Taylor Lautner talks transformations for “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”
Taylor Lautner plays Jacob Black in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
‘New Moon’ cast talks transformations
Taylor Lautner transformed for sequel
LOS ANGELES — Dangling from wires 10 feet above the ground, “Twilight” actor Taylor Lautner had time this spring to ponder his transformation.
“The famous trailer shot when I’m running through the field and I jump up and try and fly in midair, I’m attached to wires and … I let the wires pull me up in the air and jerk me to a stop and I just have to freeze there and let them convert my body into a CGI wolf. The whole time I’m like, ‘I hope I look cool,’” Lautner said during a recent press conference at the swank Four Seasons Hotel ballroom.
For the anticipated sequel “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” opening in theaters today, Lautner, 17, metamorphosed in more ways than one. In the second film based on Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling book series, heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is devastated when her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) leaves her. Bella’s growing friendship childhood pal Jacob Black (Lautner) raises her spirits, but her life again gets supernaturally strange when Jacob turns into a werewolf.
“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 food and a lot of it. But also reading and studying the book and the character over and over and over again so I could have his character down,” he said.
“Basically my job was to continue what I started in ‘Twilight,’ which was this extremely happy, friendly, outgoing guy, best friends with Bella. 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.”
Jacob plays a small part in the first film, but his role expands as the Quileute Indian teen takes his place in the series’ paranormal love triangle. While Stewart and Pattinson were already set for “New Moon,” Lautner had to earn his role in the sequel.
In the book, Jacob rapidly grows tall and muscular as he becomes a werewolf. So Lautner packed on 30 pounds of muscle to secure the part. Before that, recasting was a real possibility, said director Chris Weitz.
“But I was always convinced that he was going to be able to do it,” Weitz said. “The doubts came up because he had very few scenes in the first movie. Also because he’s described as being 6-foot-5 in the second book, (there were) some reasonable facts that we had to come to grips with. But I like the sort of sweetness of this character in the first movie, and I knew that it was easier to take an actor in the direction of anger and rage than it was to find someone who is kind of a hunk or 6-foot-5 Native American and somehow turn him into that very sweet-natured persona that Taylor brings out so well.”
To bulk up, Lautner spent five days a week in the gym. But the hard part was consuming more than 3,200 calories a day. which meant “putting something in your mouth every two hours.”
“I’m busy, I’m downtown L.A., I’m (going) from meeting to meeting. There’s not time for me to be eating,” he said. “So I literally would have to carry a little Baggie of beef patties, raw almonds, sweet potatoes.” So it’s not like every two hours I’m eating ice cream.”
Pattinson first saw Lautner’s new look when filming started in spring in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“I had the same reaction as everybody else. “I was like, ‘Now I have to go to the gym,’” he said.
The time spent shaping his physique paid off. when filming started. Despite the Canadian cold, Lautner spent most of the sequel shirtless.
“There’s a reason that he’s not wearing clothes all the time. One, when he transforms (into a werewolf), all his clothes get shredded. He can’t help it. And when he goes into the woods to get something to put on so he’s not naked, it’s just a ripped pair of jean shorts. He’s also hot. He’s 108 degrees,” said Lautner, who wore dark slacks, a white button-down shirt and gray jacket.
“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 40 pounds, I’m ready to do it.”
“The Twilight Saga” also has transformed Lautner into a tabloid star. In between filming “New Moon” and making the next sequel, “Eclipse,” this fall, he starred opposite country music star Taylor Swift in the upcoming movie “Valentine’s Day.” He declined to address the rumored romance between them, but said she was great to work with on the film.
“I’d have to say the biggest transformation would be my schedule. I’m really, really busy, but it’s a lot of fun,” Lautner said. “It’s been a great experience. I’m really excited to be part of this.”
-BAM
Movie review: “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”
Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) comes to Bella’s (Kristen Stewart) aid after she is injured in an accident in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”
A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. 3 of 4 stars.
‘New Moon’ not as biting as book
‘Twilight’ fans will enjoy second installment in movie saga, but too much potential is left on novel’s pages
A bigger budget and a pack of charismatic werewolves work wonders for “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” the second film in the supernatural romance saga.
The sequel can’t avoid moments of awkward teen melodrama, made more painful by a few bad performances and an overbearing score from composer Alexandre Desplat. But fans of Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling book, especially those who align themselves with Team Jacob, will likely find the film a satisfying cinematic experience.
