Noah Ringer to join Cowboys & Aliens

Despite boasting minimal acting experience (with just one film under his black belt), young whippersnapper Noah Ringer is getting a lot of attention over in Hollywood.

Having turned heads in trailers for the soon-to-be-released The Last Airbender (courtesy of M. Night Shyamalan), the Texas native has also grabbed the attention of Iron Man helmer Jon Favreau.

Favs reportedly wants Ringer to appear in his film version of comic Cowboys & Aliens , which is set to shoot this summer with Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde and Harrison Ford. The plot involves them all battling an alien invasion in the Wild West.

Considering Ringer’s limited film experience, it’s interesting that Favreau is so keen to cast him. Is it all thanks to that karate black belt? Should we expect Ringer to be rough-and-tumbling aliens in a Wild West version of Airbender ?

There’s no word yet on just how large the role is, so Ringer could be simply making a brief appearance. But we imagine those karate kicks will come in handy here.

The Last Airbender opens in the UK on 13 August, while Cowboys & Aliens is scheduled for 29 July 2011.

Should casting be entirely based on skill-set?

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.