Jackson Rathbone knows Kung Fu, but not when to duck

"I had all this Kung Fu training (for Airbender)," he reveals. "I went to film Eclipse and the other cast and I talked about film fighting techniques, how a fist can be this far from your face and it can look realistic.
"Kellan got a little overexcited and he made contact with my temple.
"He didn't knock me down but he definitely knocked me for a loop. I was kind of dazed.
"We kept filming, got five more takes, then we took a break. I sat down and that's when the world got a little fuzzy.
"The producers were really concerned - because their money was at stake - so they sent me to the hospital and had me checked out. I was fine and I went back to work the next day at 5am.
"He didn't leave a mark (on me) whereas his hand was bruised so I think I won. He hit me and I didn't fall down so I am pretty excited about that."
Jackson needs to learn to move a little quicker if he is to live up to the reputation of his distant relative Basil Rathbone, who was noted as being one of the skillful swashbucklers on the silver screen, though he is most famous for portraying Sherlock Holmes in 14 movies.
"Basil Rathbone is my grandfather's third cousin some times removed. He was one of the greatest swordsmen in Hollywood history.
"In Airbender I wield a boomerang and I am going up against all these characters with all these amazing special abilities, like being able to manipulate fire, water, earth," he says ruefully.

"Sokka (pictured right) holds his own, even though he just has a boomerang, Hopefully if the films develop and we get to make the next two Sokka will get to become a swordsman, so I will really follow in Basil's footsteps."
Apart from acting, the 25-year-old Singaporean-born, Texas-raised actor's other great passion is music. He plays a variety of instruments, sings and is in a band, 100 monkeys.
While filming up in Greenland, M Night arranged for him to perform at the local night spot.
"Night hooked me up with a gig at the local pub and I played a set on guitar. Frank Marshall (the producer) got up and he sang Stormy Monday and I played slide guitar. We got ourselves some fans."
Jackson likes to retreat to music to escape the global frenzy that surrounds Twilight. Up until now most of the attention has focused on the central trio - Robert Pattinson, Kirsten Stewart and Taylor Lautner - but Jackson could find the fans' sights locking onto him as his character, Jasper Hale, gets to reveal his tragic but blood thirsty back story in Eclipse.
However, he says he is not the type of star who likes to court publicity,
"I've never been the type of guy who goes out to clubs or to the mall. I have always had very small group of friends that I hang out with and make art with.
"I first got into community theatre in Midland, Texas, when I was about 13/14. I noticed that all the pretty girls were actresses so I wanted to be where they were. Then I fell in love with the art form.
"I played music and I acted at the same time. I'm extremely lucky in my career to be able to constantly work with people I respect and I spend my time writing music with my friends whom I've known for 10 years. I just keep my circle small. I don't go out and do those things that get you into tabloids."

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is in cinemas now.
The Last Airbender is released on August 13.