Vampire star Jackson Rathbone on his family ties to legendary swashbuckler

Vampire star Jackson Rathbone on his family ties to legendary swashbuckler

TWILIGHT star Jackson Rathbone has revealed how big-screen spills and thrills are in his blood.

The Hollywood hunk stars as soulful vampire Jasper Hale in the smash hit series of Twilight adventures.

Now he's about to be seen as one of the superheroes of the big budget family fantasy, The Last Airbender.

And Jackson, 25, reveals how all this action is practically second nature to him because he's related to movie legend Basil Rathbone.

Best known for his Sherlock Holmes films, Rathbone, who died in 1967, was also famed as the greatest swordsman ever to grace the silver screen.

One of his most memorable big screen sword fights, of course, was with Errol Flynn in The Adventures Of Robin Hood. Naturally, Jackson is delighted to have this connection with one of the greats of the golden age of cinema.

He said: "I have a close bloodline to Basil Rathbone, who is my grandfather's third cousin several times removed. I don't like to talk about how many times removed.

"He taught Errol Flynn how to use a sword and he is one of the greatest swordsmen in Hollywood history."

Jackson jokes that he has a bit of catching up to do before he can cut a dash like his famous ancestor. In The Last Airbender, the young actor's weapon of choice is a weird-looking boomerang.

He said: "Hopefully, if we get to make the next two films in the series then you'll get to see me become a swordsman. Then I'd really follow in Basil Rathbone's footsteps."

Jackson is a young star in great demand, starring alongside Robert Pattinson and Kirsten Stewart in Eclipse, the latest story in the Twilight saga. The fourth edition, Breaking Dawn, is on the way.

But he stresses the importance of keeping himself grounded. He said: "I've just been extremely lucky in my career to be able to constantly work with people I respect and admire."

In Eclipse, Jackson got more screen time as we discovered his character Jasper was a Confederate soldier who became a vampire during the American Civil War.

But he says it was only during the shooting of The Last Airbender on location in a fairly remote part of the world that he realised the global impact of the Twilight movies.

He said: "We filmed some of the movie in Greenland and all the local people knew us. We were in this small town called Ilulissat and it was incredible."

When he was in Greenland, Jackson - who has a rock band called 100 Monkeys - was also persuaded to show off his musical talent.

He said: "I got hooked up with a gig at the local pub and I played a set by myself on guitar."

Jackson was joined on stage by the acclaimed producer Frank Marshall, whose hits include the Indiana Jones films.

"Frank sang Stormy Monday, I played slide guitar with the house band and we got ourselves some fans," he added.

Jackson was born in Singapore but grew up in Texas and came very close to having a tartan showbiz connection.

After graduating from college in Michigan, he had planned to cross the Atlantic and to study at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.

But that notion was dumped when he was signed up to appear as a regular reporter on TV show Disney 411, interviewing rising stars. He also got acting roles in hit shows like The OC, before Twilight sent his career into orbit.

Acting and music have been his passions since he was a young teenager.

He says: "When I was about 13 or 14, I got into community theatre in Texas. I just noticed all the pretty girls were actresses and I wanted to be where they were."