Ian Ousley
Ian Luke Ousley is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Sokka in Avatar: The Last Airbender, the live-action adaptation of the Nickelodeon series of the same name.
Biography
Ousley was born on March 28, 2002, in College Station, Texas. He began practicing taekwondo at the age of 9 and competed nationally for five years, later earning a third-degree black belt in 2018. He appeared in 3 episodes of 13 Reasons Why in 2019 and 2020.In August 2021, Ousley was cast as Sokka in the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. When his casting was announced, an official bio describing him as a "mixed-race, Native American" and a "Cherokee tribe member" was released. However, it was later reported by the Cherokee Phoenix that he is not a citizen of any of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes in the United States, and is instead a member of the Southern Cherokee Nation of Kentucky, an organization that self-identifies as a tribe. The organization has received some acknowledgement at the state and municipal level in Kentucky, but is not recognized as a tribe by the state government, the federal government, or any of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes.