Eagarly waiting for this.

Jesse McCartney as Zuko? Yeah, I ain't watching this.

jesse mcartney isnt zuko, the main actor from the movie slumdog millionair is.

Last time (and first) I checked, which was 2 seconds ago on Wikipedia, the show wasn't even set on Earth so it didn't have Asians. Just because the show was influenced by Asian culture doesn't automatically make all the characters resemble inhabitants of certain areas of our planet. Don't get me wrong, there'd be absolutely nothing wrong with the characters being Asian, but you're complaining about them doing something they're not. Besides, the animated characters don't even look Asian.

But clearly Sokka and Katara were darker than white people earth....at all. Not that it matter to me, i'm just mad at the choice for zuko. I was hoping Dante Basco, the guy who did his voice, might get to play him :(

Same here, dude's hawt AND knows how the character's played

yer, especially katara being played by someone so pale, in the show it is obvious of there tanned skin - which makes them part of the water tribe.
it honestly looks like the actors playing sokka and katara are the pale-est people there !?!

Everyone here needs to get over the race topic. It doesn't matter what race they are. What matters is their acting abilites. I agree that I would have really liked Dante Basco to play zuko but he obviously wasn't chosen to play the part.

P.S. An example of acting skills coming before race is the movie Much Ado About Nothing. It has Denzel Washington playing a part that is meant for a white man but he got the part even though it made the movie a little awkward considering that he is supposed to be the brother of Keanu Reeves (who is obviously white). So as you can see Denzel was a better actor and got the part because of his skill even though he didn't really fit the part.

It's convenient to say that it's all about talent and not about looks, when almost always, and certainly for at least three of these for-certain white actors, that the talent just happens to only pop up in white people. If it's all about acting ability and not about looks, then that's saying that they could only find acting ability in white people, and not in the 4 million Native American/Alaskan Native population, nor in the 14.2 million Asian American population. It simply does not compute.

You are seriously kidding me right? As an Asian American this is like the most insulting crap Hollywood keep dumping on us. If it is not some ugly stereotype to make some white guy look good in movies, it is changing all the characters to white or whitewash all the Asian characters. These characters are Asian and they should be played by Asian Americans. Same for DragonZ ball. The movie 21 was an ASIAN AMERICAN story yet the main characters magically became white. You must be super naive to think it has anything to do with talent. There are a zillion talented Asian actors in Asia yet Hollywood has no problem importing actors from UK and Australia. The concept of only talented people getting work is a total joke. Hollywood is run by bunch of racist white guys whose only mission in life is to make white men the "man". Get a clue people. When you support movies like this, you are saying racism is ok in America or movies are ok as long as white people get all the leading roles. This despite the fact America is 1/3 people of color.

You do realize that not hiring someone for a job just because they don't fit the "correct" physical features, even though they do have the abilites that are required, is actually racist. I just felt that you should know this.

Oh yes, assuredly. That also means I expect the next Batman film to remove Christian Bale and replace him with Wanda Sykes. Otherwise that would be racist AND sexist. And homophobic.

(It's actually much more racist to pretend that 1/3 of Americans aren't actually here, just because they aren't white. Please don't try to tell me that whites are underrepresented and stereotyped VICTIMS in Hollywood, I will just laugh at you.)

Seriously Rahne? Don't be naive. I am an actor - you're an idiot if you think they don't cast based on physical features. That's what gets you in the door - you have to fit their vision before you can prove your acting skills. I suppose you think Driving MIss Daisy could have starred two white people too. I guess Morgan Freeman was just so good they decied to put him in instead. idiot.

Do you realize that most casting calls in Hollywood are limited to "white people"? Hollywood practices what you call racism every single day. Do you honestly think they would have cast black or asian kids as the main characters in Narnia, had these kids had the ability?

Of course not, and there would have been an outcry if they had, people would say it was political correctness gone mad.
And they didn't look for non white kids anyway.

Most casting calls specify they are looking for white people. They usually look at minority actors only when there is a token minority role.

There never would be a black Superman or asian Indy Jones.

Minority actors getting roles intended for white people is the minority, not the ule.