As with its predecessor, the 2008 blockbuster “Twilight,” “New Moon” leaves too much potential of Meyer’s addictive novels on the page. That may be unavoidable since so much of the books are set inside the head and heart of heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart).
In “New Moon,” Bella remains blissfully in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a vampire who abstains from human blood. But she is haunted by dreams of growing old while he stays eternally young.
Her nightmares are just beginning. At her 18th birthday party, a minor accident puts Bella in serious jeopardy. Fearing for her safety, Edward breaks up with Bella and the Cullen coven leaves the town of Forks, Wash.
Bella plunges into a numbing depression, but starts to recover when she discovers she can conjure visions of Edward by putting herself in danger. The revelation leads her to She takes a pair of junker motorcycles to her childhood pal Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), a Quileute Indian teen and aspiring mechanic.
As her friendship with Jacob grows, Bella’s broken heart begins to heal. But her life gets supernaturally strange again when Jacob unintentionally taps into his tribe’s genetic ability to transform into werewolves and becomes part of the pack led by Sam Uley (Chaske Spencer).
Director Chris Weitz (“The Golden Compass”) takes the helm from “Twilight’s” Catherine Hardwicke, and his experience with computer-generated images proves invaluable. The lightning-fast werewolf transformations are impressive, and the hulking beasts are scary as they battle. The super-speed of the vampires remains problematic; “New Moon” uses more slow-mo than a 1980s rock video, which is still an improvement over the cheesy effects in “Twilight.”
Weitz greatly benefits from a less stingy budget, so the entire film, from the deathly white vampire makeup to the character’s clothes, looks much better. He and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg also make key plot changes to beef up the action, which may irritate “Twihard” purists but enhance the movie.
On the whole, the mostly young cast seems more at ease with their roles, particularly Lautner as Jacob, and the addition of gifted actors such as Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning as the intimidating Volturi vampires boosts the talent level. But Jackson Rathbone’s horribly wooden performance as Jasper deflates one of the film’s most dramatic moments.
While the sequel should have fans squealing, “New Moon” probably won’t convert too many holdouts. Many of the teenage declarations of devotion are embarrassing, and the multitude of shirtless-young-men moments should induce cringes from anyone older than 16.
-BAM
Video: “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” sneak peek
Well, “Twihard” fans, we finally made it! “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” Week continues here on BAM’s Blog, and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that today is the big opening day for the hotly anticipated sequel.
I recently traveled to Los Angeles to take part in the huge press day for “New Moon,” participating in news conferences with Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and many of the other stars and filmmakers attached to the film. I’ve shared many of those interviews with you in the past few days, with more to come.
Talented NewsOK videographer Grayson Cook assembled this special sneak peek video of “New Moon,” which also features greetings from yours truly from L.A.
Happy watching, “Twihards!”
-BAM
Jamie Campbell Bower compares “Twilight” and “Harry Potter” phenomena
Above, Jamie Campbell Bower plays vampire Caius in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” Below, Jamie Campbell Bower poses at a photocall for “New Moon” at last month’s Rome Film Festival. (Associated Press photo)
Actor Jamie Campbell Bower (”Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”) joins the “Twilight” film franchise with the sequel “New Moon” as Caius, one of the leaders of the Volturi vampire coven.
“We are basically the vampire government, I guess. We’re there to sort of keep all the vampires in check. People keep describing us as evil. I wouldn’t say we’re evil necessarily. We’re the government and not everybody likes the government, which is fine. So, we’re there to keep everybody in check. Without us … it would be vampire anarchy,” he said during a recent “New Moon” press conference in Los Angeles.
The British actor also is a newcomer to the “Harry Potter” franchise. He is playing Gellert Grindelwald, an old wizarding friend of Albus Dumbledore, in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I” and “Part 2.”
“The ‘Twilight’ phenomenon cinematically is relatively young so there’s still a lot of growth there to go with the film and there’s still a lot of connections to be made between cast and crew and stuff, whereas with ‘Potter’ they’ve been going for 10 years now. It’s a machine, ‘Potter.’ You go in, you do your thing and then you go on, whereas with this, it’s a lot more finding out about everything and a lot more exploration to do in general,” he said.
Based on J.K. Rowling’s final novel in the “Harry Potter” series, his role will be a small but pivotal one.
