#pen15 series

[baldsponge]

''You are my actual rainbow gel pen in a sea of blue and black writing utensils''

[lexielivid]

He's sooo?????!??!

[moviefoodbloggg]

[makosita88]

pen15

[natlacentral]

Discipline is Key

DALLAS LIU, CONTRARY TO WHAT HIS NAME SUGGESTS, IS A LA-BORN AND RAISED ACTOR WHO PLAYS THE MOODY FIRE PRINCE ZUKO IN NETFLIX’S LIVE-ACTION AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER SERIES. HE GREW UP DOING MARTIAL ARTS FROM THE AGES OF 5 TO 13 AND WAS DISCOVERED ON YOUTUBE BY HIS MANAGER. WHEN HE ISN’T OUT DOING CRAZY STUNTS WHILE SHOOTING THE SHOW IN VANCOUVER, HE SPENDS TIME WITH HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS, WHO HE DISCERNS HIS HUMILITY TO, AND IS GRATEFUL TO HAVE A SUPPORT SYSTEM AS LOYAL AS THEM. AS THE SHOW WAS  RENEWED FOR A SECOND AND THIRD SEASON, WE REFLECTED WITH DALLAS LIU ON THE FIRST SEASON THAT CAME OUT IN APRIL, AND HOW HE WANTS TO WORK ON HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENTS.

You grew up doing martial arts. What have they taught you in life?

Martial arts gave me a lot of discipline in the things that I take on. Whether it's in school or doing acting, martial arts taught me how to remain calm, to really think out my process and to have the discipline to focus and practice. I always felt like it helped me develop my own way of doing things. 

 

How did you get into martial arts? Do you have any idols whose careers you admire?

I wish it was that serious, but it was the Power Rangers, Avatar: The Last Airbender and a few different animes. There was one sports athlete who went by the name of Sugar Shane Moseley, my friend’s dad who was a boxer, and when we saw him on TV, I got really invested in combat sports.

How did you juggle being a kid with having to be professionally present at competitions and on film production sets?

Martial arts is just like any other sport: you go to tournaments, you go to practices and then you go do your homework after school. And I think with acting, because I live far from Los Angeles, I'm like an hour’s drive out, and you would be surprised by how much it changes just by driving an hour out of the city. The world where I live is nothing like the online portrayal of what Los Angeles is. The people here, my friends and family, they kept me grounded so I don't think there's a real change in my lifestyle. I did treat it like something that I loved, so it didn't feel like work. I was still going to school, I was still hanging out with my friends on the weekends, it wasn't something that I moved across the world for. This was something that I cared for and that my parents were willing to support me in. But I wasn't working either, I was auditioning, don’t get me wrong, but I wasn’t like, “Yeah, man, just booked 5 seasons of a show and my parents are signing contracts for me.” It was nothing like that. I was very much a newbie actor. I think it wasn’t until PEN15 that I felt like I matured.

Speaking of PEN15, did you get what the show was about when you booked the role?

When I auditioned I had no idea that it was gonna be that funny, because with a concept like that, you really don’t know how it’s gonna turn out until the day of the shoot. But Maya and Anna are such comedic geniuses that they already knew, “Oh yeah, this is what we're doing,” and so seeing their confidence every day on set gave me a lot of comfort. When I was on set, I knew what was going on but it was weird because I was also the oldest of the actual teenagers, so they were making fun of me too. I was so confused, I was like, “Why do I feel old here too?”

Your role in PEN15 is quite different to the other roles in your acting career, what would you say that role taught you?

I would say comedic improvisation. There were some times when Anna and Maya would just let a take keep on going and I was in the scene. I would think, “Oh my gosh, we're still going? Okay then, you kind of just have to figure out how to roll along with it.”  But it was really watching them do their thing that helped me develop my own particular way of going about comedy. I became comfortable with the unexpected.

You were inspired to start martial arts because of Avatar: The Last Airbender and now fast-forward a few years you play Prince Zuko in the Netflix live-action remake. Were you excited to portray Zuko?

