Noah Andrew Ringer (born November 18, 1996)Ringer, Noah
"The Last Airbender".
Interview by Karen Valby. ''EW.com''. Entertainment Weekly, November 3, 2010. Web. February 1, 2010. is an American actor and martial artist. He starred as

Aang Avatar Aang ( zh, c=安昂, p=Ān Áng) is the title character and protagonist of Nickelodeon's animated television series ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko), voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen. Aang ...

in the 2010 film '' The Last Airbender'' and played Emmett in ''

Cowboys & Aliens ''Cowboys & Aliens'' is a 2011 American science fiction Western action film directed by Jon Favreau and starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, and Noah Ringer. The film is based on the 2006 ...

''.DreamWorks Studios
"Cowboys & Aliens".
''DreamWorks Studios''. DreamWorks Animation, 2010. Web. February 14, 2011.Kroll, Justin
"Noah Ringer".
''Variety''. April 16, 2010. Web. February 14, 2011.Marnell, Blair
"'Last Airbender' Star Noah Ringer Joins ''Cowboys and Aliens'' Cast."
''MTV''. April 19, 2010. Web. February 14, 2011.

Life and career

Ringer was born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

.Paramount Pictures
"Noah Ringer".
''The Last Airbender''. Paramount Pictures, 2010. Web. February 1, 2011. When he was ten, his mother enrolled him at ATA Martial Arts in Carrollton, Texas, part of the

American Taekwondo Association ATA Martial Arts, formerly known as the American Taekwondo Association (ATA), was founded in 1969 in Omaha, Nebraska by Haeng Ung Lee of South Korea. ''ATA Martial Arts'' has been headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas since 1977, and presided ...

, or ATA.Roth, James
"Local boy is 'Last Airbender'"
''Star Local News''. July 14, 2010. Web. February 1, 2011."First News interviews The Last Airbender star Noah Ringer".
''First News''. December 14, 2010. Web. February 7, 2011. He showed early promise and soon began competing in

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

s. In December 2008, at age twelve, Ringer earned his first degree black belt. Ringer kept his head shaved, and fellow students nicknamed him "Avatar", after the character Aang in the animated television series ''

Avatar: The Last Airbender ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (abbreviated as ''ATLA''), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Aang'' in some regions or simply ''Avatar'', is an American anime-influenced animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and ...

''.Bowles, Scott
"First Look: Actors put up a real fight in 'Airbender.'"
''USA Today''. May 25, 2009. Web. February 14, 2011. Ringer's taekwondo instructor, Master Eric Pechacek, started watching the show and also noticed the resemblance of Ringer to Aang, in both appearance and personality. He introduced the show to Ringer, who became an immediate fan.Formichelli, Linda. "Noah Ringer's Big Break". ''ATA World'' Summer 2010: 18-24. Print. In July 2008, Pechacek received an email from the ATA, inviting any interested students to audition for the role of Aang in ''The Last Airbender''. Pechacek urged Ringer to try out for the part. For the audition video, Ringer dressed in Aang's attire, using his Halloween costume from the previous year.Valby, Karen. "The Kids' Table". ''Entertainment Weekly'' November 5, 2010: 46-49. Print. He performed an XMA Jahng Bong routine and recited a few lines. A month after sending in the video, Ringer was called to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

to meet with director M. Night Shyamalan. A month after that, he was offered the part. Ringer had one month to prepare for the film. He did an intense study with director Linda Seto at the Dallas Young Actors Studio, where he still attends classes today. He also began training in different types of martial arts, which continued during the filming process."Hyper Exclusive Interview with Noah Ringer Star of The Last Airbender"
''Hyper''. Scribd, 2010. Web. February 1, 2011. In March 2011, Ringer was nominated for Best Performance In A Feature Film By A Leading Young Actor for the 32nd Annual

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

s.The Young Artist Foundation
"32nd Annual 2011 Nominations".
''Young Artist Awards''. The Young Artist Foundation, 2011. Web. March 2, 2011. In May 2011, Ringer won the 3rd Annual TheSkyKid.Com "Coming of Age" Best Actor movie award for his performance in ''The Last Airbender''.theSkyKid.Com website
"3rd Annual Coming of Age Movie Awards Recipients Named".
''SkyKids.Com Coming of Age Best Actor award''. theSkyKid.com website, 2011. Web. May 9, 2011. Ringer played the role of Emmett Taggart in ''

'', a

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Jon Favreau. In May 2013, it was announced that Ringer would be starring in ''The Peppercorn Chronicles''. The project is loosely based on '' Mrs Peppercorn's Magical Reading Room'', a 24-minute fantasy short that won Best Short Film at the

HollyShorts Film Festival The HollyShorts Film Festival is an annual Academy Award®-qualifying independent short film festival located in Hollywood, California. History Founded in 2005, the yearly festival programmes feature an eclectic mixture of short films of various ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

in 2011.

Martial arts

Ringer's first ATA tournament was the World Championships in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

. He won first place in every category he competed in. After watching the "extreme" routines at that tournament, Ringer decided to start training in Extreme Martial Arts, or XMA, which involved him choreographing his own moves and choosing his own music. He became proficient with a variety of Eastern weapons, including the bō staff, which his character Aang uses.D'Alessandro, Anthony
"Noah Ringer heeds Shyamalan's call".
''Variety''. December 3, 2009. Web. February 9, 2011. During his first two years with the ATA, Ringer competed in 25 tournaments, winning 100 medals, 80 of them gold. He was given "The Competitor of the Year" award for the Texas region in February 2008. Ringer won the 2008-2009 title of Texas State Champion in five categories: Traditional Forms, Traditional Weapons, Sparring, X-Treme Forms, and X-Treme Weapons.American Taekwondo Association
"Texas 2008-2009 Championship Totals".
''ATA''. American Taekwondo Association, 2010. Web. February 9, 2011. For ''The Last Airbender'', Ringer learned

Baguazhang Baguazhang or Pakua chang () is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school, the other two being T'ai chi and Xing Yi Quan. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or neijia quan). ''Bāguà zhǎng'' literally ...

T'ai Chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. ...

, and Wushu.Bennett, Tara. "The Fourth Element". ''Sci Fi'' August 2010: 25-29. Print. These styles are "soft", compared to

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

, which is a "hard" style."American Taekwondo Association and Noah Ringer Kick off The Last Airbender DVD release".
Webcast. ''Ustream.com''. November 16, 2010. February 1, 2011. Ringer continues to train in American taekwondo. In October 2010, he earned his second degree black belt.Ringer, Noah. ''Facebook.com''. December 27, 2010. Web. February 1, 2011. Ringer teaches other students in the ATA, as part of the Leadership Program. He also does

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

and has started to learn

Choy Li Fut Choy Lee Fut is a Chinese martial art and wushu style, founded in 1836 by Chan Heung (陳享). Choy Li Fut was named to honor the Buddhist monk Choy Fook (蔡褔, Cai Fu) who taught him Choy Gar, and Li Yau-San (李友山) who taught him ...

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

Personal life

Ringer was

homeschooled Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

. He has stated that he has some Native American heritage. NOTE: Upon further inquiry, Karen Valby confirmed that Noah Ringer self-identified as "American Indian". For the discussion, see:

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ringer, Noah American male child actors American male film actors American male taekwondo practitioners Living people American people of Native American descent 21st-century American male actors 1996 births