Dev Patel Replaces McCartney in ‘Airbender’ Role
By Krystal Clark
Slumdog no more! The star of Danny Boyle’s international sensation Slumdog Millionaire has just signed on for another gig. ] According to Variety, M. Night Shyamalan has just cast Dev Patel to star in his adaptation of the Nickelodeon Films production of The Last Airbender. Patel will star as Zuko, the role that was originally cast with actor/musician Jesse McCartney.
More on the films casting after the jump.
McCartney was set to star in the Zuko role, but it seems as if his flourishing music career got in the way.
“Jesse had tour dates that conflicted with a boot camp I always hold on my films, and where the actors here have to train for martial arts,” Shyamalan said. 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 said.
I’m all for being a double threat in the entertainment industry, but how could McCartney pass this up? Are his album sales through the roof? If so I’ll stand corrected,but this would have been a great career move. Shyamalan took a lot of criticism for casting McCartney in a role that many fans felt should have been given to a more ethnically diverse actor. I guess they got their wish with Patel.
What do you think about the recast? Do you see this as a smart move on Shyamalan’s part?
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 2:40AM
Yeah, this should calm people down I suppose. Dev's close enough to an animated character's apparent racial identity. As long as he's not white, eh?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009 3:25AM
Actually, this makes it worse. The 4 main characters have East Asian or Inuit backgrounds. Now, the 3 heroes are being played by white actors and the villain is being played by Patel!
http://aang-aint-white.livejournal.com/
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 4:22PM
[...] Dev Patel Replaces McCartney in ‘Airbender’ Role [...]
Monday, April 27, 2009 1:00PM
[...] Dev Patel Replaces McCartney in ‘Airbender‘ Role [...]
Thursday, May 21, 2009 8:08PM
[...] a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and The Last Airbender will be his feature film debut. Dev Patel, who replaced original star Jesse McCartney as Zuko also carries a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He earned it way [...]
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 2:22AM
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