Slumdog Millionaire protagonist Dev Patel will replace Jesse McCartney as the villain Prince Zuko in M. Night Shyamalan’s live-action kid flick The Last Airbender, a feature adaptation of the popular Nickelodeon kid series, according to an article published on Variety’s website Sunday night. What the story left out is that Shyamalan and Paramount Pictures have been under fire for their initial all-white casting choices that EW announced in this blog back in December. That post resulted in more than 1,000 complaints that the filmmakers were completely ignoring the television show’s origins, which are heavily steeped in Asian cultures. Maybe Paramount got the message. A source tells EW.com that McCartney (pictured, left) left after rehearsals had already started. His rep says he had scheduling conflicts with his music tour. The source adds that McCartney still received his full fee for only a few weeks of pre-production work. Shyamalan begins shooting in mid-March with Patel as his bad guy and Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone (Twilight), and Jessica Jade Anders filling out the roles of the four protagonists. Whether the Patel casting decision will satisfy the legions of angry fans is anyone’s guess, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.
Dev Patel replaces Jesse McCartney in 'The Last Airbender'
Featured Video
Realite: Reality TV sexes it up!
Unsubtle sexuality on ''SYTYCD'' and ''Top Model,'' sickening turns on ''DWTS,'' ''Top Chef,'' ''Runway''
More 
Today's Most Popular
-
-
Hollywood Insider '2012' kills, 'Precious' amazes at the weekend box office -
The Ausiello Files 'Fringe' exclusive: Watch a preview of this week's big Observer eppy NOW -
-
Hollywood Insider The Governors Awards: On the scene at Oscar's special honors
Special Coverage
'Twilight' Saga: 'New Moon'
It's almost here! Get all the latest news, photos, video, and fan commentary leading up to the big premiere
More
Comments (1-30) of 179 Add your comment
I’m not familiar with “Last Airbender” and I’m only going off of the information in this article, so I apologize in advance if what I’m about to say comes off as an oversimplification:
So Paramount added an ethnic/Indian/British (whatever you want to characterize Patel as) to the production, but he’s the bad guy. And all the good guys are white? I’m just sayin’ that you’d think with Slumdog’s success that studios would realize this country is perfectly fine with having non-white actors as protagonists or (gasp) an entire non-white cast!
*Spoiler Alert* Zuko becomes a good guy, and pretty much key to overthrowing the real villain.
I still have no interest in seeing this film.
Note to Ceballos. It amazes me how Hollywood can fall all over themselves to support Obama like crazy. Yet in their own industry they can be so narrow in their thinking. Simply amazing.
Person of color, still the villain. LAME.
It’s a step in the right direction. I can see Ang being white but Katara and Saka are definitely not…there brown! They should not be played by white actors. I’m so glad Jess McCartney is not longer in it, but the casting is till seriously messed up!
Sorry but it’s a ignorant complaint. They never say in the cartoon what nationality anyone is. The characters (ESPECIALY Ang, the lead role) all look white for the most part. The voice actors are all white except for two characters and only one of those has an Asian accent. Lots of Asian themes and philosophy of course but it all takes place in a fictional world. And yet nobody protested Nickelodeon over this. But now that it’s a movie a bunch of bored people with too much time on their hands feel the need to b***h. Boo hoo. It’s just such a stupid thing to complain about. Enough about race already. How about the idea that maybe they should just make a movie with the best actors for the parts, period?
That’s ridiculous, I can’t believe there are no asians in the movie.
Ceballos: Huh? What the heck are you talking about?
So you feel every actor person of color (black,Indian, Mexican) is cast as the villain in movies.
Assinine thinking.
Yeah..still not enough..Sokka and Katara should be played by Inuits and Ang..well they can keep him white if they want..just make sure they have a great actor who can fight. Zuko is a pivotal character..not just a villian, he’s a prince “misunderstood” and I think Dev could pull it off.
Like I said, I don’t watch the show so I don’t know as much about it as other people. What I’m saying is that there appeared to be a GREAT opportunity to cast some non-white actors in this high-profile, big-budget venture. In my opinion, that would have been a refreshing change, especially for kids who will see this movie and don’t necessarily always see themselves represented that way (especially as protagonists). I know when I was little, I loved seeing Puerto Ricans on screen (and it was an extra thrill when they weren’t gang members!)
Don’t get me wrong. I love all people and actors who are wonderful and talented. It may even turn out that Noah Ringer and Nicola Peltz (whoever they are) will be wonderful in this movie, and the best choices for the part. However, this just seems like a big opportunity to mix things up with a legitimate reason (as opposed to projects that cast a black actor in a traditionally white role to be “edgy.”
SallyInChicago-
I was afraid that some people might take my comment and leap to the conclusion you did. I didn’t mean to make any blanket statement about ALL movies, just about this specific one. And the fact of that matter appears to be in this specific case the producers seemed to have major leeway as far as what types of people they could have cast and they first decided to have an all-white cast (which is fine by me actually). However, when they decided to add a person of color he’s the bad guy.
Bottom line: I wasn’t so much saying that “every person of color is cast as the villain in movies.” I was mostly fretting that not enough people of color seem to get cast as the “hero.”
This particular project seemed like a better chance than most to rectify that and Hollywood (as it usually does) appears to have played it safe.
Cellabos: Just to clarify in the case of this movie, the character of Prince Zuko while techncially a villain is the arguably the most important and pivotal character of this series. He has the most complex character and goes the furthest in development-much further than the hero Ang. Basically Dev Patel, the person of color, got the best part.
