Arden Cho didn’t feel ‘tough enough’ for ‘Avatar.’ Then she got into June’s shoes

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who’s ever held their head a little higher after trying out a new look.

As Arden Cho explains in this week’s Guest Spot, that was the effect of transforming physically into June, the intimidating bounty hunter she plays in Netflix’s live-action adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” — a character she had previously not felt “tough enough,” or “cool enough,” to play. Find the rest of our interview and three streaming recommendations for your weekend below in Screen Gab No. 120.

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Jodie Foster in “True Detective: Night Country.”

(Michele K. Short / HBO)

Who (or what) killed the scientists? Issa López explains the ‘True Detective: Night Country’ finale: The showrunner of HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country” discussed who was behind the deaths of the Tsalal scientists and Annie K., and what happens to Navarro and Danvers.

The SAG Awards want ‘the Netflix bump.’ Success could transform awards season: The 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday will be Netflix’s highest-profile live event to date. Experts say it has the potential to be a win for both parties.

Playing Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X ‘terrified’ the stars of ‘Genius: MLK/X’: Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre, stars of National Geographic’s “Genius: MLK/X,” say they had to overcome their doubts to portray the civil rights leaders. The final two episodes run Thursday.

Sam Waterston talks about his final ‘Law & Order’ episode and Jack McCoy’s ‘beautiful exit’: On Thursday, Waterston bid farewell to his signature role as Manhattan Dist. Atty. Jack McCoy on “Law & Order” after 19 seasons and 405 episodes spread over 30 years.

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Alan Tudyk in “Resident Alien.”

(SYFY)

“Resident Alien” (Syfy)

In that science fiction is a frame through which to view our absurd ordinary selves, it’s a natural venue for comedy and satire. In the hilarious, antic yet emotionally grounded Syfy series “Resident Alien” — whose first two seasons have recently come to Netflix, just as a third commences on Syfy — an extraterrestrial inelegantly disguised as a human (Alan Tudyk, brilliantly odd) falls to Earth near a Colorado mountain hamlet. It’s a small-town comedy, albeit one in which the fate of the world hangs in the balance, featuring an array of well-drawn characters involved in friendships, romances and intrigues. As with all fish-out-of-water stories, the fish (or giant humanoid space lizard) will grow increasingly used to the air, and his temperamental aloneness will war with his increasing need for community, while his love-hate relationship with humanity, its pop culture and food, evolves. — Robert Lloyd

Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal in “All of Us Strangers.”

(Parisa Taghizadeh / Searchlight Pictures)

“All of Us Strangers” (Hulu)

With “All of Us Strangers,” the most nakedly emotional film in his oeuvre and his first explicitly queer project since 2016, filmmaker Andrew Haigh (“Weekend,” “Looking”) turns his perceptive treatment of gay social and sexual mores inward. Adapting Taichi Yamada’s 1987 novel “Strangers” to his own sensibilities, the writer-director spotlights a lonely, middle-aged screenwriter named Adam (“Fleabag’s” Andrew Scott), who returns to his childhood home in search of inspiration for a new, deeply personal script. In the process, he steps through the looking glass, reconnecting with his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell), who died in a car accident when he was about 12, and sparking an intense affair with Harry (Paul Mescal), seemingly the only other tenant in his high-rise apartment building. The result, the finest film of 2023, is part family melodrama, part intergenerational gay romance, part ghost story — and acutely heartbreaking all the way through. Indeed, for many gay men of Haigh’s generation (and my own), “All of Us Strangers” manages, at long last, to express the inexpressible: all we didn’t say and still haven’t, and maybe can’t and probably won’t. — Matt Brennan

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Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery, Fantasia Barrino as Celie and Danielle Brooks as Sofia in “The Color Purple.”

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Believe it or not, I genuinely consider one of 2023’s most jubilant movies to be “The Color Purple” (Max). This retelling of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel — about the tribulations and triumph of Celie (Fantasia Barrino), a poor Black woman living in the rural South in the early 1900s — brings the inspired songs from the crowd-pleasing Broadway musical to the screen. While watching the movie on the big screen back in October, I found myself elated not only by the story and the performances, but also by the indisputable beauty of its vibrant visuals, from stunning shots of sun-soaked flower fields to Taraji P. Henson’s dance sequence, illuminated only by the moonlight.

I was also delighted that the latest adaptation makes some notable corrections to Steven Spielberg’s film which, though nominated for 11 Oscars, has been the subject of criticism since its 1985 release. This time, the movie is notably up front about Celie’s queerness, offers more nuanced characterizations of the story’s Black men and dwells less on Celie’s abuse than on her ascendance from difficult circumstance. (Still, the movie pays tribute to Spielberg’s take with a symbolic surprise cameo.)

And then there is the sheer brilliance of Oscar-nominated supporting actress Danielle Brooks. When she played the role of gutsy Sofia onstage, her rousing rendition of “Hell No!” regularly earned her mid-show standing ovations — and rightfully. Onscreen, “it’s Brooks who waltzes in and steals the whole movie out from under everyone else,” wrote film critic Katie Walsh. “She brings fire, humor and grit to a character who undergoes a dramatic, tragic arc. Her ‘Hell No’ is a barn-burner of a song, and Brooks makes the most of her screen time, electrifying every frame she’s in.” Don’t be surprised if you too find yourself applauding her from your living room. — Ashley Lee

Guest spot

A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching

Arden Cho, from left, Dallas Liu and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee in “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”

(Netflix)

Netflix has made something of a cottage industry from live-action adaptations of beloved animated properties, turning out both blockbusters (“One Piece”) and flops (“Cowboy Bebop”). But none, perhaps, have come with the same pressure as “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” premiering Friday on Netflix: After all, though the original Nickelodeon series, which ran from 2005 to 2008, has spawned a long-lasting multimedia franchise, the one previous attempt at a live-action version, M. Night Shyamalan’s 2010 feature, was a notorious disappointment. This time, though, there are no “Kids-R-Us” vibes in sight — as evidenced by Arden Cho’s jet-black get-up as June, the most fearsome bounty hunter in the land. Cho stopped by Screen Gab recently to discuss her transformation into June, her TV-viewing “guilty pleasure” and more. — Matt Brennan

What have you watched recently that you are recommending to everyone you know?

I loved “The Brothers Sun” [Netflix]. I binged the whole series in a day, it was so fun to watch. It’s got action, comedy, romance… a little bit of something for everyone. I hope the show gets multiple seasons, and I’d love to be a villain on it!

What is your go-to “comfort watch,” movie or TV show you go back to again and again?

“Law & Order SVU” [Peacock, Hulu], my guilty pleasure! I feel like I’ve seen every episode multiple times. I also love watching older movies like “Pretty Woman” [Hulu, Fubo], “What Women Want” [Paramount+], “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” [Fubo, Pluto, Paramount+], “Moulin Rouge” [VOD]... You know, old-school, feel-good classics.

In “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” you play June, known as the finest bounty hunter in the world. What was your favorite part of getting into character?

It’s honestly my favorite role I’ve ever stepped into. The entire process was so amazing and I have to say the costumes are just incredible. I remember reading June’s dialogue and never quite feeling tough enough or cool enough. But once I put on her wardrobe, I was like “Oh I got this, I am June!” They say the shoes make the girl, but those boots definitely make June a bounty hunter.

The live-action remake is based on Nickelodeon’s animated original. Which animated series or movie would you love to see transformed into live action, whether you would want to act in it or not?

Can I choose a comic? I can’t wait to see “Silk” come to life. Not sure if it’s still happening but if Cindy Moon is in live-action form — I would love to web through the town swinging from one high rise to the next!