On June 21, Jackson Rathbone and Nicola Peltz breezed through Detroit on a press tour promoting their forthcoming film, M Night Shyamalan’s family-friendly adventure The Last Airbender. We had a chance to chat with the stars of the live action film inspired by a popular Nickelodeon animated series. It opens today in metro Detroit theaters.
The Last Airbender opens today in area theaters. | Photo by Zade Rosenthal
First, a little background courtesy of Paramount Pictures:
Air, Water, Earth, Fire. Four nations are tied together by destiny when the Fire Nation launches a brutal war against the others. A century has passed with no hope in sight to change the path of this destruction. Caught between combat and courage, Aang (Noah Ringer) discovers he is the lone Avatar with the power to manipulate all four elements. He teams with Katara (Nicola Peltz), a Waterbender, and her brother, Sokka (Jackson Rathbone), to restore balance to their war-torn world.
Jackson Rathbone and Nicola Peltz attended the Target Detroit Fireworks while in the city. | Photo by Shannon Paul
Shyamalan began working on this film in 2007 – with full intentions to complete it as a trilogy. Rathbone and Peltz began training for it in February, honing their skills in kung fu and mixed martial arts. Though much of the film was shot last winter and spring in Philadelphia, for two weeks the cast headed to Greenland in an effort to capture an otherworldly Water Tribe atmosphere, Rathbone explained.
“As soon as we got there we were saying no one’s gonna believe this is real,” he said. “It’s too beautiful It’s too pristine. It’s amazing. We had to take a 45-minute helicopter ride in the morning just to get to the set.”
The look of The Last Airbender has been a hot topic of discussion. The film was originally planned in 2D but then revamped for a 3D release as well. Still, the stars and pre-release hype promise lots of action. Both Peltz and Rathbone admitted to being fans of the series, originally titled Avatar: The Last Airbender. “It is very exciting to be cast as Katara, especially since I fell in love with her from the series,” said Peltz. “But for M. Night to direct it is a complete dream come true.”
Rathbone echoed her sentiments. The actor – famous for his portrayal of Jasper in the Twilight series – has two films releasing this holiday week. “It’s a dream come true. It does feel surreal half the time,” he said. “But at the end of the day I’m an actor. I love doing it.”
By comparison, though Twilight: Eclipse has a built-in fan base, whereas M. Night Shyamalan’s films have wavered between high acclaim and critical failure. Does that concern The Last Airbender stars? Not a bit.
“Everybody’s different,” said Rathbone. “It’s the age old saying. You can please some of the people some of the time. You can’t please all of the people all of the time. At the end of the day, Art is subjective. It’s not objective.”
Nicola Peltz in The Last Airbender. | Photo by Zade Rosenthal
For Peltz, the experience of making this movie and Shyamalan’s previous films were reason enough to take this role. “I was so lucky to be able to work with him,” she said. “I saw The Sixth Sense; it was one of my favorite movies. He’s such a great director and besides that he’s such a great person. He’s a family guy. He really cares about family morals and values and it really shines in this movie.”
When it came to portraying Sokka, a 17-year-old rebel-turned warrior, Rathbone had an opportunity to transform his character throughout the movie. “I love Sokka,” he said. “I love the fact that he’s a young rebel. He goes after what he believes in. He always looks after his little sister. Even sometimes when she thinks he’s a little bit too over protective.”
This movie packs 24 animated episodes into about 2 hours of live action. And does so in a way that will satisfy fans and appeal to newcomers.
“Throughout the course of the film you see (Sokka) grow into this young rebel leader and this warrior,” said Rathbone. “He goes through all these really high stakes situations, he’s concerned about his sister and the well-being of the world. Basically it’s three kids who become this tight-knit family. They take in all. It’s just the three of them against the entire Fire Nation. It was fun. It was a pleasure to go from this youth to this warrior who’s been hardened by war.”
For Peltz, it’s the moral center of the film that she believes will resonate with audiences. “Katara is such a great role model for little girls and even for women,” she said. “She’s got such a great heart. She’s mentally strong and physically strong. She really does what she believes in.”
She said The Last Airbender is the sort of movie that appeals to all ages. Check out the trailer here: http://www.thelastairbendermovie.com/
Plan to see it this weekend? Send us your reviews in our comments section.
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