Buzzine interviews Jackson Rathbone

Emmanuel Itier: How did you come to be part of The Last Airbender?

Jackson Rathbone: It started about three years ago. M Night [Shyamalan] and I kind of hit it off right then and there, but he wasn�t certain about me. He said he liked me and would keep me in mind. Then all of a sudden, a year later, he called me in for a different character. Then it was just a matter of balancing it with Eclipse. They�re both amazing companies, and they worked really closely together. A lot of Summit execs have been at Paramount previously, so there�s a bond there and it all worked out.
EI: What�s it like to open these two huge movies the same week?
JR: It�s definitely an experience. I�m blessed to be even in one movie and get seen! Honestly, I�ve done projects that nobody has seen � and I�m kind of glad they didn�t, about some of those projects!
EI: Why?
JR: I always learn from everything I do, but at some points you�re like, �I�m glad I learned from that. And I�m glad nobody saw it!�
EI: But it�s sort of like you�re competing against yourself this week.
JR: That�s one of the cool things I try to do with my career � play as many different characters as possible, so I never feel like I�m competing with myself, even from one character to the next. A 200-year-old vampire who is fighting his instincts at every beckon call and is very, very pale is a little bit different than a 17-year-old warrior who becomes a rebel leader! It�s far different enough.
EI: What kind of training did you do?
JR: It was really geared toward kung fu and a power fist form, which is very aggressive, very strong movements throughout my training. I wanted to do a lot of wrestling and grappling to make him less of a tactical fighter � brave and just going head first in any battle he comes up against. I don�t have any super-duper powers, but I can still take out the Fire Nation with a boomerang, and that�s pretty sweet! I learned stick fighting for that. I did all these stick fighting scenes that never made it into the film, just to practice choreography and everything.
EI: What was Philly boot camp like?
JR: It�s pretty funny, getting used to acting under extreme circumstances, but it was fun and extremely exciting, and that�s why Night does all his films in Philadelphia, so he can be close to his family. And in Greenland, you never think you�re going to do something like that. It�s like, this is amazing, this is a part of my life and I�m always going to remember it. And we get it documented on camera! Night is much more old-school, and I appreciate that. It was a dream come true, to be able to work with a director like that, and it was sad to say goodbye at the end of the day, but it definitely informs your acting. It was such a magnificent sound stage built in Philly. It was amazing. And Night hooked me up in a bar and I got to play an hour long set on guitar. Then we got up with the house band. It was really fun.
EI: What kind of music do you like?
JR: Well, Spin.com called my group funky rock �n roll. I�m all across the board, but I dig The Rolling Stones and blues music and all that.
EI: You have such an enormous career and you�re so young. How do you deal with that, and what do you see in your future?
JR: I have an amazing family that really keeps me grounded. So at the end of the day, I�m the exact same person � just lucky at succeeding at what I�ve set out to do. And for the future for myself, I want to do a little bit of everything. I�ve already got my band, A Hundred Monkeys. I�ve produced a film this past year with my bandmate Jerry Anderson.

EI: What�s the film?
JR: It�s called Girlfriend � a really dark indie drama. It�s premiering on the festival circuit sometime this year. I can�t say where yet! We�re trying to work that, if you will, but it�s in the can. It�s done. We�re really just waiting for the right festival to premiere it. And then our band composed the original score for it, and I shot and directed a music video for a friend of mine�s song. And then I wrote a short film that I hope to direct sometime this year. I want to get more projects going with my production company. I�m looking to finish finding funding for this film called The Amazing Mr. Jones that I�m going to be producing and starring in, and then hopefully work my way around the camera and keep acting but also produce, direct, write, and keep playing music. Just do a little bit of everything.

EI: Wow, you�re a real renaissance boy!

JR: I know, but I�m not doing anything at the present. It�s bad. I gotta pick it up!

EI: How do you deal with the fans and even go to the grocery store with a huge film like Eclipse that you�re in?

JR: Well, the first three letters of fanatical are �fan,� so to what degree do you want to take it? It might seem crazy, but I�m sure we all have those things in our lives. Like when I looked at that tent city at the Eclipse premiere, I thought to myself, �What do I feel that way about?�

EI: What would you feel that way about?

JR: I�d do that for The Rolling Stones, honestly I would. To be a part of an artistic project that has moved that many people and that many people love and support it, and just to even be a small part of it is just astounding because you can feel that love and that radiation of support, and these are people who just support what you do. As a performer and an artist, that�s the greatest gift you can ever get


buzzine via cullensnews