Jackson Rathbone stakes his claim in vampire and Nickelodeon franchises
MOVE aside, Will Smith. This year, there's a new Independence Day powerhouse at the multiplex and his name is Jackson Rathbone.
Don't worry if you've not heard of him before. The 25-year-old Texan isn't exactly a household name, but thanks to roles in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and now The Last Airbender, Rathbone is fast-tracking his way to box-office glory.
"It's very exciting," says Rathbone. "When I was a young actor starting out at 19, I could never have imagined this scenario. Being a part of two franchises is really an amazing feeling."
Based on the wildly popular Nickelodeon series, The Last Airbender spins the saga of 12-year-old warrior Aang, who must unite the Air, Water and Earth nations against the dastardly Fire Lord (Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel). Rathbone is Sokka, Aang's right-hand man.
Rathbone jumped at the chance to work with The Last Airbender director M. Night Shyamalan, who has scored box-office hits with The Sixth Sense and Signs, both of which were also shot in Philadelphia and surrounding areas.
"Night is an incredible director," Rathbone says. "I love the ideas and almost magical elements he brings to the stories he tells. Besides, Paramount was going to pay me to spend four months learning kung fu. That's awesome right there."
There was plenty to do for Rathbone, while living in Pennsylvania. "I definitely ate a lot of cheese-steaks. The only thing I never got around to doing was meeting the Amish. I saw horses and buggies when I was in Reading.
"I really wanted to go to a swap meet but I never got around to it. Next time I'm back in Pennsylvania, that's going to be my priority."
While The Last Airbender may be his most recent film, Rathbone made his mark in 2008's Twilight and its 2009 sequel, New Moon, which have racked up more than $1.1 billion in worldwide ticket sales.
Eclipse, released earlier this year, has brought in millions more. Unlike the brooding initial entries, based on the Stephenie Meyer best-sellers, the third instalment was hyped as an action film.
"I think a lot of boyfriends all across the world are going to breathe a sigh of relief about this movie," says Rathbone of Eclipse before it was released.
"There's a whole other level to the love story but also a visceral kind of vampire action, which I think people are really going to dig. The darker side of the vampire world explodes on screen really, really nicely."
Rathbone plays Jasper in the Twilight franchise, a key member of the Cullen vampire clan who, in previous films, hasn't had much to do but keep his distance from Bella (Kristen Stewart) as she falls deeper and deeper in love with Edward (Robert Pattinson).
In Eclipse, Jasper's past as a Civil War soldier was revealed and viewers were shown for the first time how the most courtly member of the Cullen clan came to embrace the bloodsucking lifestyle.
The focus of Eclipse remains teenager Bella Swan, living in Forks, Washington while weighing her attraction to Edward and wolf boy Jacob Black (Jacob Lautner). She realises war is coming.
A mysterious group of vampires called the Newborn Army has found a weak spot in the Cullen family forcefield and they're about to attack.
To protect Bella, the neckbiters and their mortal enemies, the werewolves must join forces long enough to stamp out the Newborn nasties. Jasper's past becomes key to solving the whole mess.
Back in the old days, he trained Newborn soldiers in the ways of battle. So before the murderous vamps arrive, he has to teach the Cullens (Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Ashley Greene) how to use their powers.
Playing a Twilight bloodsucker requires hours of preparation. All of the actors portraying neckbiters undergo at least 60 minutes in the makeup chair so they have the same pale, almost-ghostly appearance.
Rathbone needed an additional three hours so prosthetic bite-marks and scars could be added to his neck and arms. He was also required to wear special, hand-painted contact lenses which turned out to be very disorienting during his elaborate fight sequences.
"You lose your peripheral vision with the contacts and you can't quite see what's going on," he says.
"I had to do a scene where I'm taking on seven Newborn vampires in one go, which is no easy task, and I had no tunnel vision. It was like fighting drunk."
And it will be a while before Rathbone has any free time. Coming up next for the actor is The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. The fourth film in the series will be released in two instalments. The first half is scheduled to debut on November 18, 2011 and the final chapter is likely to arrive in 2012.
Rathbone is looking ahead to Breaking Dawn. "I'm excited to see what (Bella and Edward's) baby is going to look like.
"And I'm excited to work with Bill Condon, who's an Oscar-winning director. I think that's going to be an amazing experience.
"So, yeah, we get to go back and make not one more, but two more movies. That means two more family reunions and lots and lots more family dinners."
And after that, what's in store for Rathbone?
Twilight: The Musical, of course," he says with a laugh. "I've got my tap-dancing shoes all ready."
The Last Airbender, is out on Thursday.
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