When I got the job, it really was just worlds colliding because I think Zuko is one of the best fictional and animated characters of all time, and I think that his character arc is up there with some of the best character arcs in TV history. So when I found out that it was this role, I was stoked. Also knowing that I would be able to use my martial arts background in the series, that's why it felt like I was able to combine my present and my past, just because I spent so much time doing martial arts. I’d done it from the ages of 5 to 13, and now I'm 22, so it felt like a long time for me, and I'm glad that I was able to you know use both of my skills for something that I love. They tried to hide the identity of the characters in the script. They gave us fake character names. So for example, Zuko’s fake name was Juno. But with the way the script was written, it was very clearly his character –  nobody else has daddy issues as bad as Zuko, in my opinion. But I think because I knew that it was Zuko, it definitely helped that I understood Zuko already so strongly because I favoured him so much as a child.

This is a long-awaited remake of a beloved animated series. How did you feel at the time it came out?

I was definitely more nervous than I had ever been in my entire life. This is certainly the biggest project I’ve ever done and also my first time being a series regular. I was terrified just because you carry a huge part of how people view the show and I am not sure I was ready for that. Leading up to that point, my character was always there for the other characters, to support the other characters, whereas then,  people were really going to be watching me. I was scared of being under a microscope for a very long time. It also didn’t help that the executives of our show didn't give us a sneak peek until like 2 weeks out. So we had no idea what our show was gonna look like for three years. We hadn't seen any playback footage. I was terrified, but knowing everyone else was also terrified, you know, me and the cast members really bonded and spent a lot of time with each other, finding comfort in those relationships that we had and also looking back at our hard work and effort. I started shooting the show when I was 19 and at the time of the release, I was 22. So not only did I feel like I had developed as an actor but I had just grown into a different person. I think I was scared but that pressure was a privilege in itself. I also knew that not many people would have the opportunity to feel responsible for the next generation of Avatar: The Last Airbender viewers that's why I felt also really excited for people to see my take on Zuko.

 

People often criticize remakes, specifically live-action ones. But as you said, when you’re doing a remake, you’re reintroducing characters to a newer generation, and that’s important to consider because kids nowadays maybe weren’t as affected and influenced by Avatar: The Last Airbender because it wasn’t an integral part of their childhood.

I was really excited for the new viewers. And with the original voice actor being so supportive of my take on the character, we just had a talk like a human being to human being and he told me…The words that he used were, “It’s your turn,” and it was sort of permission to make Zuko the way I see fit. Because some of the relationships might not be the same therefore that might change the character – he definitely has a little more attitude in our show, he’s a spoiled teenager. But that was also one thing that I had no idea how it was going to turn out. I was like, “Are we sure we like this version of Zuko?”

Zuko is quite a complex and hard-to-embrace character. Where did you draw inspiration from to portray the role?

To prepare, I obviously rewatched the show a bunch of times, but I only stuck to the first season because that’s what we were shooting. And then a lot of research online. There are so many character analysis videos and essays that you can find on the internet about Zuko, about his past and about the way he thinks. I just lived with that every day, there was always something new I was learning about him. For example, which side of his head he likes to sleep on. Because his scar is on the left side of his eye, he would sleep on his scar so he could hear better out of the other ear when he was with people he wasn’t comfortable around. But when it was people he was comfortable with, he didn’t mind sleeping on his other side and having his scar out. That was something super unique to Zuko. A performance I drew from was probably Adam Driver’s Ky Loren. 

 

Wait, the way he chooses to sleep, was that in the script or the original screenplay?

It’s a fan theory, it’s never explicitly stated but it’s something the viewers paid attention to when he’d go to bed. When you truly love a series, you pay attention to so many of those small scenes and that's what it was for me growing up. From Zuko’s facial expressions to his mannerisms, those were all things that I thought about with a lot of intention, especially when I was working with some of my co-stars.

What do you want people to take away from watching the series?

As cliché as this might be, I hope that this gives them a lot of hope in the adventure that they take on in life, the adventure that is life. And I think enjoying the adventure is all about the friendships and bonds that you create along the way, whether they are there forever or not. Our show has many different elements, you've got the heroes and you've got the questionable villains, and there are so many characters that you can relate to.

 

You’ve played in dramedies, crime series, Marvel movies and Netflix remakes. In what direction do you hope to go next?

I’m drawn to anime remakes. Have you heard of Death Note?

 

Of course! Who would you play though?

I love Death Note, I would be ok with Light or L, they’re both great characters. I think another genre I’d be interested in would be a dark thriller. I really love the film Oldboy.

[drunkenkissesatdusk]

MASTERLIST!

FORMULA 1

mv1 - made for lovin’ you baby

ls2 - nothing yet . . !

dr3 - nothing yet . . !

ln4 - nothing yet . . !

pg10 - nothing yet . . !

fa14 - nothing yet . . !

cl16 - nothing yet . . !

ls18 - nothing yet . . !

yt22 - soft

aa23 - nothing yet . . !

zg24 - nothing yet . . !

eo31 - nothing yet . . !

ob38 - nothing yet . . !

lh44 - nothing yet . . !

cs55 - nothing yet . . !

gr63 - labyrinth ( part one )

- labyrinth ( part two )

op81 - matching bracelets

MOVIES

donnie darko - doll

- baby

- relax!

dazed and confused - nothing yet . . !

it 2017 - nothing yet . . !

gran turismo - nothing yet . . !

batman begins - nothing yet . . !

evil dead rise - nothing yet . . !

the lost boys - nothing yet . . !

the conjuring - nothing yet . . !

the amazing spider-man (or spider-man overall) - nothing yet . . !

scott pilgrim vs. the world - nothing yet . . !

dinner in america

- are you flirting?

SHOWS

brooklyn nine-nine - nothing yet . . !

avatar the last airbender - nothing yet . . !

the walking dead - nothing yet . . !

the umbrella academy - nothing yet . . !

chilling adventures of sabrina - nothing yet . . !

a series of unfortunate events - nothing yet . . !

titans - nothing yet . . !

pen15 - nothing yet . . !

MISCELLANEOUS

dc universe - father of the year.

- defiance.

- mornin’ ( just jason )

- like like! ( just damian )

- you have kids? ( just damian )

- late nights ( just dick )

- number one ( just damian )

- safe haven ( just jason )

- summer’s over ( damian and jonathan )

anything else requested will either get their own part or will be placed down here! - nothing yet . . !

[inukastan1]

Mizu is voiced by Maya Erskine.

Maya is Japanese/American actress and writer. She’s known for her role in TV comedy series PEN15.

[musingsofad4ydreamer]

Pen15 Masterlist

Key

Fluff = 🥰 | Angst = 😢 | Hurt Comfort = 🩹 | Platonic = 🤝 | Familial = 🏠 Headcanons = 📝 | ABC Headcanons = 👩‍🏫 | Oneshot = 📘 | Series = 📚 AU = 🌎 | Songfic = 🎵 Male Reader = 💙 | Gender Neutral Reader = 💜 Story on hold = ✋ | Character on hold = 🔒

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shuji Ishii-Peters (Dallas Liu)

~ Still stuck in a dream ~

[leprosycock]

Tv shows/series recs?

the shivering truth, the midnight gospel, primal, venture bros, bojack horseman, aqua teen, moral orel, the curse, the rehearsal, bates motel, pen15, documentary now, devilman crybaby (2018), panty and stocking (american dub, it’s better), hellsing (so is the dub for this one, you need their accurate nationalities or it loses its touch a little), killing eve (just don’t watch the finale it’s fine pretend that it never happened). i don’t watch a lot of tv tbh

[eastrqwolfhard]

Hello!!My name's Livvie and I've been a writer since I was a little kid.I hope you all enjoy my writing and please remember that my first language is not english,even tho I'm pretty much a bilingual.

I will be writing for lots of fandoms but more for:

-The Black Phone

-It(2017)

-You are so not invited to my barmitzbah

-Pen15

-Mcu

-Fnaf movie

-Percy Jackson book series

-etc...

I will not write incest or sexual ab#se or big age gaps.

I can write smut,fluff,angst,and more...

Do your requests here!

