Even More Avatar! 📺
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Episode 101 Description
The Ten News Screen Report is entering the Avatarverse! 📺 Listen to Korra and Prince Zuko, known in real life as Janet Varney and Dante Basco, talk about their new podcast Avatar: Braving the Elements. 🔥 Listen as they share what it was like to be part of the Avatar world and what to expect on their new podcast where they share behind the scenes stories of Avatar: The Last Airbender. 🌊 Then, get the latest news out of E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo. 🎮 And do you know what Xbox unveiled? Find out in today’s trivia on the Ten! 🧐
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TRANSCRIPT:
Various Voices 0:00
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Bethany Van Delft 0:07
I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's June 26. And this is no ordinary episode of The Ten News. This is The Ten News gets extra.
On Tuesday, we shared our interview with Janet Varney and Dante Basco, the hosts of the new podcast, "Avatar: Braving the Elements." We had so much to discuss about what it was like to be in the avatar universe as the voice of Korra and the voice of Zuko. Here's our full interview where we go deep into the tough questions, like, what animal hybrid would you make? Thank you so much for giving us your time today. We're so excited that you could join us. Could you introduce yourselves for our listeners?
Janet Varney 1:00
Hey, I'm Janet Varney. I am one of the hosts of the new Nickelodeon podcast, Braving the Elements about all things avatar-verse that means the last airbender, Legend of Korra and everything in between and after, and I am also the voice of Korra.
Dante Basco 1:17
And I'm Dante Basco, the voice of Prince Zuko on Avatar the Last Airbender, and co host, with Miss Janet Varney and braving the elements. We're going to the whole show from beginning and really sharing our experiences going reliving it with you guys.
Bethany Van Delft 1:31
Both of you have done so many cool and awesome things. I would love to hear from both of you. Just a little bit about what you've done.
Janet Varney 1:42
Let's see. I mean, I know how to ride a bike. So a little bit of a humble brag right there. I survived the very hot desert summers of Tucson, Arizona, which is where I was born and raised. I went to college in northern Arizona, right near the Grand Canyon. And then I finished up college in San Francisco, in the bay area where Dante is also from. I love doing animation, Dante and I both love, love, love getting to do cartoon voices because there's something really magical about getting to see your yourself but it's not yourself. And I love doing comedy because I really have found out as I get older that, you know, making people laugh and laughing with other people is its own kind of special medicine, and that there's a place for that that's important in the world. Dante?
Dante Basco 2:32
Yeah, I started acting a long time ago, actually, I was 10 years old when I started acting. And before I was an actor, I was a breakdancer. I'm from San Francisco. So in the streets of San Francisco, around eight, nine years old, me and my brothers were breakdancers in a group called the street freaks. And I was my name. My breakdancing name was poppin fresh, because I was, because I could Pop and Lock and I was super fresh. And then me and my brothers and my mother jumped in the van and we drove to LA and became actors. I got a big break when I was 15. I did a movie called Hook, where I played a character named Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys in a Peter Pan adaptation with Steven Spielberg and Robin Williams. And so I kind of got to play in that world and just been very fortunate throughout my career to do so many different different things.
Bethany Van Delft 3:17
So we are so excited for this podcast. What should listeners expect from the podcast?
Janet Varney 3:24
Dante and I are huge fans of the show. I am a huge fan of Avatar The Last Airbender I don't have anything to do with it. I'm not in it. So I am showing up as a pure unadulterated Last Airbender fan. You know, fan girling out because I'm doing the podcast with Prince Zuko.
Dante Basco 3:41
Well you are Korra so you're kind of going back in time.
Janet Varney 3:44
I am. I am. I'm not even thinking about Korra right now. I don't have time to think about Korra, because I'm constantly telling you that the Fire Nation is not the best nation.
Dante Basco 3:54
We have our ups and downs. We have our pros and cons. Like every like every element, every element will nation tribe, nomads all those we have right goods and bad's you know, yeah.
Janet Varney 4:06
Yeah. Let's suffice it to say the Fire Nation has a very wonderful hero that stands behind the Fire Nation, but also is willing to own up when the Fire Nation does some things it probably had no business doing and if you've seen the show, you know, in the last airbender, that starts in episode one and continues on.
Dante Basco 4:27
We have some problematic things that happened. We're also I mean, we were students that they were becoming like me and Jenna, we voice You know, these great characters in this world, this Avatar-verse, but going back and rewatching it it's like, you know, we're fans and we're just questioning everything. The storylines in the in the characters in the, in the animals and how everything works. And we're just like fans like everybody else, kind of deep diving into every episode.
Janet Varney 4:58
And we have a bunch of have amazing guests who are part of the show, part of the Avatar-verse, maybe even created the avatar-verse, and they also help inform us, educate us, inspire us, give us their inside experience of what it's like to work on a show, like Avatar The Last Airbender, and, you know, maybe we have a few laughs along the way. I would say there's a tremendous amount of laughing every episode. We're not afraid to go deep. But we also are not afraid to laugh.
Dante Basco 5:30
Right.
Bethany Van Delft 5:31
So cool. I'm from the avatar universe. Is there someone you'd want to be friends with in real life? Like one of the characters? Is there someone that you look at and you go, we would be friends, for sure.
Dante Basco 5:46
Uncle Iro. Me and Uncle Iro would roll hard wherever. Uncle Iro for sure. I love uncle Iro. I love his sage wisdom. I love his funny, uh, you know, just comedic way he looks at the world, doesn't take things so seriously. But at the same time, very serious in the things that he talks about in a very light touch kind of way. And I think, you know, one of the goals I think, for me is to grow, grow up and grow into uncle Iro for sure.
Bethany Van Delft 6:17
Love it. Janet, who would you be besties with from the show?
Janet Varney 6:23
This is tough. I mean, I love the characters from this series. Because we are like way into book one right now. I guess I'll limit to book one. I gotta say Ang, I mean, I just love Ang, you know, he has so much set out in front of him. He is tasked with so many responsibilities. But so you feel like in awe of him and his power, even as he's learning to use it better and understand it more. But yet you also feel that protectiveness towards him like, Oh, I want him to still be able to be a kid, I still want him to have those moments of wonder and riding a giant Koi. And you know, going back to places that he remembers fondly. So you have that, I love having that kind of like, he's your hero, but you also kind of want to take care of him in real life.
Bethany Van Delft 7:16
Which element would you want to control?
Dante Basco 7:20
I mean, I'm Fire Nation, Bethany.
Bethany Van Delft 7:22
Right. You're walking the walk and talking to talk in real life. If someone right now is like Dante, which element it would still be fire?
Dante Basco 7:34
Fire forever, fire nation forever, Bethany. Never go against the Fire Nation.
Janet Varney 7:44
There you go. Now you've basically been on an episode of Braving the Elements.
Bethany Van Delft 7:49
I love it. I will never go against the Fire Nation. Is there an element that in real life if you could control which element would it be?
Janet Varney 8:00
Yeah, this is very, very tough. I will say that I am. I do have like Dante, I feel a real loyalty in my case to the Water Tribe. I love the Water Tribe. That being said, again, right now we are steeped in book one. And I am so impressed by the earthbenders. And the way you get to know them in the show the way they're introduced and just the adventures that are centered around you know, for example, King Bumi. And so I'm feeling, I'm kind of feeling Earth right now.
Bethany Van Delft 8:39
So we we do want to talk to you with the listeners. So I here's some questions sent in from our Ten'ers. Sasha who is 11 asked this question to Dante. Did you find it hard acting like Prince Zuko when he was a bad guy?
Dante Basco 9:00
Well, Sasha, no, actually. When I first started the show, I just figured I was a bad guy. You know, I didn't really question ever having a redemptive arc. I was gonna come around. I really just thought it'd be bad guy. I can be a good bad guy. And I didn't really know what Zuko was really about. I was just really in the moment. And I don't think it was that bad. He was just misunderstood. You know, I just thought he has to do what he has to do. I mean, he had, you know, he has scar on his face. He's just kind of like, I have to get this done. And so I didn't really think about myself as being kinda like a bad bad guy or Bill and I just thought I was like, misunderstood. And I was I was in the catching this avatar. But you know, as you as you must seen, Sasha, he's gotten away from me quite a few times. I'm like wily coyote in here. Like I can't catch this Road Runner. I can't catch the Road Runner.