And speaking as an asian person, I also never felt the series had any defined ethnic feel to the races of its characters.
one down, four to go? i won’t be completely satisfied until the casting directors get their act together and find actors that actually look like the characters. i can almost guarantee that the little kids who watch Avatar will know that the actors look nothing like the cartoon.
Prince Zuko is just a pale as Ang and the only 2 that are darker are the water benders. Jesse McCartny, w/black hair and a scar is a much better fit. We have to remember that it’s a film adaptation of a children’s show. If there were to be a remake of Superman, we wouldn’t all of the sudden decide that it’s not racially diverse enough and make him latino, would we?
I guess it’s a step in the right direction, but it sure would have been nice if Paramount had chosen to do thr right thing from the beginning, if not a full Asian cast, then at least a multicultural one.
You guys writing your comments are rdiculous…..Anyone that knows about this series, know that it is Asisan derived. How in the hell can a WHITE man play the lead character…please tell me. Did some of you say I see no problem…..Its funny how you cant see a problem when you want it to fit a certain package….Its a huge problem. Please show kids around that there are other cultures and talent within their cultures
Caliban-
Thanks for the info, and that’s cool to go. Of course, the biggest obstacle for all the actors is going to be shining through Shyamalan’s direction, which has actually gotten worse each time out, especially with respect to actors (I actually like Mark Wahlberg and REALLY like Zooey Deschanel, but they were awful in “The Happening”)
Here’s hoping Shymalan rediscovers the touch he had with child actors in “The Sixth Sense” and even “Signs.”
I dunno, I am a big fan of the show and was totally psyched to hear J Mac playing Prince Zuko because i think he could totally pull it off. but if it wasn’t a good fit for the movie, then so be it. Although casting is important a movie adaption of a show or book, it’s not the whole thing. Whether or not the film stays true to the show’s message and personality, and having awesome special effects won’t hurt either.
whatever, i will wanted jesse. but i’m sure dev will do.
im sad to see Jesse lose the role
right, so he’s the token minority. Great! No thanks…. besides have you seen Shitmalan’s last couple of flicks?
I think its kinda funny how Mtv.Com ran a story on Friday about Jesse mcCartney and how excited he was to be training for the role, and then this announcement get dropped late Sunday night. As if Jesse’s reps were still hoping for an 11th hour save Friday afternoon.
This STILL doesn’t make sense!! Wake up, M Night!!! Avatar and the main characters of Avatar are ASIAN. NOT INDIAN. It is SOKKA and KATARA who are dark-skinned. M Night is an idiot. This movie is going to tank.
I agree completly!!!! Like, i would understand if Dev was cast as Sokka maybe.. but Zuko?!?!?!?!?! what was M Night thinking!?!??!?!
I watch this show now and again while babysitting and it is really good. I have no idea why anyone would want to mess with something that is obviously working. Why did they change the original’s race? That was just an ignorant decision on their part. I’m still not happy about the casting but atleast it’s getting there…I mean has anyone even seen Jesse act? No thanks
Maered,
Actually, Indians (non-native american) are Asians due to where the country India sits on the continent (Asia Continent). Technically, having Patel in the mix is not wrong. I do understand where you are leaning towards in your comments. would lean him more in the role of Aang than Zuko, based on body structure and the ears. Shave that head and place the tats where they need to be, and you have your main character.
PATHETIC!!!! Shymalan’s movies have been getting crappier and crappier and now he’s selling out big time by putting an all white cast. Avatar would make great box office with Asian unknowns. Didn’t Slumdog Millionaire? Everyone involved should be embarrassed. The fact that Jesse mccartney was even supposed to be in it guarantees that it’s gonna suck.
Zuko is probably the most developed character in the whole series [I've watched the whole thing]. Both he and Aang go through serious changes in philosophy and identity, but it Zuko who goes completely 180 from a total villian, to one of the good guys willing to stand against his family to save the world. One of the best characters in the serious. If Patel can pull it off, it will be a great role.
Nope this isn’t going to satisfy the fans. If you paid any attention to the show’s ending credits you would see that most of the crew is *drum roll* ASIAN and in fact most of the names are Korean. If you really wanted to be true to the story and you know the FANS that will watch this, show what we want. Sokka and Katara are dark complected, Aang and Zora are most fair skinned and those they meet during travels are all over the spectrum. I hate that production studio whitewashes what’s supposed to be an ethic cast then when the sh** hits the fan, ‘oh well just add in one minority and all is good.’ Yeah right!
At this point I think the studios are just scrambling to find anyone “ethnic”. I must admit I kind of feel bad for them because they are so out of the loop. They have to appease a white majority audience and book actors people will know. Unfortunately there are not a lot of big name Asian child actors. But what the studio forgot to factor in is that avid fans of avatar whether white, asian, or black have been watching the characters for so long anything out of the ordinary seems blasphemous. Do die hard fans care about using big name actors to draw people into the film? No, apparently. What they want is for the film to look as much like the series as possible, and that is a wish that will never be achieved for obvious reasons. The film will never live up to the series and I feel this whole casting debauchery is illustrating just that. Am I happy they chose Dev Patel? I guess, he’s a colored somebody so he’ll do for ethnicity sake. But give me Dante Basco any day!
Ms. Sperling, It is not appropriate for you to refer to the four actors rounding the cast of the movie as “lily-white.” I doubt that any of them are the color of a lily. You seem to convey a message that being white is a bad thing, however a white person is no more able to control his race or ethnicity than anyone else.
Jessica Jade Andres is NOT white
she is asian american, and she will be a member of gaang as Suki.
If she is asian then the whole continent of Earth kingdom probably is
asian as well.
if fire=indian,earth=asian, then maybe water = caucasian/native