is a blind earthbending master. Born to a wealthy family, Toph leaves her cushy lifestyle to become Avatar Aang’s (Gordon Cormier) earthbending teacher in Season 2. Though her tough and blunt communication style initially causes friction on Team Avatar, she eventually helps Aang see the world from a new perspective and becomes a crucial member of the gaang.
Long before Miyako first donned Toph’s signature green headband, she began learning how the character would move through the world.
For six weeks before filming, Miyako trained with Strechay and his team, as well as the cast’s acting coach, Sara Arrington. Miyako took the responsibility seriously. “There are talented blind actresses. There are talented blind martial artists,” she says. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to portray this wrong. I don’t want to represent this community poorly.’”
Strechay attended Miyako’s stunt rehearsals, acting rehearsals, private practice sessions, and days on set. Rather than handing Miyako a list of mannerisms, he focused on helping her understand the lived experiences of blind and low-vision people. “We want children who are blind or low vision to watch this show and see themselves in the character,” says Strechay. “Even with all the bending and superpowers, I really wanted to make sure that young people who are watching the show see themselves in Toph.”
“Every note he gave me was confidence-inspiring and helpful,” Miyako says. “He was so focused on making sure I was educated so that I was confident in my own portrayal.”
Miyako didn’t exactly get to ease into playing Toph. Her first day of filming centered on the character’s much-anticipated showdown with the Boulder (Kelemete Misipeka). When Miyako reached this scene during the first table read, the impact of her introduction became clear. “I was like, ‘Oh, darn. Wow, we’re in it,’” she says. “And that was also going to be my first day on set. I was like, ‘Oh, that doesn’t add pressure at all.’”
Miyako spent roughly a week and a half rehearsing the fight choreography, both independently and with Misipeka. At that point in production, she also had to execute the sequence while wearing contact lenses she couldn’t see through. “I have to know how this feels,” she remembers thinking. “I have to know what this is going to be. Otherwise, I won’t be able to execute — and I need to execute.”
As a longtime fan of the animated series, Miyako felt the weight of getting the scene right. She worked closely with the stunt team to refine individual moves, suggesting variations when an action didn’t feel true to Toph.
“I remember obsessing over it to make sure that it was perfect,” she says. “The big thing about Toph is her confidence, and I needed to develop and embody that for that scene.”
The support from Strechay, his team, and the stunt coordinators — including Alan Tang and Dean Choe — kept the pressure from turning into nerves.
“I went into it ready,” Miyako says. “It was just like, ‘Can I deliver? Can I be on top of this and get this done?’”
Some of the most important contributions from Strechay and the team were the subtleties. Even if the camera didn’t capture all the movements, they were crucial to Miyako’s understanding of Toph’s experience.
For example, when Toph comes to a staircase, she sometimes uses her foot to gauge the height of the next step before continuing. “Toph can technically see through vibration and through her earthbending,” Miyako says. But without a cane or sight stick, the gesture became another practical way for the character to orient herself. “We spent a lot of time going up and down the stairs of our production office, making sure that was something I could do and feel confident.”
Tea presented another opportunity for authenticity — and, in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, there is plenty of tea being sipped. In many scenes, Miyako places a finger just inside the rim of the cup, allowing Toph to measure the liquid and sense its temperature. “Joe [Strechay] and me and Cara Lee [Hrdlitschka] and Sara [Arrington] were so dedicated to making sure these things were there,” explains Miyako, “even if the camera didn’t see them.”
For Miyako, gestures as small as feeling the heat of the tea were about ensuring that Toph’s life came across as specific and authentic. “We poured our all into it,” she says. (Editor’s note: It’s unclear if the pun was intended).
Miyako’s favorite element of Toph’s costume was also the most immediately recognizable: the headband.
But the actor became attached to the entire process of dressing as Toph. Rather than leaving it all to the costume team, Miyako chose to put on much of the look herself, including the leather pieces laced around her wrists and feet.
“I did all of my dressing myself because it was helpful for me to get into character,” she says. The process initially took around 20 minutes, though she became faster as filming went on. The costume team repeatedly offered to help with the lacing, but showing that she has much in common with the fiercely independent Toph, Miyako declined. “I was like, ‘No, no, no. Don’t worry about it. I need to do it,’” she says.
Toph’s connection to the earth meant Miyako spent much of her training and filming without shoes, but some unforgiving locations required more protection.
Enter the fake feet.
“We also had to build feet for her so that she could actually be ‘barefoot’ in environments like mud and cold and slush,” says costume designer Christopher Hargadon. “She actually has a pair of foot-shoes on. One of our brilliant modelers in our build department [created] those.”
The protective layer helped insulate Miyako from freezing surfaces and other dangers, but it came with one major drawback: she could no longer feel the ground beneath her, which is an essential way that Toph interacts with the earth. “I think I fought them so many times on wearing them because they create this layer of cushion that makes it impossible to feel anything under your foot,” she says.
After weeks of barefoot training, the difference was disorienting. “I looked like a hobbit,” Miyako says. “I’m already short. Toph is scrappy, so she’s already kind of dirty looking, and those just added to the effect.” Director Amit Gupta, Miyako recalls, gave a more succinct assessment: “They’re grotesque.”
Still, the fake feet served their purpose. “They definitely saved me from freezing in some of the scenes,” Miyako says.
At least she wasn’t alone. Misipeka also wore prosthetic feet while performing the Boulder’s scenes — and, like Miyako, handled much of his own stunt work. “We bonded over the fact that we both had random silicone and plastic feet,” Miyako says.
Watch Toph in action in Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2, streaming now, only on Netflix.
