Russell Curry: Portraying the Legendary Zayto in Power Rangers Dino and Cosmic Fury

Canonically, there is nobody more legendary than Zayto in Power Rangers history. A Rafkonian knight and Dino Fury Red Ranger awoken 65 million years later in order to save Earth from the imminent threat of the Sporix, who sacrificed his life for the greater good then was brought back to life on borrowed time for an important mission, later becoming the Cosmic Fury Zenith Ranger with godly powers and ultimately joining the Grid as one of the almighty Morphin Masters. The momentous responsibility of bringing this multilayered character to life was entrusted to Russell Curry, whose indelible portrayal is now among the greatest of the franchise.

Curry grew up with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in the 90s. It was destiny that he would become the leader of the Rangers–Jason Lee Scott was in fact his childhood hero. Dino Fury’s executive producer Simon Bennett saw something special in the actor–a sense of trustworthiness that was at the core of the character of Zayto. This was Curry’s breakthrough role, and he admitted that during the casting process he thought the odds of booking it were very slim. Everyone auditioned with the same sides, so no one knew for which Ranger they were reading for. It was the middle of the pandemic back in 2020, and a month later the test deal arrived: “I couldn’t sleep. I don’t think I slept much at all in that week. That phone call would either change my life forever or tell me that I’m going back to life the way that it was up until this point. I got the role, then we were off to the races. Definitely nothing else compares to that. I don’t think anything else ever can.” He then confessed, “I don’t think I really wrapped my head around that fully until maybe this year, honestly. It’s such an interesting relationship that I’ve had with it because there’s all kinds of other things attached to Power Rangers. People talk about the ‘Power Rangers curse’–you do Power Rangers, but you never do anything else. I consider myself an actor, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I think there was so much energy I put into trying to shake that and prove that I’m different, prove that I cannot be cursed, that I didn’t appreciate the blessing that it was [until now].”

In September of 2020, Russell Curry traveled to New Zealand where he would spend nine months for the entirety of filming. There the filmmakers slowly started to unveil Zayto (fun fact: the name was finalized just a few weeks before shooting). “I didn’t really know much about my character at all. We didn’t have a character name [yet]; we didn’t really have any backstory. I knew that I was a 65-million-year-old telepathic alien, and immediately the first places I went to were Mork & Mindy. I remember being exposed to that show really young because my parents were into it, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s perfect!’ He’s this guy from a different place and time, and he’s trying to navigate his way in the world.” He added, “Captain America and Superman were both influences in that way, someone from a different time and someone from a different place, with all of the ways that they’re navigating the losses that they’ve been through, trying to process all of that in such a short amount of time while there’s this imminent threat to the whole world.”

From the get-go, the cast built a strong chemistry off set that eventually became really palpable in the show. “We started a text thread pretty early on, and we had this really crazy shared experience of not only doing the show together, but also navigating all of this stuff in a pandemic. We had three weeks of fight training and acting class leading to shooting. We had an amazing acting coach, Ella Gilbert, who did so many exercises that really helped us build as a team and deepen those relationships. She was fantastic.” Curry revealed that during filming in New Zealand the group was able to explore the country during the holiday break–further strengthening their bond: “Through this experience, they’ve become my best friends; they’ve become family.”

Zayto is a character displaced by 65 million years, suddenly adapting to a new world while leading a team. Russell Curry revealed that portraying someone so out of place was the perfect opportunity to exercise his passion for comedy: “[I wanted to find] the humor in that mismatch, that whole fish out of water experience, Zayto being somebody who’s from a different time in society who doesn’t understand all of the customs. He’s just so gullible, and he can be told that saying ‘Cool, cool, coolio!’ is the thing that everybody does. Because he’s so sincere and wanting to fit in, he’ll go headstrong into doing that and not realizing that somebody could just be messing with him. I thought that those moments were the things that excited me the most. Maybe I tried a little too hard in retrospect to be funny, but we live and we learn! I think the benefit of it being a kid show where things are still going to be mostly lighthearted kind of worked in my favor,” he said.