[goldendecade303]

welcome to my blog

current interests: entourage, nathan for you, the rehearsal, goon (2011) , pen15, vice principals (hbo series), eastbound and down, the hangover trilogy (and some more i probably forgot)

DNI: if you're racist, homophobic, misogynistic, transphobic, stuff like that

[moviefoodbloggg]

[captainimfangirling]

Wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Mr and Mrs Smith but I'm 3 episodes in and so far it's entertaining. I'm not even a fan of the movie but Brad Pitts and Angelina Jolie's chemistry made up for it. I didn't think Maya Erskine and Donald Glover have good chemistry (I still don't think they but might opinion might change later on as I watch more episodes) but the story line made up for it.

I'll be honest I really wanted more of the former Mr and Mrs Smith (Alexander Skarsgard and Eiza Gonzalez) because even though they were on screen for a few minutes their chemistry was really good. Someone suggested they were the Mr and Mrs Smith from the movie and killed them off so they can continue which I hope isn't the case because that would be very sad.

What I do enjoy about the series is that it's different and doesn't feel like a remake but a different story in the same universe. Instead of them trying to kill each other they are working together. Instead of being skilled hitmen they aren't and make mistakes.

Like I said I wasn't a fan of the movie but gave it a chance because I'm a fan of Maya Erskine from PEN15. If you're a fan of that show you should give Mr and Mrs Smith on Amazon a chance.

[sapphire-writes]

Any tv series u recommend? :)

omg honored you asked 🥺 I haven’t been watching shows in a while tbh sometimes I go down a YouTube rabbit hole for a couple months haha but here below the cut are my faves (besides GOT/HOTD of course) ❤️

Succession

Never Have I Ever

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Outer Banks

Shadow and Bone

SATC

Yellowjackets

Sharp Objects

Big Little Lies

Little Fires Everywhere

Good Girls

Gossip Girl

HIMYM

Euphoria

PEN15

And so many more but these are the ones on my brain right now!

[natlacentral]

DALLAS LIU THRIVES UNDER PRESSURE

Few franchises have captured the imaginations of a generation as wholly as Nickelodeon's iconic Avatar: The Last Airbender, which ran for three seasons during the mid-2000s. Fewer still have demonstrated the series' ability to cross generational divides and maintain a lasting impact on the cultural psyche while continuing to enthrall successive generations as a touchstone of youth-oriented animation. Often regarded as one of the greatest narratives in television history, the show has spawned a massive and dedicated fanbase whose ethical boundaries have been imprinted by the mature yet sensitively portrayed moral quandaries presented therein. The world of Avatar draws upon Asian and Indigenous spiritual practices and traditional martial arts to construct an alternate reality where four nations, each attuned to one of the four elements (water, earth, fire, air), are home to different “bending” abilities—portions of their respective populations are connected to and able to control the element of their nation. The Avatar, capable of bending all four elements and serving as the human manifestation of spiritual light and peace, is tasked with maintaining balance between the nations and the spirit world as well as nurturing prosperity and peace. In its massive scope, the show touches upon a slew of issues including diplomacy, genocide, social responsibility, cultural conflict, ecology, and parental abuse—heavy material for a kids' show.

Given the entertainment industry’s recent streak of adaptations and reboots, it is no wonder that Netflix tuned in to the incredible demand for more Avatar. With the last attempt at live-action adaptation remembered as an unequivocal disappointment—the M. Night Shyamalan-directed 2010 film whiffed on its whitewashed casting and soulless direction—devoted fans followed the casting and production of the new miniseries closely in hopes for a vision truer to form. In the months leading up to the show’s release, conversation picked up immensely. The official trailer racked up over ten million views on YouTube and nearly two hundred thousand shares on Instagram alone, leaving the internet abuzz.

Avatar: The Last Airbender notably features an ensemble of characters who span across generations and the live-action casting follows suit (Gordon Cormier, portraying lead protagonist Aang, is only fourteen). Until now, Dallas Liu—who portrays the banished Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation—had been used to being one of the youngest on any project. His first role was in the 2009 martial arts film Tekken, released when he was only eight years old, and until now he was best known as Shuji, the older brother of Maya Erskine's seventh-grader in Pen15. “Most of the time when I'm going on set, I'm the most inexperienced person. I take the role of a student and try to pick everyone's brain and take in as much knowledge and wisdom as possible,” Liu points out. Now twenty-two years old, he found himself asking while filming Avatar, “‘How can I also be a leader [to the younger actors]?’ [I was] trying to mentor them to become professionals and how to handle themselves on set. I feel lucky enough for them to have let me into their hearts and allow me to take this role of an older sibling they can rely on.”

