Interview

MICHAEL MARTIN: How is the Twilight phenomenon sitting with you?

TAYLOR LAUTNER: It’s the weirdest thing. Nobody really saw it coming. I mean, we knew we were making a movie of a very popular book, but we didn’t know how well it was going to do. When it opened, it exploded, and that was not something any of us saw coming. Filming New Moon is a lot different than the first one because this time we know what we are getting into.

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MARTIN: Do all the expectations psych you out?

LAUTNER: I don’t think so. It puts a little more pressure on us than it did before. But for the most part, it’s been a blast.

MARTIN: So what’s in store for Jacob?

LAUTNER: He’s a lot different than he was before. He transforms mid-story—in the first half, he’s Twilight Jacob. I’m wearing a wig. My character’s very clumsy, outgoing, and friendly. When he transforms into a werewolf, he becomes something very different. It’s like I’m playing a split personality. Which is tricky, because sometimes I’ve had to play pre- and post-transformation Jacob on the same day of filming.

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MARTIN: Is the premise similar to the book’s?

LAUTNER: The coolest thing about the series is that we stay very true to the books; it would be silly for us not to, because the books are exactly what the fans want to see. There’s an action side to it, which I love, and there are werewolves now. There aren’t just vampires. There’s a wolf pack.

MARTIN: What does it mean to turn into a werewolf?

LAUTNER: I think the most important thing with Jacob is that pre-transformation, he’s clumsy. He trips over his own feet. As soon as he transforms, he’s very agile. At one point, he flings himself through Bella’s window and lands at her feet, and that’s the first time Bella realizes this is a new Jacob: He never used to be this agile. I loved bringing out that side of him. The bummer is, when he becomes a wolf, that’s not actually me. When he does the cool fight scenes, he’s transformed into CGI.

MARTIN: You had to bulk up for the part.

LAUTNER: Absolutely. As soon as I finished filming Twilight, I knew I had to get to work right away; there could be no waiting involved. The day I finished Twilight, I came home and started bulking up. For New Moon, I’m 30 pounds heavier than I was in Twilight.

MARTIN: Do you feel like you’re walking around in a different body?

LAUTNER: I don’t at all. I haven’t noticed much of a change. I grew out of a lot of my clothes, though. I went from a men’s small to a men’s large.

MARTIN: Are you turning more heads?

LAUTNER: I don’t know. I should pay more attention to that. I hope so.

MARTIN: What was your training regimen?

LAUTNER: I was in the gym five days a week, two hours a day. At one point, I was going seven days straight. I had put on a lot of weight, and then I started losing it drastically, so I was worried. It turned out I was overworking myself. My trainer told me that I couldn’t break a sweat, because I was burning more calories than I was putting on. The hardest thing for me was the eating. At one point I had to shove as much food in my body as possible to pack on calories. My trainer wanted me to do six meals a day and not go two hours without eating. If I would cheat on eating one day, I could tell—I’d drop a few pounds.

MARTIN: Are Twilight fans as intense as they seem?

LAUTNER: They are very intense, but it’s cool that they’re so dedicated and so passionate. They’re the reason we’re here doing this sequel. So I’m thankful for the fans. I like meeting them. But, yeah, they’re pretty intense. Sometimes it becomes a little overwhelming.