I totally agree with you, but I just wanted to add about 21 that in the real story, not all the students were Asian Americans. There were also Middle-Easterners. They choose non-white kids because in casinos white kids with $100,000 stand out. But when it's Asian or dark skinned kids, people think they're the children of rich business executives or of oil magnates.

They successfully took advantage of ethnic and racial stereotyping.

I am going to be blunt... and I'm not going to even tell you what race I am because I can make a point without putting that little fact out there. This IS America. The main race here IS white. Just like the dominant race in Mexico is Mexicans and in Asia the main race is Asians. The mainstream movies in other countries are full of their dominant race. BECAUSE IT'S THEIR COUNTRY AND ETHNICITY. Everyone is racist EVERYWHERE. not just White people. Watch BET... all black. If white people had WET we'd be racist. Race based colleges. fun fun. more racism on all of your race's parts. it's everywhere. White people are just blamed for everything while trying to make everyone happy. EVERYONE IS RACIST. If you are offended by this movie then you are just looking for a racist problem and drama. So immature. And this also the blunt truth- movies that steer away from the norm in casting and such don't do as well. so really this probably wasn't an intention racist thing- but only for money. I, will go and watch this movie. I guess I'm supporting racism because I am excited to see this movie... that even you have in you. shame.

Well ok you’re white as noted in your statement "If white people had WET we'd be racist", ignorant because "Mexican" is not a race and young (or stupid) because contrary to your thinking not EVERYONE IS RACIST. A philosophy based on absolutes sows the seeds of racism so please watch what you say. Your attempts at being blunt make you sound uneducated.

The fact of the matter is America is racially diverse; more so then most countries. I agree Caucasian is the dominant race (74% according to some stats) here but I can assure you that much more than 74% of visual media is portrayed as white. There’s a very apparent disconnect in the representation of other races. BET is an attempt to equalize this and I’m sorry to say WET, as you so cleverly put it, is for the most part NBC, ABC and CBS (with the exception of a few black focused shows).

I will agree with you on one of your points and that is I don't believe the casting is racist. It was in very bad tasted. The driving force was purely for money. M. Night Shyamalan, like any narcissistic capitalist, wants to ensure his movie is a success at the box office rather than represent a story where its main characters and story line were obviously based around Asian culture.

The movie 21 is used constantly in this thread and I believe it’s very appropriate. Many of friends, who I love, are made of many different races but are ignorant on this subject, thought that the casting of 21 was not a big deal. However, I find it interesting that even Steven Spielberg was appalled at the casting when many Asians weren’t. I can tell you many of the ones that I know were indifferent are admittedly ‘white-washed’ and disturbingly proud of it. Here is a quote from Mr. Spielberg…

“The trans-racial whitewashing of the recently-released movie 21 is the most egregious example of our industry’s human rights abuses,”

Strong words. Let’s not simply marginalize what is clearly happening in Hollywood.

i myself dont find anything different between black and white or chinese or japenese or asian but they should use asians toplay the parts because the only one they use is the part of aang and that sucks. Because the last thing we need on earth is racism. Its getting worse and we need to stop being so rude to other races and thats all i have to say.

I haven't seen that movie, but there is such a thing as adoption or mixed marriages. There are families where the kids are of so called"different races". Barack Obama's half sister is half Indonesian. I don't see how it is awkyard, it's more revelating of your own prejudices than anything. BTW, Keanu Reeves is not "full white", he is part Hawaiian and Chinese.

And the race topic... I hope you know race has no biological basis, otherwise you have no business telling people to get over it.

he is way too freaking old to play zuko. true it would be cool but he is too old. don't you guys recognize him from the movie "Hook"? if he was that age it wouldn't be a problem. unless you can turn back time he wouldn't work by today's standards.

yo avatard jesse macartney isnt really that old you know that

i totally agree with that i think Dante Basco was PERFECT for that part and not because he is Asian the voice, the attitude,his look, it would of been PERFECT!!! im im pretty pissed off with all the other charactors like Katara and Sokka they do need to have blue eyes, a freaken tan and have dark hair there part of the water tribe HELLO BLUE!! who ever did the casting FREAKEN SUCKS as far as looks go but maybe these actors are good but as of right now im very dissapointed, Im a huge fan and i just want it to be GREAT!!

dude crazy, dante basco is rufio! nuts...

