Cliff Curtis: How was shooting The Last Airbender? 

CraveOnline: It was wonderful. It was really great and it’s also great that I’m going to be able to work the two. I’m not giving up film. I’m just doing another job that happens to be on television. 

Cliff Curtis: Are you playing a character from the animated series? 

CraveOnline: Yes, I am. I’m playing fire lord Ozai. 

Cliff Curtis: Did you take anything from the animated form? 

CraveOnline: I’ve not watched it. I didn’t want to watch the animated form because I knew the director, M. Night, was going to depart from that. 

Cliff Curtis: You must be dealing with a lot of pyrotechnics. How do you deal with that? 

CraveOnline: Fire, well, that’s a good spin. Is there anything in particular about fire? Yeah, just don’t touch it. I don't know, don’t touch it, you’ll get burned. In particular, I’m so in the world of making a movie. They have safety meetings before anything is done and all the safety people gather around, so I’m so protected from the fire, I don’t even get near it. 

Cliff Curtis: Do you have a visceral feeling when the explosions go off? 

CraveOnline: No, because both of my characters, whether it’s Rabbit or the fire lord, actually are very comfortable in those situations. So I pretty much just ignore it. 

Cliff Curtis: Both this show and the Airbender movies, this will be the first time you’ve played the same character more than once. Is that a different approach? 

CraveOnline: I’m yet to discover that. I don’t really know. You’re right, I haven’t done that so I’m about to figure out what that’s like. I think the big difference so far that I’ve discovered is that in a film, it’s very contained. So we know before going in to make the film what the film’s going to be, and then when the film is completed, we find out what it is. Whereas television, as far as I’m discovering, it evolves. As the show evolves, everything’s fluid. Characters can disappear tomorrow as you see in the pilot. 

Cliff Curtis: What is M. Night like on the set? 

CraveOnline: He’s very deliberate and predetermined, extremely. He’s planned everything. Storyboarded to the frame. 

Cliff Curtis: So you’ve seen the movie already pretty much? 

CraveOnline: No, he doesn’t show those to you unless he’s trying to explain what he wants in a scene, so I only get a portion of that, that’s relevant to what we’re shooting. 

Cliff Curtis: Are you fond of sci-fi and fantasy? 

CraveOnline: Personally, as a filmgoer, I’ll watch everything. I mean, I’ll watch kids movies, I’ll watch animated movies, watch action movies. So as an actor, if I was to list my favorite films, it would range anywhere from Babbette’s Feast to Conan the Barbarian to Funny People. 

Cliff Curtis: How about to work in the genres? 

CraveOnline: No, I think it’s really the quality of the people that you’re working with and the material. So if there’s really brilliant comedic material and really great people to be working with, it’d be the director, the writer and the actors, that’s really the key for me because that’s what raises my game. 

Cliff Curtis: What’s your normal life like? 

CraveOnline: I suppose I’m very quiet in comparison to my characters that I play. I tend to like to be quiet and read so that’s the big departure. I like to kayak actually. 

Cliff Curtis: Do you live in L.A. now? 

CraveOnline: No, I still am based in New Zealand so I commute, but that’s how it’s working out. If the series goes on then we’ll see how that affects the rest of my life. 

Cliff Curtis: While you commute, do you leave family and friends behind? 

CraveOnline: Well, I mix. We’re commuting back and forth together. It’s a complicated matrix of elements.