Noah Ringer Net Worth: The Last Airbender Star’s Wealth

What is Noah Ringer’s Net Worth?

Noah Ringer is an American martial artist and former child actor with an estimated net worth of $2 million.

Ringer is best known for portraying Aang in M. Night Shyamalan’s 2010 fantasy film “The Last Airbender.” His casting was particularly notable because he had never worked professionally as an actor. At the time, Ringer was a competitive taekwondo athlete whose instructor noticed his resemblance to Aang, the central character from Nickelodeon’s animated series “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” Encouraged to try out during an open casting call, Ringer submitted a homemade audition video that showcased his martial arts ability. He ultimately won the role over thousands of applicants.

Made with a reported $150 million budget, “The Last Airbender” became a major Hollywood production and grossed nearly $320 million worldwide. Critics largely rejected the film, but Ringer’s martial arts experience made him a strong fit for its demanding fight sequences and brought him into the spotlight almost instantly. He next appeared as Emmett Taggart in Jon Favreau’s 2011 science-fiction Western “Cowboys & Aliens,” which starred Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. After those two high-profile films, however, Ringer stepped away from acting. He has not had another major released film or television acting credit since “Cowboys & Aliens.”

Early Life and Martial Arts

Noah Andrew Ringer was born on November 18, 1996, in Dallas, Texas. At age 10, he was enrolled by his mother in an American Taekwondo Association school in Carrollton. He was initially unsure about taking up martial arts, but quickly embraced the discipline and began competing in tournaments.

Ringer distinguished himself as a remarkably accomplished young competitor. He earned his first-degree black belt by the age of 12. In his first two years with the American Taekwondo Association, he entered about 25 tournaments and collected roughly 100 medals, including 80 golds. In 2008, the organization named him its Texas regional Competitor of the Year.

He also trained in Extreme Martial Arts, or XMA, a performance-based discipline that blends traditional martial arts with acrobatics and choreography. Ringer became proficient with multiple weapons, including the bō staff. During the 2008-2009 competition season, he won Texas state championships in several divisions, including traditional forms, traditional weapons, sparring, extreme forms, and extreme weapons.

An everyday habit helped set the stage for Ringer’s unexpected acting breakthrough. He often shaved his head to stay cool during martial arts practice, and fellow students began comparing the bald young athlete to Aang from “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” They nicknamed him “Avatar,” while his instructor introduced him to the animated series. Ringer soon became a fan of the show.

The Last Airbender

When Paramount Pictures began a broad search for a young performer to play Aang in a live-action “Avatar: The Last Airbender” adaptation, Ringer’s instructor urged him to audition. For his submission, Ringer made a homemade DVD in which he dressed as Aang, painted the character’s signature blue arrow on his head, performed a martial arts routine, and recited several lines.

The audition tape impressed director M. Night Shyamalan and the film’s producers. Ringer was invited to Philadelphia for a meeting with Shyamalan and was eventually chosen to play Aang, despite having no previous professional acting experience.

Since Ringer came to the project as a seasoned martial artist rather than a trained performer, he received intensive acting coaching before production began. He also broadened his martial arts background by studying baguazhang, tai chi, and wushu, training that helped him execute much of the physical movement required for the role.

“The Last Airbender” arrived in theaters in July 2010, with Dev Patel playing Prince Zuko, Nicola Peltz portraying Katara, and Jackson Rathbone appearing as Sokka. The film reportedly cost $150 million to produce and brought in $131.8 million domestically, for an estimated worldwide total of $319.7 million.

Although the movie performed strongly at the box office, its reviews were overwhelmingly negative. The original plan was for “The Last Airbender” to launch a trilogy covering the three seasons of the animated series, but the proposed sequels were never made.

Ringer earned a Young Artist Award nomination for his performance. More broadly, the film transformed him almost overnight from an unknown Texas martial arts student into the lead of a major Hollywood production.

Cowboys & Aliens

Ringer soon secured another major studio role, joining the cast of “Cowboys & Aliens” as Emmett Taggart. Directed by Jon Favreau, the 2011 film featured Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, and Keith Carradine.

Set in the American West in 1873, “Cowboys & Aliens” mixed classic Western elements with a science-fiction invasion from outer space. Ringer portrayed the grandson of Sheriff John Taggart, played by Carradine. While the part was far smaller than his starring role in “The Last Airbender,” it gave him the opportunity to appear alongside several of the industry’s most recognizable stars.

With a reported production budget of about $163 million, “Cowboys & Aliens” earned $174.8 million globally. Around the film’s release, Ringer said he planned to take time off and enjoy being a normal kid after working on two large-scale movies in quick succession.

Leaving Hollywood

That intended hiatus lasted far longer than expected. “Cowboys & Aliens” remains Ringer’s last major released acting project.

In 2013, Ringer was announced as a cast member of “The Peppercorn Chronicles,” a planned fantasy film that also featured Jodelle Ferland and Michael Eklund. Production was expected to start the following year, with the possibility of expanding the story into a trilogy. However, the project was never completed.

Ringer later kept a low public profile and did not pursue the sustained Hollywood career that often follows a successful childhood film debut. With little public information about his life and work today, reliable details about his professional activities outside acting remain limited.

His unusual career nevertheless left him with a distinctive place in movie history: he went from a taekwondo school and a homemade audition tape directly to starring in a $150 million Hollywood blockbuster, appeared in another nine-figure studio production the following year, and then essentially disappeared from mainstream acting.

Martial Arts

Martial arts were central to Ringer’s life before acting and were the primary reason he was discovered. In addition to taekwondo and Extreme Martial Arts, he trained in several Chinese martial arts while preparing to play Aang.

Ringer earned his second-degree black belt in taekwondo in 2010. During his years with the American Taekwondo Association, he also participated in its leadership program and helped teach younger students.

His martial arts experience differentiated him from many child actors auditioning for “The Last Airbender.” Rather than casting an experienced actor and relying primarily on stunt performers for Aang’s movements, the filmmakers chose a genuine martial artist and taught him acting for the role.

Noah Ringer’s Acting Earnings

The salaries Ringer received for “The Last Airbender” and “Cowboys & Aliens” have never been reliably disclosed. Because he was an unknown child actor when he was cast as Aang, his compensation should not be confused with the enormous budgets or box-office grosses of the movies themselves.

Together, “The Last Airbender” and “Cowboys & Aliens” generated nearly $495 million at the worldwide box office. Ringer’s personal earnings would have represented only a small fraction of that amount. His net worth is based primarily on earnings from his brief film career and subsequent activities rather than any ownership interest in the movies or their box-office revenue.