In honor of Avatar: The Last Airbender’s 20th anniversary, we’re interviewing the cast and crew who brought our favorite characters to life. Kicking off the series is Michaela Murphy, who voiced Toph Beifong, the fearless and sharp-witted earthbending master with a heart of gold. Toph turned her blindness into her biggest strength, showing a determination and can-do attitude towards everything thrown her way.
Ahead of the Avatar cast reunion panel at New York Comic Con, I had the honor of chatting with Michaela to hear all about voicing the iconic blind bandit.
Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Michaela: As a kid, I wasn’t specifically trying to get into voice acting. I just loved performing, so I started in local theater. The very first production I did was Oliver — I was just an orphan in the ensemble, and it was so much fun! I was in a local production of Annie next, as Annie, which was cool, and at the same time I started to get into commercials.
To get into the on-camera industry, my mom and I actually printed out headshots, and walked door to door to various agencies. We walked in and asked if anyone wanted to take a meeting. Things work a little differently now, but we started that way, and eventually a commercial agent took me on.
I had a lot of anxiety as a kid, so the in-person auditions were pretty hit or miss. I either did really well, or kind of had an anxiety attack! But they opened up a youth voiceover department at CESD [talent agency] when I was around seven years old, and they asked, “Hey, do you want to try this?” and I was like, “Yeah, absolutely!”
I think it went well because I’d already had some experience. I could read a script cold and take direction, and I wasn’t as face-to-face with the in-person anxiety. I was super comfortable recording in a booth, you know, being kooky or fun or loud. So, there wasn’t one specific thing that led me to voiceover. I love to perform; I love to be creative. I love to sing, dance, and act. So, all of that led me to voice acting at the time.
Michaela: I got the audition for Meng in Season 1 through my agency at the time. Things have absolutely changed a lot, but back then, you pretty much had to go through a manager or an agent to get access to an audition.
So yes, I got the role of Meng first — our sassy little pigtail queen who calls Katara a floozy! At the time, [creators] Mike [Dante DiMartino] and Bryan [Konietzko] were already planning on making Toph a female. Supposedly, when they saw me recording for Meng, they were like, “Hey, that might be our Toph! That’s kind of the energy we should have. We should call her back and have her read for Toph!”
Michaela: I didn’t know I was auditioning for the same show when I got the script for Toph — there weren’t visuals that came with the script. For the audition choices, I just went with my gut! Whenever I get an audition, I try not to overcomplicate it. I try to just trust my perspective, like, what’s the description? How are these lines written? What energy do I feel is the best to emulate this character?
My audition scene was the one with The Boulder from “The Blind Bandit.” It had the classic lines like, “Sounds to me like you’re scared, Boulder!” and, “Whenever you’re ready, the pebble!” I was thinking, “Oh, she’s sassy, she’s tough, she’s beating this guy up! No big deal. I got this!”
(Michaela laughs) I like to think my grandmother actually recording the Boulder lines with me was an influencing factor in them liking the audition. She was with me when I had to send in the audition, and she was like, “I’ll read these other parts!”
Michaela: It just depended on scheduling. I think they liked having a couple of us in the booth at the same time. For me, I would come in like a Tuesday after school slot, and that was pretty consistent. If other cast members could come in during that window, I think they tried to if we had scenes together. I do remember it being pretty 50/50, on me being alone versus having somebody there.
The recording only lasted for two years, maybe a year and a half, because I was only in Seasons 2 and 3. We recorded them pretty quickly, you know, back to back. For the finale, they had around 10 of us! They maxed out all the microphones and tried to have as many of us as possible together. I have glimmers of that day being really busy, and people being everywhere. My mom remembers meeting Mark Hamill [voice of Ozai] that day!
Michaela: I think casting is a very important and difficult skill. If you cast a show really, really well, I feel your job as a director is much “easier.” I say easier because it is still hard work, but perhaps more fun and organic feeling work when you have a great cast. You know what kind of actor you’re getting, and what kind of character you’re going to have for the entire show.
When I came in, if my memory serves me correctly, we would usually do one
to three takes of the line. If [voice director] Andrea [Romano] didn’t like one of the options that she heard, she’d be like, “Okay, let’s do a few more similar to your last take.” Then I would just do a few more in a row that matched the energy of that take. Very rarely did we have to record more than just that.
I never felt like Andrea was ever talking down to me, or that she was upset or frustrated if we had to work on something that we weren’t getting the first time. There were a couple of moments in there, for sure, but I very much remember it being gently guided direction.
She’d be like, “Okay, let’s rephrase how you’re viewing this scene. I think Toph is going to feel a little bit more hurt,” or something — there was an explanation so that I would visualize my own reaction differently.
Michaela: I started in musical theater, so I’d been singing parallel to all of the acting and voice acting. I think a lot of voice actors also sing, and I think that’s very helpful. It’s important to know your own vocal strength and vocal placement so that you aren’t just wrecking your vocal cords — especially if you’re doing very intense sounds, like fight reactions!
So thankfully, you save it till the end of the session. You do all the normal lines, and then you do the fight reactions towards the end. Usually, you only have to do one to two takes of each thing, so you’re not wearing yourself out. It wasn’t too difficult. I would maybe do some vocal warm-ups, you know, and drink some tea.
People say this all the time, but when babies cry or scream, they never lose their voice! It’s because their voice is just coming out naturally. Whenever you’re reacting, it’s important to actually be reacting instead of pretending to react.
Michaela: I didn’t really feel like I was voicing a blind character. I was just voicing a character that had something different than everyone else, and then utilized it into a superpower. She just accepted it and faced it head-on, like she does with many things.
I do think obviously the writing was a contributing factor as well — so many good one-liners! I wish I could take credit for some of those! I think it’s a testament to Toph’s power that the “Gaang” just constantly forgets she’s blind. They’re always like, “What is this?” And she’ll be like, “I don’t know! I mean, seriously, what is it with you people? I am blind!”
Her blindness was something that I didn’t really clock at the time as being a big deal. Because it isn’t a big deal. Yeah, she’s blind, okay — that doesn’t make you that different to me, it just means you’re another human.
Michaela: I really like “Tales of Ba Sing Se” for many reasons, like Sokka’s haikus and Uncle Iroh’s singing. Also, seeing Toph and Katara attempt to have a girl bonding day is always entertaining!
I love “The Library” too! It’s a beautiful episode to watch. It’s a good portrayal of the danger and the beauty of knowledge. They’re underground, and Wan Shi Tong is like, “Usually people only want to find out things in order to use them against others.” It makes me reflect — how much of that do I do? Am I guilty of that? What is the purpose of knowing things? It makes me think a lot!
Michaela: We’re still talking about it 20 years later! When we were recording it, none of us thought this was going to turn into potentially a lifelong discussion. I have some favorite memories, like recording the final episode and then the premiere, where we watched the finale. I remember it being very exciting, and it was cool having so many people around.
I really cherish the moments in between. There were these two chairs and a little couch that were right outside the studio where I would sign my contracts before a session. I remember opening the big metal door to the Nickelodeon studio and pushing the button, and just feeling the weight of the doors. When you walked into the entryway, sometimes they had freshly made popcorn in the kitchen.
Everyone’s so talented, and I think I just appreciate everything a lot more now that I’m older. I didn’t really travel around to conventions and comic cons until 2021. It’s so cool when we have a big reunion, and you can just feel the palpable excitement from everyone who comes out to see us. At San Diego Comic Con, I think they had a little over 5,000 people in the room — it’s so wild!