The characters don't look asian? What? Did they not use the right shade of yellow? Are their eyes not slanted enough for you? So you are saying that they don't look asian but they are dressed in asian clothing? How many bald headed white monks do you know? The names Aang and Zuko sound European to you? Asian characters in a world built from Asian cultures should be played by Asian actors and actresses.

I'm sorry JakePT, but you are incorrect. Avatar is in fact set on Earth. There's the North and South poles on which the Northern and Southern Water Tribes live. The planet that the show takes place on is Earth, but different. Its a fantasy version of our home planet. And because the show was influenced by Asian culture, it DOES mean that the characters are Asian. They read and write in Chinese for goodness sake! Go back and watch a few episodes and you'll see! I'll bet that if the show's main language was Chinese instead of English, then you would feel differently about them possibly being White, English-speaking Americans. I'm sure the show was done in English because its easier to get an audience, rather than having it all in subtitles.

If this show wasn't meant to represent Asian and Inuit peoples and their cultures, then I don't know what is!

There are all sorts of different Asian races involved in the series, such as: Chinese, Japanese, Inuit, and Mongolian. Inuit (Alaskan or Indian) people are in facts Asians, who settled in colder climates. All of these people's skin colors differ too, from dark brown to pale white.

I'll even go so far to say that the Fire Nation act like the Japanese (I mean no offense when I say this) because the more traditional Japanese people are very hardcore when it comes to maintaining their honor (like Zuko doing anything to get his honor back). I personally know people like this today.

Aang's people - Air Nomads- reside in Temples in different areas of the globe. They are Buddhist, and their Bending forms are based off of Shaolin Kung Fu as well as other Chinese martial arts. So, I'd say the Air Nation is mostly like China.

Check out these people, who look exactly like the Air Nomads:
http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/shang_kenneth/...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Kero-Kero/...

You mean to tell me that the characters from Avatar are not supposed to be actual depictions of real people from our planet? So that's like saying, Neo (from the Matrix) is not a male, Caucasian human from planet Earth? Even though the Matrix trilogy is based off of a fantasy/futuristic version of our planet? Or perhaps, the characters from The Incredibles are not supposed to be the ethnicity that they appear to be?

The makers of this Avatar movie need to put more effort into finding the right people to play the parts. Besides, there are PLENTY of Asians located in California (which is exactly where the head producers for the film, live as well as where Paramount Pictures reside). And I know, because I live in California.

I've said my peace.

Careful, you'll be accused of stereo-typing! Okay, I'm accusing you. Besides, don't these the characters of Sokka and Katara have blue eyes in the original series?

I agree with this comment. I've been watching Avatar since the beginning and I am greatly looking forward to the movie. The only main characters in the show who actually look Asian are Zuko and Iroh (and the others of the fire nation), so I do not think I agree with the casting there but will wait to judge once I see the movie. However, everyone is putting up such a fit over the choice for Sokka and Katara and I think that is ridiculous. Does anyone actually watch the show? Because last time I checked, Katara and Sokka HAVE BLUE EYES!! Do a lot of Asians have blue eyes? I hadn't noticed. And Eskimos live in the North Pole, and they are just slightly different from Asians! So I guess if M. wanted to be accurate he could have tracked down some blue eyed Inuits (Eskimos.) I'm all for diversity, but it would be more ridiculous if the leads were all Asian. Though, I would have thought he'd choose an Asian to play Zuko.

Color contacts

Everyone's eyes in the series are colored accordingly to their nation. Earth - brown, green, Fire - gold, Water - blue, Air - grey.
That's no excuse.

I just want to say I know this is an old post and I feel the cast for avatar shouldn't be whitewashed but as far as Keanu Reeves in the Matrix, Keanu isn't just White, he's also Japanese and I think Hawiian

Well, it opens up an enormous argument for the casting choices.