At the end of Dino Fury, Zayto makes the ultimate sacrifice to save everyone—but then he’s brought back to life by the Morphin Masters with an important mission. Ending the series with such a cliffhanger meant that the story wasn’t over yet–especially for the beloved Rafkonian. Curry shared that even though there was no certainty of returning to Power Rangers to close the circle on Zayto’s journey, he felt very fortunate for the experience and that the resurrection moment was “a really special place in Rangers history. I don’t know if anyone else has died and come back.” When Cosmic Fury was greenlit for ten episodes, concluding not only the series but Power Rangers as we know it, Curry knew he was going to finally dive into the essence of his character, especially since Zayto is now living on borrowed time—aware that every moment counts. He said, “My Zayto thoughts so often were about sacrifice, duty, and protecting others. I know that these people are going to miss me, that my relationships to them matter and that I’m going to miss them, but the only reason I’m here at all is because of something much bigger. I remember going to the Auckland Art Gallery and finding the pieces that resonated with [Zayto]. There’s a subconscious process going on … I’m feeling something here, and I’m going to process it later. For instance, there’s one where a man is tied up and injured with several arrows in his back, and there’s this sculpture of an angel falling from heaven–all these different things that I thought Zayto was in so many ways. Everything else is important, but not more important than this mission.”

If becoming the most powerful Power Ranger in history wasn’t enough, Russell Curry was blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime: portraying Zordon, the ever-present being that has been a mentor to our heroes and arguably the most important figure in that universe. The actor confessed that even though he wasn’t super intimidated by the weight of Zayto, playing Zordon was a daunting but positive challenge both as a fan and as an artist: “As a fan who grew up with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and really understands the lore of it, I just knew that I had to get it right, right for me in a sense … What would I want to see as a fan?” Curry spent as much time as possible prior to filming the heavenly scene studying past performances by David J. Fielding and Bryan Cranston, integrating “all of the collective consciousness of everybody as to who this person is. I felt very confident and happy with my performance, but the solidifying moment for me was David J. Fielding saying that I did an excellent job on Twitter. I don’t care what anybody else has to say … I’m verified by Zordon himself! At that point I hadn’t met him yet. I met him in person for the first time last year at Power Morphicon, and he’s just the sweetest, loveliest man … he was as excited to meet me as I was to meet him! I love that man; he’s something special, he really is.”

Stepping into a Power Rangers costume is a moment where it truly gets real for the actor. Whether it’s a promotional photo-op or a helmet-off scene, it is something hard to forget. For Russell Curry, putting on the caped Morphin Master armor was an otherworldly experience that prepared him for the end of his journey: “That suit is heavy and cumbersome … the shoulders are so big, you literally have to walk through doorways sideways [laughs]! Just having that much size and presence does something to your physicality and how you feel about yourself. I think those Morphin Master designs are one of the coolest in Power Rangers ever, and I’m the only guy who gets to wear one without a helmet!”

The End, the final episode of Cosmic Fury, was incredibly emotional and heartfelt for the cast. Curry shared, “I don’t know if I cried right then and there, but I was definitely tearing up at the very least, reading it. I think all of us were. It was a really emotional table read for multiple reasons … It’s the last episode of our show, the last episode of all of us together. We’re putting a bookend on this crazy three-year long journey together. I remember thinking, ‘I got this!’ It was a moment that I wasn’t truly very intimidated by, for whatever reason, I guess because of all of the work that we had put in at that point. I just felt ready to say goodbye in a way that did the show justice. I remember feeling so many different emotions … there’s a lot wrapped into it, you know.”

Zayto’s arc feels like a true hero’s journey—full of courage, sacrifice, and growth. Curry reflected on his experience portraying the character and how it has influenced who he is as a person and as an actor: “I think Zayto gave me so many opportunities to just believe in myself more. I had huge amounts of imposter syndrome starting that job, and by the end of it, I understood that I am a leader and that I wasn’t picked as this character by accident. I think just being able to be Zayto has garnered me so much more confidence in myself as a person and as an actor.” His fast-paced, multidiscipline experience–Power Rangers University as he calls it–was an incredible place to start a career, preparing him to take on any challenge and project. “I’m always going to be blown away and so honored that I was trusted with all of these different things, to be this leader of the Power Rangers who is technically the first Ranger on Earth, who gets to go through all of this sacrifice, dies and comes back. The return scene in what I call the Ghost Ranger suit, mirroring the White Ranger scene in Mighty Morphin, huge honor. Then being able to become a Morphin Master! I’m just so incredibly grateful to Simon and the creative team for trusting me with all of this,” he added.

Make sure to follow Russell Curry on Instagram to stay up to date with his projects. All episodes of Power Rangers Dino and Cosmic Fury are available on Netflix!