Although older than many of his fellow leads, Liu also had the opportunity to draw upon decades of experience through multiple seasoned actors in the ensemble, particularly scene partners Daniel Dae Kim (Zuko's father Ozai), Ken Leung (antagonist Commander Zhao) and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Zuko's uncle Iroh). While filming, Liu found the older cast members to not only be sources of wisdom but also grounded peers. “Those guys had set the bar for me in terms of what kind of person I wanted to be on set,” he recalls. “It wasn't like people [had to look] up to them. [They] all created an interesting environment where everyone was equal. That's the way it should always be. I think the way people felt valued by them was something I really wanted. I want to be like that, that's a real leader.”

When the show's cast was announced, many viewers were particularly interested in Liu's selection as fan favorite Zuko, an embattled and exiled warrior prince hunting down the titular Avatar in hopes of reconciling with his cold-hearted, world-conquering father, the authoritarian imperialist monarch Fire Lord Ozai. Zuko's character development drives much of the plot of the story, tracing a redemption arc parallel to his coming-of-age in a high-pressure, war-torn environment. Liu's portrayal is pivotal in bringing the story to the franchise's new format and charting a course from brutal angst to principled compassion. The conjunction of the show's immense hype and Zuko's plot-driving character arc resulted in a unique strain of pressure for Liu, himself an avid follower of the original series, in assuming the role.

“The first thing that I ever remember seeing of The Last Airbender was Zuko training on his boat with Iroh. I fell in love with the show,” Liu recalls. “It was one of the reasons I ended up taking part in martial arts,” which he practiced competitively throughout his childhood and led to his acting career after he was referred to audition for Tekken by one of his instructors.

As he considered the scope of responsibility in portraying Zuko and how to apply his own idiosyncrasies to the character, Liu turned to Dante Basco, the original voice actor. Basco, aware Liu had been inspired by the initial show in his youth, encouraged his younger counterpart to embrace the differences between live-action and cartoon animation. “Dante had certainly set a high bar. Instead of trying to match him, try to surpass it, [we] talked about it,” Liu recalls. “He said, ‘What you're going to do is different. By all means, you have your own experience of Zuko from your childhood as well.’”

Liu's precise training and familiarity with action and combat have played a key role in his acting career, as he has joined franchises such as Tekken, Mortal Kombat, and Marvel's Cinematic Universe in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Elemental bending is a central component of the world of Avatar, requiring the actors to study several different fighting styles. “They had us learn every single bending style to really differentiate,” Liu says. “We had an understanding so that on the day, they could make a certain shot work and we had to come up with something on our own.” The collaborative nature of the stunt work allowed Liu ample opportunity to impart his expertise to the other cast members. “We were in this boot camp,” he adds. “Helping the kids out, I was having a blast—just hanging out and kicking it because that stuff is like second nature to me.”

That blending of acting and martial arts in Avatar required Liu to reflect on the mortal nature of some of the circumstances in which Zuko finds himself. “You're going to do whatever it takes to come out of that situation,” he notes of some particularly perilous moments that he believes are more impactful in the live version. “I incorporated that into the fight scenes. Even the stunt team was willing to let me have some creative input.” At one point near the end of the season, for example, Commander Zhao tricks Zuko into boarding a boat rigged with explosives, causing Iroh and the rest of their naval forces to believe him dead. In the finale, their conflict comes to a head in a battle to the death; as Zuko is rocked by a revelation from Zhao, the commander goes for the kill. “In the animation, people forget,” Liu adds. “This is a life or death situation!”

If you ask Liu, he and Zuko share a proclivity for absorption in their endeavors. “It's almost two-and-a-half years since we started shooting the show. I've definitely grown more as a person, and when I was growing as a person, that also developed my acting,” the actor notes. “I was like, ‘I'm going to come into work, I'm going to stay focused.’ It wasn't because I didn't like anyone, it was because I was scared of getting distracted. I understood the responsibility and the pressure that came with doing this.”

Avatar: The Last Airbender is now streaming on Netflix.