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Speaking to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Shyamalan said that he felt like he had auditioned "every child on this planet who was interested in acting and knew about martial arts".
Thousands auditioned before being whittled down to the final casting by the Philadelphia filmmaker.
He said of the decision: "I think we should go with this kid, this total unknown and lo and behold, the Internet got me the star.
"This kid has the right vibe. He's really raw as an actor, but he's got the right essence,"
The Last Airbender will be released July 1 in the US and August 13 in the UK.
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