Taylor Lautner Interview THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON

If you’re a fan of the “Twilight” franchise, you’re probably counting the days untill November 20th. That’s because in just a few weeks, the second installment in the worldwide phenomenon, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”, is going to be released. So to help promote the film, yesterday, here in Los Angeles, Summit Entertainment held a massive press junket that had the entire cast and the filmmakers talking to publishers from around the world. That means you can expect to see tons of interviews with your favorite cast members on every website you read and on every TV channel.
Due to how many interviews the cast is doing, I’m not waiting till the week of release to post who I spoke to yesterday. So after the jump you can read a transcript of the press conference Taylor Lautner did yesterday. He talked about how he got in shape for the role, the stunt work, what he has coming up, working with the cast, and he answers the big question: in a no holds barred fight who would win, Jacob or Edward. Take a look:
Question: Did you ever feel like you were ever really in danger of not getting this role? Did you use steroids?

Lautner: Definitely not on your second question. And honestly, I knew where my character went in ‘New Moon’ and that’s all I tried to stay focused on. I couldn’t control things outside, I couldn’t control the media. But I could control what I was doing to portray Jacob Black correctly. So that’s what I stayed focused on the whole entire time.
Question: Did that start with going to the gym?

Lautner: Absolutely. Yeah, Jacob transforms a lot in ‘New Moon.’ Not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. So it was a matter of getting to the gym and eating the right foods and a lot of it. But also , reading and studying the book and my character over and over and over again so I could have his character down as well. Because he changes in many many different ways.

Question: Can you talk about those changes?

Lautner: Well when he transforms, basically my job was to continue what I started in ‘Twilight,’ which was this extremely happy, friendly, outgoing guy. Best friends with Bella. And I had to continue that for the first half of the film , but as soon as I transform, I snap and I become a completely different person. I’m dealing with my issues and it’s really hard for me.

Question: Would you talk about scenes where you show off your physique?
Lautner: I start laughing so hard every time I see that scene. ‘Oh, you’re bleeding? Okay, let me fix it.’ It’s so embarrassing. Yeah, I mean, here’s the thing. There’s a reason that he’s not wearing Clothes all the time. One, when he transforms, all his clothes get shredded, he can’t help it. And when he goes into the woods to get something to put so he’s not naked, it’s just a ripped pair of jean shorts. And he’s also hot, he’s one hundred eight degrees. So that’s another reason. And the thing is, I love this character, I love this story and putting on the weight and not wearing much clothing was required by the role. A year from now , if I love a story and I love a character that requires me to lose forty pounds, I’m ready to do it.

Question: Like Tarzan?

Lautner: Possibly.

Question: Could you be more specific? I want to do whatever it was you did.
Lautner: Oh boy. Putting the pressure on me now. I was in the gym about five days a week, because it’s important to get your recovery time. And not overworking yourself, because if you’re overworking yourself, I was trying to put on weight. And if I was in the gym, I’d be burning the calories I’m trying to take in. The most important thing was the eating side. Everybody thinks it was the actual getting in the gym, that was easy I was motivated, so getting in the gym was easy for me. But, the eating was pretty hard. It was just eating a lot, we found out that I had to consume at least thirty two hundred calories a day just to maintain. And I’m not trying to maintain, I’m trying to gain. So I had to eat more than that. And putting something in your mouth every two hours. And I’m busy. I’m downtown LA going from meeting to meeting, so there’s not time for me to be eating so I literally would have to carry a little baggie full of beef patties, raw almonds, sweet potatoes, so it’s not like every two hours I’m eating ice cream. It was difficult.