I would have to disagree with you Dez. It is a racism to cast every single character white in an all asian storyline, just because white people have blue eyes...like blue eyes cant be bought...its called contacts. You must not understand the enormity of it. If M. Night Shamalyn wants to really make his cast resemble the true characters, he'll have to tan Katara and her brother very deeply, instead of getting people who look like the original characters, then buy some blue contacts. Dark people are only acceptable insofar as they are actually white. 'I'll color my white people, but no coloreds on my set please!!!' The series orignally confused things anyway, mixing blue eyes on Asians, and giving them Amercan accents...but it is obvious the skin and heritage are more telling of a persons race than the color of the eyes, and its just racism to judge them because they don't have blue eyes. Because the color of the eye can be changed so easily, one must conclude that the real problem is the race. Besides, if the race isn't the issue, what about Dante Basco, he has the american accents, the physique and complete look for Zuko, whether in race and build and he knows the character, in and out so would actually cost less to make scenes with Dante Basco than with Jesse McCartney, but becasue Basco is Asian = racism. This situation bears too many implications for it to not be considered racism, it may be drivn by capitalism, but a car driven by kerosen is no less a car than one driven by gas

You an "IDIOT". What is wrong with you. It doesn't matter where the show to place on whether it be earth or the moon. Clearly they are not "WHITE" and that is what I do know. This movie will be a joke if the cast is all white. It will be like when keanu reeves played the buddah or white folks used to play indians. there are to many actors in "THIS WORLD" not to be able to find people that can realistically be seen as the characters they are portraying. OMG this movie could be great but not if the cast is right...

It is a chinese (Asian) setting with asian names. Why not have danny devito play as Muhamid Ali? Or watch a japanese samurai movie with all the samurai being african american? The characters should be asian (not necessarily chinese, but some type of asian characters atleast). Using white kid actors takes away the entire feel of the movie. If the cartoon was not an asian cartoon setting and the names were changed to Billy the air bender or something, then it would be much easier to relate to.

Ok. there is 16 pages of comments i dont feel like reading, so im replying to ALL of them as close to the beginning as possible. if anything confuses you or seems out of place, read through several of the comments and you'll catch on.

Let's get some facts straight before we continue. Prince Zuko is NOT played by Jesse Mcartney. THat's someones joke. The role is played by Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel.

Also, lets not forget who we're dealing with here: M. Night Shyamalan. This is the guy who wrote and directed movies like "The Village", "Lady in the Water", and the biggest waste of my time and money, "the Happening". Being a HUGE fan of Avatar since 05, i nearly cried when i found out who was directing the film. My apologies to the director, but his "artistic style", if you will, doesnt exactly appeal to me, and i know I'm not alone. I almost want to say, judging by the majority of his works, that he's not in it for the money....but then again that's basically what motivates everything. here's my point.

(Lol)I thought to myself when i was naive 15, that if there was ever a movie, I wanted to be Katara... Im half Vietnamese, love the movements of tai chi (what water bending is based on), completely obsessed with avatar, and i could totally rock some contacts. I was a dancer and actress, and i told myself if i didnt get picked, surely some other asian looking girl would get the role...not that i look asian...i hear "latina" or "middle eastern" more than asian. the Point is, Looks do play a Ginormous part in character, and characters in movies, and movies in society. Like i said, a little disappointed, but not unexpected from Night.

The movie, as most are, is geared toward the audience that will generate the most amount of revenue: America. America is not ALL WHITE people. I know. And yes, Hollywood (especially Disney) is pushing white supremacy-no one can argue with that.

The fact that we all hate is that, as With most of Hollywoods productions, movies and their details must be altered or exaggerated to better fit an entire story into an hour and a half, and still enrapture the audience by whatever means necessary even if that means making the story LESS accurate...so we cant expect things to be identical, or even remotely similar. Dissappointing. I know.
Once again, dont get your hopes up...this is M. Night were talking about.

Although i would like the characters to be portrayed better ethnically, i dont mind...because its really the best M. Night can do. Im sure he knows about tanning beds, hair dye, and computer graphic manipulation. I am actually optimistic. Lets give them a chance.

