Dress Meraki, Shoes Pretty Little Thing, Earrings SVVVA
For Miyako, stepping into the role of Toph meant more than joining one of the most beloved worlds in television. It meant learning to move, listen, and trust in new ways. As Avatar: The Last Airbender expands into its Earth Kingdom chapter, Miyako brings Toph’s stubbornness, humor, strength, and emotional depth to life while also discovering something powerful in the process: a deeper confidence in herself. From working with a blindness consultant to filming with contacts that blocked her vision, Miyako reflects on the lessons that shaped her performance and the character she once never imagined she would actually get to play.
Editor-in-Chief Kelly Mi Li @kellymili
Photography Steve Limones @stevelimonesphotography
Fashion Director Benjamin Holtrop @benjaminholtrop
Creative Direction Aleksandar Tomovic @alekandsteph
Movement Director James Burke @jameslukeburke
Video Alberto Gonzales @alberto_filmdirector
Photography Assistant Nick Ahmet @nick_amet
Fashion Styling Assistants Emily K.E. Johnson @emilykejohnson & Welsh @awelch.ingram
Social Media Tesia Kuh @thefirstthree.co
Production Assistants Lizzie Mansour & Aisha Dandia
Location The London Hotel West Hollywood @thelondonweho
Special Thanks to Mei Coble & Netflix
Every project comes with its own lesson. What is one lesson from Avatar that surprised you?
I feel like it was not just one. I learned a lot about myself, about my work ethic, especially around approaching characters and approaching filming.
One of the lessons that came specifically from this job was from my blindness consultant, Joe. He taught me a lot about the blind and low vision community, because I will never know what that is like as an experience.
One of the things I learned from him was that he has this incredible connection to his other senses. He knew exactly how tall I was based on where my voice was coming from. He knew the sounds and shapes of different things in the room. I thought that was really cool to watch.
Your character is blind, and you wore contacts that completely blocked your vision. Was there a moment when that was especially challenging?
Yeah. The entire idea of it was a little strange because I had trained for six weeks before that was introduced to me. It was a VFX thing, and I remember immediately thinking, how am I going to film?
The technicality of filming comes with another level of challenges compared to the actual acting. Group scenes, where we were very close together, were pretty hard because I could not always distinguish where voices were coming from without help from our acting coach, Sarah Arrington, and my fellow castmates.
Also, not knowing where the camera was at any time was difficult, so I tried my best to get as many audio cues as possible and to know the room before I started filming.
Did they surprise you with that idea?
I do not think it was meant to be a surprise. My eyes are very dark, and they were like, “We might need to do this to help VFX have a color marker to know what we are going for.”
It was one of those things that I was down to try, but it definitely added another layer of, I wonder how this is going to work out.
You said in an interview when you were 10 that you wanted to play Toph. Do you remember saying that?
I remember the question being, would you ever play Toph in a live action? In my head, as a 10-year-old, I was thinking, well, that will never happen. That show was so perfect, and I did not think they would touch it.
So I was like, of course. Like any actor, with any beloved character, if they are in the ballpark, they are going to want to play that character. I do not remember the exact interview, but I do remember that happening.
What is it about Toph that you connect with or relate to?
I connect a lot to her sass. I was always a very sassy person. I am very stubborn. I have my boundaries, and that is the line.
Over the course of the season and the series as a whole, I also really connected with her philosophies about family, friendship, and found family.
If you could spend a day learning from any filmmaker, artist, or creative, who would it be?
A big one is definitely Christopher Nolan. I feel like he has such a specific way of working that is kind of mythologized in Hollywood.
Someone else I have been really interested to learn more about is Hugh Jackman. I saw him in The Death of Robin Hood recently, and I thought it was an incredible performance. It made me feel the need to study a bit more.
What is something you have gotten more confident about as you have gotten older?
Myself, honestly. Not even just by getting older, but I think playing Toph really helped me find this confidence that lets me be myself and allow people to either take it or leave it.
I think that is something everybody struggles with at some point, so I hope they can find that in Toph as well.
How did you feel when you found out you were going to play Toph?
The call was actually disguised as something else. It was not a “you got the role” call. They told me it was a stunts evaluation, so I was in workout gear, ready to do whatever versions of martial arts I remembered from training.
After the whole call happened, I laid on the floor for 10 minutes because I just felt heat and excitement and honor and “is this happening?” all rushing over me at once. I had to lie down.
What superpower from the show would be the most useful in real life?
I feel like Toph’s seismic sense would be really useful. It is kind of based on an actual skill that people from that community have, like what I was saying about Joe.
Another one that would be really helpful is firebending, because fire has a lot of basic uses in the real world. Also, with that comes electricity, so you would never have to pay an electricity bill again.
Which castmate is most likely to prank someone on set?
Ian.
Who is most like their character in real life?
Maybe Gordon. As he gets older, I feel like I am starting to see more Gordon, but Gordon and Aang are definitely pretty close.
Who is the most gullible?
Me.
Who is the most competitive?
Maybe Kiawentiio, but I feel like Kiawentiio and Ian are pretty close.
Jacket The Mannei, Accessories Lagos
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