The Actress Behind Katara From Avatar: The Last Airbender Is Gorgeous In Real Life
Fans of the "Avatar: The Last Airbender" animated series have been as happy as can be since Netflix decided to start streaming the show in its entirety. Originally airing on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008, many of us have been watching Aang, Zuko, Sokka, and Katara for over a decade. The character of Katara specifically is beloved by the "Avatar: The Last Airbender" fanbase. Coming from the Southern Water Tribe and born one year after her older brother, Sokka, Katara slowly gains expertise as a waterbender, an ability that many of her tribe have. Although Sokka is unable to bend, he and Katara remain close as they find Aang frozen in ice and start their adventure together at the beginning of the series.
The main characters in "Avatar: The Last Airbender" have become iconic, and they certainly wouldn't be so popular without the right voice actors portraying them. While Jack De Sena as Sokka is easily distinguishable, Katara is voiced by an actress who has had a lot of success before and after the show, and you've probably seen her many times before in front of the camera, rather than in the vocal booth. The actress's name is Mae Whitman, and unsurprisingly, she's gorgeous.
Mae Whitman is the voice behind Katara and many other characters
When Mae Whitman got the role of Katara in "Avatar: The Last Airbender," she had been a working actress in Hollywood for 11 years already. Her first credit as an actress is pretty big too, with Whitman starring alongside Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan in 1994's "When a Man Loves a Woman." After that, she landed smaller roles in some other classics like "Independence Day," "Friends," and even "Chicago Hope." However, Whitman also began getting into voice acting, landing vocal roles playing prominent characters on a few series during the late 1990s and 2000s.
One of Whitman's first voice roles was playing Young Lois Lane in "Superman: The Animated Series" in 1997, and she later returned to DC Comics for other projects, voicing prominent characters like Barbara Gordon a.k.a. Batgirl in "Batman: The Brave and The Bold" and "DC Super Hero Girls." When Season 2 of DC's "Young Justice" came out in 2012, she transitioned to voice Cassie Sandsmark a.k.a. Wonder Girl and Stephanie Brown a.k.a. Spoiler in the series instead of Gordon. Katara included, Whitman has an extensive history of being the voice behind strong and beautiful women, and this is another case of art imitating life.
Whitman has many popular roles in front of the camera
Whitman continued to work quite a lot in front of the camera during the mid 2000s whilst voicing Katara, playing characters in some fan-favorite movies, like Roxy Richter in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and Mary Elizabeth in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." She was also popular on television too, mainly for playing the role of Amber Holt in "Parenthood." Whitman truly did it all, remaining incredibly busy and relevant while bringing memorable performances to every role. However, it wasn't until 2015's "The DUFF" that she really got to star in what was essentially her own film.
In "The DUFF," Whitman plays the main character of Bianca Piper, a teenager who discovers that she has been labeled the "Designated Ugly Fat Friend" by her classmates, in comparison to her two "prettier" best friends. Throughout the film, she desperately tries to get out from under the label and date the boy she has always liked. This was a change of pace for Whitman, as she had traditionally played the girl who didn't get the guy or the "crazy girlfriend" in other romance films. In contrast, "The DUFF" ends up being a modern and fresh take on a teen romance movie and was approved by most critics as such, earning a 73% on Rotten Tomatoes. Most recently, Whitman starred in NBC's "Good Girls" alongside Christina Hendricks and Retta.
Mae Whitman is beloved by her fellow actors
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter last year, Whitman and Jane Levy, the star of "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist," gushed about each other and how long they've been friends. Levy noted that her initial response to meeting Whitman was "Wow, she's so cool and she was so nice and confident," admiring how she came off around other actors and in the roles Levy used to watch her in as a kid. Levy even went on to say that, more than that, Whitman is "incredibly charming and generous."
The love from her fellow actors can also be seen outside of interviews, as Whitman's Instagram under the handle "mistergarf" has a plethora of pictures and videos with her smiling and hanging out with co-stars and crew members. Ironically, in her interview with Levy, Whitman said she struggled with making friends given how busy she is and having to make time for it. Despite that, her Instagram proves just how many beautiful relationships she has made over her career through her obvious kindness and care for others. Someone who thinks they don't do enough while not realizing how many other people they've truly impacted is a sign of real beauty, and Mae Whitman is that.