|
|
|
|
|
Move over Rob, there's a new hunk in town
|
November 17, 2009
 By Billy Suter
Who is hotter: Pattinson or Lautner?
When filming ended on the first Twilight movie, it was a time of great celebration and much partying for the young cast - but one actor who had to watch what he ate and drank while painting the town red was teenager Taylor Lautner.
The handsome teen - he turned 17 on February 11 - had a contract to immediately start hitting the gym to buff up considerably for his important role in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, in which he again shares the spotlight with pale heart-throb Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.
Lautner, who is of French, Dutch, German and Native American ancestry, plays Jacob Black, who has a dark secret of his own, in the Twilight series. He is, of course, a werewolf.
Lautner had to start gym training the day after filming ended on the first Twilight movie as his transformation is remarkable in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, directed by Chris Weitz, who gave us About a Boy and The Golden Compass.
However, the devotion to his training paid off handsomely - the youngster gained nearly 14kg of muscle. The results also saw him being named as one of People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People of 2009.
In the new film, the romance between mortal and vampire soars to a new level as Bella Swan (Stewart) delves deeper into the mysteries of the supernatural world she yearns to become part of - only to find herself in greater peril than ever before.
Heartbroken
Following Bella's ill-fated 18th birthday party, Edward Cullen (Pattinson) and his family abandon the town of Forks, Washington, in an effort to protect her from the dangers inherent in their world.
As the heartbroken Bella sleepwalks through her senior year of high school, numb and alone, she discovers Edward's image comes to her whenever she puts herself in jeopardy.
Her desire to be with him at any cost leads her to take greater and greater risks.
With the help of her childhood friend, Jacob, Bella refurbishes an old motorbike to carry her on her adventures. And her frozen heart is gradually thawed by her budding relationship with Jacob, a member of the mysterious Quileute tribe, who has a supernatural secret of his own.
During The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Jacob learns he has been chosen to become a protector of his people - a werewolf who defends them against the predations of the vampires.
"Jacob's been going through a transformation," Lautner says. "You'll see a different physicality in his character. And as he becomes different physically, he changes emotionally.
"I enjoyed doing the majority of my own stunts and those are some of my favourite moments in the film," he adds.
"For instance, in one scene, Jacob rips out of the house, jumps over a fence, hops across a creek and sprints through a field. I was on wires and got lifted 3m above the ground until coming to a jolting stop, where I had to freeze so the visual effects people could later take my body and convert it into a wolf."
Lautner, who played sport all through school and competed in "extreme martial arts", says his athleticism not only allowed him to accomplish his stunts, it also informed the mannerisms and progression of the character.
"Pre-transformation, Jacob's very clumsy, like that enthusiastic teenage boy who jogs around, tripping over his own feet," he says. "But when he goes through his wolf evolution, he becomes very agile."
Jacob's relationship with Bella is also changing.
"The opportunity that Jacob has to develop his relationship with Bella is the most exciting change for me," says Lautner.
"Jacob becomes the sunshine that wakes Bella up and brings her back to life."
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, young Lautner first made his name in karate, having started to study it at the age of six. Within a year he was already winning tournaments.
Internet Movie Database reports that he was invited to train with seven-time world karate champion Mike Chat and, when he was eight, was asked to represent his country in the under-12 division in the World Karate Association, where he became the Junior World Forms and Weapons champion, winning three gold medals.
The site adds that, in 2003, when Lautner was 11, he was ranked No 1 in the world for Black Belt Open Forms, Musical Weapons, Traditional Weapons and Traditional Forms and, by the age of 12, had three Junior World Championship titles under his "black belt".
Lautner was bitten by the acting bug when he was seven, after his martial arts instructor persuaded him to audition for a part in a Burger King advert in Los Angeles.
His family relocated to Los Angeles when Lautner was 10, so he could pursue an acting career, and he appeared in small roles in several television shows before finding his big break as Sharkboy in the Robert Rodriguez film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3D and as Eliot in Cheaper by the Dozen 2, both made in 2005.
Lautner will next be seen in Valentine's Day, a film by Garry Marshall, centred on intertwining couples and singles in Los Angeles who break up and make up based on the pressures and expectations of Valentine's Day.
The film, scheduled for release next year, is jam-packed with stars - among them Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Shirley MacLaine, Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biel, Patrick Dempsey, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba, Queen Latifah, Anne Hathaway and Bradley Cooper.
Also among the cast is singer Taylor Swift, whom Lautner is rumoured to be dating.
Lautner fans can, of course, also look forward to seeing him again as Jacob Black in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, scheduled for a June 30 release next year.
Midnight previews of The Twilight Saga: New Moon are set for Nu Metro Cinemas on Friday (November 20). The film is also scheduled for sneak 5.30pm previews from Sunday, November 22, until Thursday, November 26, at select Nu Metro Cinemas.
[Email this story...]
[Easy Print...]
|
|
