What to know about 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' breakout star Sebastian Amoruso
Netflix
- Sebastian Amoruso plays Jet in the new live-action "Avatar: The Last Airbender" on Netflix.
- Amoruso has previously appeared in "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and has a theater background.
- Here's everything you need to know about him, and how his character Jet's story differs in the show.
Netflix's "Avatar: The Last Airbender" brings the world of elemental benders into live-action, adapting the 2005 cartoon series into an eight-episode drama.
That includes one of the original "Avatar" cool guys — Jet, the leader of a ragtag group of young Earth Kingdom revolutionaries who fight against the Fire Nation occupation. With fluffy hair, extremely cool hooked swords, and an omnipresent piece of straw in his mouth, it's no wonder Katara (played by Kiawentiio in Netflix's version) is easily wooed by him.
In the live-action, Jet is played by actor Sebastian Amoruso. And while his circumstances are a little different, fans' reactions to the character seem to show that all of his charm is still intact.
Here's everything you need to know about Amoruso, one of the Netflix show's breakout stars.
Warning: Spoilers through episode four of the live-action "Avatar: The Last Airbender" ahead.
Robert Falconer/Netflix
Who is Sebastian Amoruso?
According to his IMDb profile, Amoruso is an actor of Chinese-Italian descent and stands 5'9" tall. According to a playbill for a previous production, he was 16 years old in May 2017, which would make him about 23 years old now.
(Representatives for Amoruso did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding his age.)
A Facebook page linked to his Instagram lists that he studied at Berklee College of Music, currently lives in Los Angeles, and is from Washington D.C. He's represented by Brookside Artist Management and CESD talent agency.
Amoruso doesn't appear to post frequently on social media, but he shared updates from the "Avatar" premiere on Instagram.
"I can't wait for everyone to see this show. It's gonna take your breath away," he wrote, accompanied by straw and dual swords emoji as a nod to his character.
Sebastian Amoruso has a theater background and was in 2 other shows before 'Avatar'
Amoruso has two prior acting credits listed on his IMDb page. The first is a recurring role in "Solve," a Snapchat original series. The second is the Prime Video series "I Know What You Did Last Summer," in which he played Johnny.
According to his bio on the Amazon Studios press site, Amoruso attended the prestigious Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in New York. While there, he starred in musicals including "Heathers the Musical" and "Prom Queen."
Videos of some of those performances are available on YouTube, showing that Amoruso played JD in "Heathers" and also appeared in shows like "American Idiot."
How Sebastian Amoruso's version of Jet compares to the original cartoon
In the live-action, Aang, Katara, and Sokka encounter Jet on their way into Omashu, where he lends them disguises to get them past the city gates.
Later, Katara runs into him when he's following the Mechanist and a Fire Nation spy, and learns that he's a revolutionary fighter. However, after Aang discovers that Jet's crew are the ones setting up bombings in Omashu and not the Fire Nation, they eventually have to stop him.
Nickelodeon
In the original cartoon, the Gaang runs into Jet when he and his crew rescue them from a group of Fire Nation soldiers. Katara's smitten, but Sokka suspects that Jet might be more morally grey than they think — and turns out to be right when Jet reveals that he's planning to flood an entire town to take a swipe at the Fire Nation. Eventually, the group manages to save the town by evacuating its citizens.
"Avatar: The Last Airbender" season one is now streaming on Netflix.