Twilight's Rathbone To Star in Shyamalan's 'Last Airbender'

FANS of 'Twilight' will be happy to learn that Jackson Rathbone (pictured), who plays Jasper Hale, one of the vampire boys, has been picked by M. Night Shyamalan for a role in his next film, 'The Last Airbender'.

Shyamalan's latest movie is a live-action film based on the popular anime-inspired Nickelodeon series, 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'. The title was shortened to avoid confusion with director James Cameron's upcoming 2009 film 'Avatar'.

'The Last Airbender' deals with the adventures of Aang, the successor to a long line of superpowered Avatars who must put aside his irresponsible ways and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations.

Besides Rathbone who plays Aang's friend Sokka, singer Jesse McCartney is in negotiations to play Aang's nemesis Zuku, while Nicola Peltz (of Deck The Halls fame) will play Sokka's sister Katara, a Waterbender.

The movie, which is part of a trilogy, is written and directed by Shyamalan, and is scheduled to open in July 2010 under Paramount Pictures. It was reported that after an open casting call in Texas, Shyamalan picked karate star Noah Ringer for the lead role of Airbender’s 12-year old hero, Aang.

Rathbone was born in Singapore on Dec 21, 1984. He is known for his role as Nicholas Fiske, on the ABC family drama Beautiful People and has had guest roles in The OC, and Close to Home. He starred in a few movies before landing that role in Twilight.