Comments on: Cast Selected For Shyamalan’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’

By: Javier

Javier — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:20:33 +0000

I’m disappointed in the cast choices for Katara and Sokka. The characters’ skin tones are relevant. Having white actors play light brown characters is offensive, ignorant, racist, etc. I was excited about this franchises’ live action potential until I saw the cast…

By: Savanna B.

Savanna B. — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:54:40 +0000

Zuko SHOULD BE PLAYED BY Jesse McCartney!!!!!!!! Not only is he perfect for eye candy but, he actually looks like Zuko! Also i would like to add… when i heard about Jackson Rathbone being in the movie i only had one think to say: SOKKA! At the time i didn’t know who he was going 2 play until i looked it up ’bout 5 mins ago! weird right?

By: The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:08:30 +0000

I hate the eastern asian thing that has everyone so worked up. In the cartoon everyone sounds american and except iroh and nobody has squinty eyes. get over it

By: Prae

Prae — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:01:00 +0000

I like the castings for some of the characters, but think it’s really whack that ALL the Asian main characters are either white or Indian. I actually think Dev would do a decent Zuko, and the kid who plays Aang might be good, but Zhao? There are literally no Eastern Asian characters in this (The Fire nation even has wushu styled Kungfu), and that pisses me off, I get that Shyamalan is Indian and such, but this casting was probably made with little to no care of the source material. I look through the cast list and I literally see no Eastern Asians playing any characters with, well, an actual name and role?

They’re going to ruin it, big time.

By: i

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:24:58 +0000

I’m still pretty pissed that Zuko is being played by Dev Patel…I mean, I have the utmost respect for him as an actor…he really is good since i just absolutely love Slumdog Millionaire…but why is it that he’s Zuko? He has to be better looking coz Zuko is THE man…why can’t Rathbone play Zuko instead and Patel can be Sokka? it’s more accurate visually that way…and at least they won’t have to find new actors anymore…

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:58:57 +0000

Jesse McCartney isn’t playing Zuko…don’t worry. But now it’s that big-eared main character from Slumdog Millionaire. Which, with all of my outrage, might represent Zuko a little better that that candy coated pop singer. But oh well.

By: rachel

rachel — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:38:39 +0000

wooooooooooooooooow why do they have to ruin my life this is my favorite tv show now they have to ruin the movie that is so stupid come on now I cant go see this movie which i really wanted to when I heard it was coming out but when I haerd who the actors and actresses where I just cant finish my sentence its really weird okay bye;)
dude this is toatal bull and when they get toph shes probably gunna be hanna montaina or somithing realy stupid like that and how the f are they gunna make money of this no one is gunna see it

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:08:42 +0000

Is it wrong to be choosy? Because I don’t feel that Dev Patel fits the bill either. I don’t doubt his acting skills. It’s just…I don’t know. Facial structure? Dev Patel just doesn’t seem Zuko-ish to me. But oh well. Hopefully the makeup crew will do a good job.

I want to know who’s playing Azula really bad. Are they even going to have her in the movie? Did Shamalyan say he was just going to cover Book 1?

Since Avatar’s creators are on staff, I can at least be rest assured that if the movie is screwed up, it won’t be TOO badly.

By: mitchelle_toph

mitchelle_toph — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:04:00 +0000

Aww, Toph’ not here!

By: First Look At Key Characters In ‘The Last Airbender’ - Screen Rant

First Look At Key Characters In ‘The Last Airbender’ - Screen Rant — Fri, 22 May 2009 03:40:52 +0000

[...] situation got real bad later on in the process, when casting announcements started hitting the web and many folks were up in arms over alleged racist casting choices in [...]

By: Peregrine

Peregrine — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:40:05 +0000

correction in fourth paragraph:

*wouldn’t notice a difference. the casting makes much more sense when seen in this light. still, can’t help but wonder about noah ringer when no one can find anything about him…

By: Peregrine

Peregrine — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:31:31 +0000

yes, marlou, dev patel has been confirmed (thank God!) cuz jesse mccartney was the only one i really had a problem with. if you want to see the full cast, go to avatar.wikia.com. as fans, they make sure that that list is accurate.

i don’t agree with what kim said about race not mattering. casting anyone in starwars is ok, but fantasy draws so deeply from our culture that it doesn’t work. you can’t cast a japanese dude as aragorn, or an african guy as legolas, no matter how good an actor he may be, because lotr draws so deeply from medieval european culture.

at the same time, mccartney is the only one i really have a problem with because his teenybopper career is so juxtaposed to this show, and zuko is so important. rathbone as sokka can work cuz of his voice, and nicola could go either way. ringer, the texan karate kid, we virtually know nothing about, so this will really be key, whether this guy can pull it off. while worried about his acting skills, i take comfort knowing he has at least some karate training (it’s no ba gua, but hey, better than no martial arts training right?)