Bethany Van Delft 10:02
Well, okay, Kira, who is 12 asked this question for Janet. Were you nervous about your show?
Janet Varney 10:10
Hey, Kira! Great question. The answer is yes, I was. I was very nervous again, as a fan of The Last Airbender, I have huge respect for the show for the world that Mike and Brian created. And, you know, if you care about your job, you just don't want to let anybody down. And so I was definitely very, very nervous. And you know, listen, Korra picks up 75 years after the first show ends, and a lot of people they love the world of Last Airbender. And I do too. And so I think it was jarring for people to understand that they weren't going to see a continuation of NGS adventures. Some people hold on to that a little bit harder than others. I get it. I get it. So it's so it was definitely nerve wracking. The the positive feedback from fans, from people who got something out of seeing Korra, a girl, you know, be the Avatar and see her struggles and relate to her struggles. would be worth all my nervousness in the world times a million. It's so worth it. Because it's totally changed my life.
Bethany Van Delft 11:24
Okay. Owen who is nine years old says I love Appa the sky bison. What's your favorite animal combination and Avatar? And what would you make?
Janet Varney 11:37
Oh, and my friend, my nine year old, soon to be 10, friend could not have asked us a better question. I love talking about the hybrid animals. We even have a segment on braving the elements called Animal Crossing. Not that Animal Crossing, the first animal crossing that happened in Last Airbender. I'm wearing an Appa pin right now. You can't see it. Oh, um, but I'm telling you right now major shout out to you for bringing up Appa I love him. So I love the combination of him. Which is part manatee and part bison. Some people don't know that. So that was a thing.
Dante Basco 12:20
I didn't know that before. Didn't know that before.
Janet Varney 12:24
Yeah, he's a big favorite. Dante. What about you?
Dante Basco 12:27
I mean, he who doesn't love Momo. He's a lemur. And what was he crossed with?
Janet Varney 12:34
He's a bat. He's a bat and a lemur, a flying bat and a lemur.
Bethany Van Delft 12:38
Here's a fun thing that we do at The Ten News that we love? I love this. Anyway, as we throw out these random facts, completely random facts. Do you have any random facts that you would like to share?
Dante Basco 12:51
Okay, well, my, one of my personal favorite random facts is, well, I'm Filipino. So I found out that the yo yo, which we all know and love and played with our whole lives, comes from the Philippines.
Bethany Van Delft 13:07
It does?
Dante Basco 13:08
The word yo yo, in the Philippines actually means come back. That's it!
Janet Varney 13:13
Awesome. Oh, that's so good. That's my new favorite random fact. That's really cool. Now, I wish I could take credit for the slinky or something, but I got nothing
Bethany Van Delft 13:24
Just do it Janet, we won't tell. I absolutely cannot wait for this podcast. I love your friendship. Love your relationship. Love your love of the Avatar-verse. I know that our listeners are looking forward to this. Thank you so much for your time. We really, this is so much fun. We really appreciate it.
Janet Varney 13:43
Thank you, Bethany. Oh my gosh. Thank you, Bethany. And thank you listeners for sending those great questions.
Bethany Van Delft 13:55
Up next, it's time for...
Sound Bit 13:59
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 14:01
Trivia on The Ten. Today's trivia is a special one for all you avatar fans out there. If you were hanging out with Uncle Iro, he would probably offer you a cup of tea. But why is tea so important to him? Is it A) because coffee makes them jittery, B) he heard about the boba shortage or C) a perfect cup requires all the elements to come together?
Did you guess it? The answer is C, a perfect cup requires all the elements to come together. Uncle Iro is a voice of wisdom throughout the series and a believer in the elemental nations working together. In his opinion. A perfect cup of tea needs all the elements: earth, water, fire and air. So think about that the next time someone offers you a pot of tea. Times up. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten New's creative team is out riding Appa and includes Kate Hale, Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Andrew Hall, Jenner Pascua, and Sarah Olender. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and thanks for listening to The Ten News. Got to go have me a cup of tea. What accent was that? Oh my gosh. I'm just gonna go have a cup of tea.
