Choosing the RIGHT actor/actress

I haven't been asked to write about choice of actor but i feel it's important.

The actor/actress you choose must fit the character, and have a certain level of acting skill, they are representing you and you're script, so a bad performance could reflect a bad script to the audience.

I recently found the casting list for the proposed "Summer 2010 blockbuster" and found both mistakes in their choices and good choices in general.

"The Last Air bender" is a film adaption of the Nickelodeon cartoon "AVATAR: The Last Air bender" - Avatar is set in an Asian-influenced world of Chinese martial arts and elemental manipulation. The show drew on elements from East Asian, Japanese and Chinese culture, making it a mixture of an anime like and US domestic cartoons.
The series follows the adventures of the main protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating the evil Fire Lord and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation.

SUCCESSES IN CASTING:

casting of Avatar Aang

"Last Air bender" Unknown Actor Noah Ringer as Aang, and the Cartoon Aang voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen.

This is a good choice of character, Noah clearly resembles the character, reflects the character's age, build, appearance etc.

MISTAKES IN CASTING:

casting of Prince Zuko

The entire series (Nickelodeon cartoon) is based in an Asian society, and out of the all of the characters it has to be said, Zuko is the teenage, banished, prince and his character reflects the most Asian qualities (dark hair), while the choice of actor is a BLOND, TANNED, AMERICAN, 20-SOMETHING YEAR OLD. When people think of Jesse McCartney, they think pop-singer, American teen, big cheesy grin.

Zuko is hard-faced, grouchy - a dark character, the casting for this is VERY wrong and could anger fans of the programming and it's deeper meaning.

And they did get angry.. which is why they realised the mistake as directors should and recast the part of Zuko to Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), a realised actor who resembles the character Zuko and his strong exterior.

Another mistake i realise now, is that Noah Ringer is completely UNKNOWN as an actor, all i can find out is that he is from Mexico, this is a big risk for the Director to take, considering that he is not aware of the audience's reaction to the boy's acting until the film is released.It is a risk if you're making a high budget film to hand your main part to a new actor, you are unaware of reactions.
Concluding, I felt these points were important to include, as i will be more likely to be thorough in my consideration for actor/actress choice. The person NEEDS to fit the part comfortably and bring the character to life on screen.

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