keep in mind, as asian influenced as this show is, fans are going to relate most to how they ’sound’ and even avatards will admit that mae whitman and zach eisen are the least asian sounding you can get. as someone pointed out, even the animations aren’t all that asian influenced as far as faces go. lighten the shades a little and change the hair color and you wouldn’t n
as for shyamalan, i am not worried about as much. for one, he is a total fan, and he’ll be working very closely with the creators of avatar, so we know he won’t butcher the storyline anyways. in his interviews, he looks really excited, so we know they’re really pulling out all the stops. snapshots have been coming in of the first shootings and it looks pretty cool. there was one picture of skeletons littering the ground of an air temple, and all though that was creepy, it’s encouraging to know that he’s taking this movie very seriously, but at the same time he’s sure to make it available to everyone (we know his daughter watches the show, so he’s going to keep it family friendly)

By: Marlou

Marlou — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:29:26 +0000

I agree on Kim. There are many modern ways of doing that. Maybe the siblings can get a sun tan. LoL. But on the accent thing, Of course!, You would hate to hear a Japanese or Korean speak English. They really suck in English. I Admit it I am Asian. But in our* Country, English is our second language and most of us still have the American accent.

Can anyone clarify to me that Dev Patrel will be playing Zuko?. Is this Correct or another False Alarm?.

And another favor please?.

can you send me an e-mail of the complete cast of the avatar?. I find it hard finding them.

marlou011@gmail.com

thanks.

By: Marlou

Marlou — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:27:19 +0000

I agree on Kim. There are many modern ways of doing that. Maybe the siblings can get a sun tan. LoL. But on the accent thing, Of course!, You would hate to hear a Japanese or Korean speak English. They really suck in English. I Admit it I am Asian. But in out Country, English is our second language and most of us still have the American accent.

Can anyone clarify to me that Dev Patrel will be playing Zuko?. Is this Correct or another False Alarm?.

And another favor please?.

can you send me an e-mail of the complete cast of the avatar?. I find it hard finding them.

marlou011@gmail.com

thanks.

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 03:37:19 +0000

Actually, I don’t mind Aang being white. I don’t care what ethnicity each character is as long as they fit the physical characteristics. I mean, dude. Aang has grey eyes and the water tribe siblings have blue eyes. In terms of skin, just darken up their skin with some makeup or charcoal like in 10,000 BC. No matter how you look at it, an asian with those colors eyes will be difficult to find and will look very horrible. Since Avatar is an American show, I see no reason to convert the characters to stereotypical asian archetypes (which will just prove Hollywood is into racial stereotypes). I ABSOLUTELY believe though, that voice sshould be kept AMERICAN. No voodoo asian accents unless its Iroh. The biggest problem I have is JESSE MCCARTNEY AS ZUKO. NO. IT WON’T, WON’T WORK!!!

By: avatar_state

avatar_state — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:19:42 +0000

Toph isnt in the first season and so wont be in the first movie. She’ll come in the next one.

By: Eli

Eli — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:39:03 +0000

OMGGG..WHERE IS TOPH?? YOU CAN’T HAVE AVATAR WITHOUT TOPH. She is a crucial part of the story and probably the one with the biggest fan base. OH PLEASE GOD DON’T LET THEM SCREW THIS UP. Why are the actors white??? I agree with some of you, Katara and Sokka are basically natives. Oh please don’t screw this up, it’s one of my favorite cartoons ever made AND one of the greatest.

By: Megan

Megan — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:02:44 +0000

Prongsie, I must say that you are absolutely wrong. I, in fact, am an ENORMOUS fan of Avatar, but even I can get past how great it is and realize that the live action movie is indeed screwed. It’s going to be a complete failure if they don’t change the cast. And no one need ’say’ what race the actors are; you can see it just by looking at them.

I’m anxious–not excited–for 2010 now.

By: Shyamalan’s ‘The Last Airbender’ Gets New Cast Members - Screen Rant

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:44:26 +0000

[...] animated TV series, is one which undoubtedly will end up having a huge cast. We’ve already reported on some early casting news over the past few months, including Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel replacing Jesse McCartney as the character of Prince [...]

By: Prongsie

Prongsie — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:25:39 +0000

I personally think that if the actor can do a good job, then why should it matter what their race is. Do they ever actually say which race the characters are? It happens all the time in different movies, they make characters the wrong race and it doesn’t neccesarily make it a worse movie. And isn’t it depending on their audition and how well they can portray the character? One thing I’d like to know is how do they plan on making Jackson Rathbone tan for this role, yet stay pale for his role as Jasper in Twilight?