Actor Jackson Rathbone is bound to dominate the box office this holiday weekend: He is featured in back-to-back blockbusters, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" and "The Last Airbender."
While "Twilight" is an established franchise, "Airbender" is the opening chapter in a mythical trilogy adapted from an animated series by M. Night Shyamalan.
He has a meaty role in "Eclipse," after keeping a relatively low profile in the first two "Twilight" installments. His character, Jasper, is a quiet member of the Cullen family coven thus far, standing in the shadow of his adoptive brother, Edward.
The third picture in the series shines a light on Jasper, as it delves into his origins as a Civil War soldier. His military training is put to use when the Cullens, alongside warrior werewolves, battle an army of murderous "newborn" vampires.
"Airbender," shot partially in Greenland, also has its share of epic fighting. Rathbone portrays Sokka, a member of a magical water tribe based near the South Pole. Sokka embarks on a journey north after finding a mysterious child who may be a reincarnated spiritual leader known as the Avatar (no relation to James Cameron).
The 25-year-old moonlights as a rocker in the band 100 Monkeys and he has founded a production company, Patchmo Entertainment, with several indies in the pipeline.
Rathbone -- who called himself DJ Joyride during his salad days spinning records for hire at parties -- now strikes a balance between music and movies. We spoke with him via phone during an "Airbender" press day.
Q. I was wondering if you knew for some time that you have these two big movies coming out within days of each other. This could give fans an opportunity to do a double feature -- although that's a lot of mythology for one sitting.
A. It's definitely one aspect of both films, but the other aspect is the action. With "Eclipse," you finally get to see the vampires and the werewolves team up and take on a vampire army. With "Last Airbender," we hit all audiences. Girls can drag their boyfriends to "Eclipse" and the boyfriends are probably going to be turned around on it. With "The Last Airbender," it's fun for the whole family.
Q. I was going to say in terms of "The Last Airbender," it is a film that has a lot of action and effects, but what really jumped out to me was that scene when you were talking about your grandmother asking the princess about her white hair. Everything slows down for a moment and it's this really emotional interlude.
A. M. Night is able to find these moments that take you out of the story and let you believe that these characters have these lives. We're about to go into an all-out war, the ending sequence of the film, and you have this loving moment between two characters. That's really important. It adds levity. It adds a certain sense of reality and a certain sense of immediacy as to what they're fighting for in the first place.
Q. Do you see links between "Airbender" and "Unbreakable" because they're both about myths?
A. Night has these themes. One of them is faith, having faith in oneself or having faith in something greater than yourself. Thematically, this film explores having faith in yourself through other people having faith in you. Sometimes you don't believe in yourself, but through the strength of other peoples' belief, you're able to rise above your mental block against your own abilities.
Q. I'm wondering if going to school in northern Michigan prepared you for Greenland?
A. Not in the least, but Greenland was an incredible experience.
Q. How was the catering?
A. At night, we would go to the pub, and they had reindeer burgers, musk ox burgers.
Q. Oooh. I'm a vegetarian.
A. If you're a vegetarian, you could try the whale sashimi.
Q. That doesn't sound enticing. Does it taste like chicken?
A. It didn't taste like chicken. I actually played my first international gig at a local pub in Greenland. During filming, the cast and crew went out to this pub, and I played an acoustic set. Producer Frank Marshall and I got up on stage with the house band and he sang "Stormy Monday" while I played slide guitar.
Q. What is the bar scene in Greenland?
A. There's one bar. It's literally the bar scene.
Q. Have you thought about doing music for film?
A. Yes and I have. I produced a film ("Girlfriend") this past year with my bandmate, Jerad Anderson . We composed the score for the film.
Q. What is the film about?
A. It's about a young man with Down syndrome who romantically pursues a single mother in a small town while she's still involved with her volatile ex. ... I play the volatile ex, and we got this incredible young actor named Evan Sneider who has Down syndrome, but he has been acting in the theater since he was a kid. Everyone who's seen the film so far has been blown away by his performance. It's going to be debuting on the festival circuit.
Q. Because "Airbender" is layered with martial arts fighting and philosophy, I'm wondering if you practiced growing up?
A. When I was younger I did a lot of Tae Kwon Do. I was a green belt. Then I got more into football and track. When I was a freshman in high school, I quit football to go into theater. At the end of the day, it was the wisest decision I ever made and it was all for the girls. In football, you're changing and showering with a bunch of guys. In theater, it's kind of coed in the dressing room.
Q. I know you were also involved in community theater so I was wondering what were a couple of the first roles you played.
A. I think my first role was Doody in the musical "Grease." I had to learn how to play guitar and sing, and I fell in love with theater and music all at once because of that role.
Lisa Rose may be reached at lrose@starledger.com.