Wow Jake, that is an awful argument.

are u kidding me u know it ment to be asian people u cant tell me they could not even cast a asian person at all plus this bullshit that its not set on earth whats that got to do with it so because its not set on earth the whole cast is going to be white allow that dragonball movie concept idea they should of find some asian people to play the leads that will boost asian actors in hollywood. hollywood dont give a shit about people outside the white race. JakePT just imagine they did The Boondocks live action movie and cast the whole actors as white or Afro Samurai be played as a white person this is a sad day for "Up And Coming Asian Actors"

Well, technically, the characters dont' ALL have to be Asian. The fire nation (Chinese)and earth nations (earth nation might be Mongolian or Central American) are better off being Asian Characters. The Air nation should be white people or tibetians while the Water nation should be some people of Inuit decent.

umm ok... lol, correct me if im wrong, but this whole thing is kind of hypocritical. I mean, your complaining about how the cast is all "white" and that you want them to be all asian. Thats kind of racist dude. Though i dont like the idea of jesse mccartney playing zuko, just because white actors are playing what is meant to be "asian" characters, dosnt mean that its gonna suck. Give it a chance, the whole world isnt against you coz your black.

no i dont want them to be all asian but have the lead as a asian and the other could be played by latinos or something else instead of all white u dont understand thoughtout history of film white characters been some type of hero all the time make they this cast more open to different culture of race not just only white people

also check this out Danny Glover was going to do a film about Haiti but the studio boss did not go with it cause their is no white heroes in the film aint that fucked up the film industry only want white as the lead cause to show everyone white people are always heroes and every other race will never be heroes look at Dragonball and Price of Persia film that will be coming soon the lead is white

the only best ethinc film right now is Harold and Kumar that film shows shows to asian actors having crazy adventure plus the film had white people, black people, latino people etc

Didn't know that about the Danny Glover film, that is some really fucked shit.

no i dont want them to be all asian but have the lead as a asian and the other could be played by latinos or something else instead of all white u dont understand thoughtout history of film white characters been some type of hero all the time make they this cast more open to different culture of race not just only white people

also check this out Danny Glover was going to do a film about Haiti but the studio boss did not go with it cause their is no white heroes in the film aint that fucked up the film industry only want white as the lead cause to show everyone white people are always heroes and every other race will never be heroes look at Dragonball and Price of Persia film that will be coming soon the lead is white

the only best ethinc film right now is Harold and Kumar that film shows shows to asian actors having crazy adventure plus the film had white people, black people, latino people etc

No it is not racist... racist is sitting back and watching another race-wash happen. Please do not feed me this crap that the chracters are not suppose to be asian... it is obvious and if you don't see it then you are willfully ignorant. Even the producers said it was ASIAN influence. So basically hollywood is saying "hey asian people we like all your culture but your not good enough to star. So... we are just gonna take that part but you can keep the rest. Thanks!" AND THAT IS RACISM!!! So... if you want to keep this film from becoming another EArthsea (look it up) then help us fight at
http://aang-aint-white.livejournal.com/646.html

hypocritical would be wanting asians to play lead characters in Lord Of the Rings. There's nothing wrong what PriestRevan wants.

the problem here isn't becasue all the characters are 'all white' but the implication that they don't think theres one single Asian good enough to play a role in an 'all Asian' story. Its quite a big insult, espcially since Basco is quite a complete package to play Zuko, I mean, he actally looks like his character, knows the lines, the story, the character, and he would ace through each scene without over-repetition, but he was rejected because he was Asian. Thant American prefers white people in their movies, how many people actually believe that? Americans prefer good movies, otherwise, movies like slumdog millionaire would've tanked. Besides, with the right cast, i.e., Asians who sound white, there won't be a need for subtitles. I doubt the movie will suck becasue the storyline is just sooooo good, it is still a pretty big slap on the face for Asians. Seriously, M. Night Shaymalan was being ignorant if he thinks he needs an all-white cast to sell his movie. If people are so racist they want to see only white casts, are they going to seat though 2 hrs of a movies based on asian culture, in which case the ovie will tank anyway.

Actually Jesse McCartney is 1:1 with Zuko in the face. If you take off the hair and that smile and put some anger in the eyes you'll see why they choose him. Nicola Peltz is also very much alike with the animated character.
I haven't seen Twilight yet, so I can't say for sure anything about Jackson Rathbone.

As for Noah Ringer, I hope he will be able to fill the main spot.

Good cast. Let's hope they don't ruin the script...

If he wants to take white actors and actresses for the roles,at least train Noah Ringer in Baguazhang,NOT KARATE.

your an idiot baguazhang IS karate.

Baguazhang is Chinese martial arts. Karate is Japanese martial arts. Wanna try that again?

who is the idiot here? bakua is nothing like karate