Feb 2, 2009 by Mushy

Dev Patel Joins the Cast of The Last Airbender

According to Variety breakout Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel is joining the cast of M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender.

The film is being produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Films.

Patel joins the cast which features Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone and Jessica Jade Andres.

The film is set to begin shooting this March in Greenland.

According to Shyamalan, Patel was "already one of the guys I was interested in. Then I saw Slumdog Millionaire, and the kid just grew in my eyes," he stated.

The actor will play the role of Zuko, a member of the Fire Nation.

The Last Airbender is slated for release on July 2, 2010.

The Last Airbender was released July 1st, 2010 and stars Jackson Rathbone, Dev Patel, Cliff Curtis, Nicola Peltz, Randall Duk Kim, Jessica Andres, Noah Ringer, Seychelle Gabriel. The film is directed by M. Night Shyamalan.


Sources: Variety

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Comments (10)

  1. Diaigma

    I have every confidence in Night. This will be his LOTR if he does it right. As I kept saying before, I about died when I heard Jackson was going to direct LOTR, because his previous work was downright lame. I know Night's last few films were lackluster, but he still made some great films. People are just tired of his original stories. Since this is NOT his story, I'm sure it will turn out amazing.

    3 years agoby @diaigmaFlag

  2. Atreus

    Oh... upon further research I realize that it *was* Dante Basco who did Zuko's voice in the animated series.... hence my immediate mental connection.... That explains a lot then.

    3 years agoby @atreusFlag

  3. Atreus

    Honestly - what it will ultimately come down to is acting ability, and production quality. And considering M. Night has had pretty good productions throughout most of his career and Dev Patel made an incredible movie with Slumdog Millionare - I am positive that he will be able to do Zuko justice. Not the first person who came to my mind for the role (who is always Dante Basco, the guy who played Rufio in 'Hook' - even though he is too old now he would have fit the part perfect when he was younger)

    So, I look forward to seeing where this movie goes, really hoping it is the epic it is being toted as, and holding out hope that M. Night is going to pick a good acting team (which M. Night tends to excel at)

    3 years agoby @atreusFlag

  4. Diaigma

    You know, this could be argued the other way now. I don't think Zuko's skin tone is as dark as Dev's, do you? Zuko's tone is more Japanese than anything. Oh well. I'm sure the end result will be just fine.

    3 years agoby @diaigmaFlag

  5. Vamp

    Awesome. Though, to be honest, I was actually hoping for Jesse McCartney to get this role..... Oh well.....

    3 years agoby @vampire2000Flag

  6. tyler13d

    aTREUS' point is solid though...In respect to the animated series, Zuko is everything he described and then some, but I guess m.Night might have a different vision/way of presenting things so lets wait and see.

    3 years agoby @tyler13dFlag

  7. Diaigma

    At least the people who were upset about an "all-white" cast can FINALLY calm down. Freak. I thought McCartney had the better voice, but Dev has the better face. If he can make his voice scratchy, do some shaving and makeup, I think he could do it.

    My page has the most up-to-date information regarding The Last Aribender, who's been casted, rumored, or involved in the crew. I update it every week. They just casted Suki too! w00t!

    And I think Comrade was referring to the article, however, can we PLEASE not throw the "race" card in this any further. It's very annoying.

    3 years agoby @diaigmaFlag

  8. Atreus

    Wait, did you just call me "racist", ComradeHeson? What did I possibly say which could be branded as such? I stated the fact that Zuko, and the Fire Nation in general, are obviously based off of the nations of China and Korea - therefore someone descendent or from one of those regions would seem to be the best choice in order to stay true to that source material. There is nothing even vaguely racist about it, and I even gave the benefit of the doubt that Dev Patel might totally surprise me in this role.

    If you have something useful or constructive to say, then say it; if not, it is always wiser to say nothing at all.

    3 years agoby @atreusFlag

  9. -comrade-

    racist.

    3 years agoby @taberjohnson18Flag

  10. Atreus

    Ok... Can't say I am fully thrilled with this choice. I mean, the kid is a great actor, no doubt, but does he really fit the character of Zuko? First of all, Zuko is obviously from a people who are obviously Eastern Asiatic in design. So, an Indian actor might be a little bit jaring in that role. Still interested in what M. Night will do with this, and I am sure Dev Patel will do good job - I just think that there could have been some casting a little bit more true to the original design.

    Who knows, I might be proven wrong though.

    3 years agoby @atreusFlag

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