“They’re still working on it. They’re shooting simultaneously because they’ve obviously got lots of time scheduled and they have to do both side by side,” he said.
“At the moment, I’ve only worked on it for about a week. I think I’ve got another week and a bit to go.”
“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” Week continues here on BAM’s Blog, and of course, Friday is the big day. Not only is the film opening, but I’ll have features on Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart, along with my review of the movie.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”
“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” Week continues here on BAM’s Blog, and in this Wednesday Video Spotlight, I’m sharing some trailers, TV spots, featurettes, as well as Taylor Swift’s hilarious “Saturday Night Live” parody “Firelight.”
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that “New Moon” opens in theaters on Friday.
-BAM
Kellan Lutz shares his strategy for dealing with paparazzi
Kellan Lutz, who plays Emmett Cullen in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” poses for photos with fans at the film’s premiere Monday night in Los Angeles. (Associated Press photo)
The pop-culture whirlwind swirling around “The Twilight Saga” has swept up the actors involved in the first film, last year’s “Twilight,” and the sequel “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” opening Friday.
Kellan Lutz, who plays vampire Emmett Cullen in the franchise, has developed a strategy for dealing with the paparazzi:
“I think it’s great to adopt a pet — a dog that bites. I mean, that’s where the paparazzi will stop. … My dog, Kola, does not like anyone that she’s not friendly with,” he said at a recent press conference with fellow Cullen coven actors Nikki Reed, Ashley Greene and Elizabeth Reaser at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles.
He noted that Greene also has a dog, Marlow, “which is kind of small but hurts.”
“So the paparazzi stops at my front gate. And it’s usually kind of crazy have paparazzi step outside your house. And the coolest thing with the Vancouver (where ’New Moon’ was filmed) guys (is that) are they’re respectable, and they will just ask for a signature or photo and let us go about and go and, you know, have a cast dinner away from set where we can feel human and we’re out of the white makeup and the contacts,” he said.
On the other hand, Lutz noted that being part of such a beloved franchise is gratifying.
“The fans are always so great, and they’re giving us presents, which is so crazy ‘cause we’re allowed to work because of them. And the time they put into making dolls or buying gummi bears or anything like that, it’s very humbling. So it’s really nice to just have everyone who is respectful just understand that it’s a job at the end of the day. We aren’t really these characters in life. And just thank them for everything.”
Gummi bears are probably among Lutz’s favorite gifts, since he admitted an obsession with candy, as well as with animals.
“I’m a huge animal advocate. And I just love animals,” he said.
To read my feature on Lutz, which appeared here on the blog Sunday, click here.
-BAM
Dakota Fanning shares her obsession with baby names
Dakota Fanning smiles on the red carpet of Monday’s “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” premiere in Los Angeles (Associated Press photo)
Actors who join the “Twilight” franchise quickly get pulled into the pop-culture phenomenon that is many “Twihard” fans’ obsessive love for all things related to Stephenie Meyer’s vampire-romance saga.
Dakota Fanning, who plays pain-inflicting vampire Jane, admitted her own odd obsession during a recent Los Angeles press conference for “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” opening Friday.
“I’m obsessed with baby names, with what people name their children. Just like friends, anybody. I know a lot of people’s baby names,” she said with a laugh. “But I just love names in general.”
The 15-year-old film star said she has too many favorites to list.
“I’ve been planning my children’s names since I was like 4. I have lists of girls, boys, and I have them from all different ages. It’s really fun,” she said.
-BAM
Dakota Fanning thrilled to play baddie in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”
Dakota Fanning plays the intimidating vampire Jane in the sequel “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” opening Friday. Jane is a member of the Volturi coven, who act as a sort of royal law enforcement squad for the vampire world.
A version of this story appears in Wednesday’s Life section of The Oklahoman.
Fanning the fangs
Dakota Fanning sank her teeth into ‘New Moon’ role as bad vampire
LOS ANGELES — Teenage movie star Dakota Fanning conceals her familiar pale blue eyes behind sinister scarlet lenses and swaps her usual broad smile for a stony stare in her new film, the eagerly awaited sequel “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”
“I think the highlight of playing Jane was getting to wear that costume and to have the red contact lenses — I was really excited about that – and getting to play an evil character,” Fanning said in a recent press conference at the lush Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles.
Fanning, 15, plays one of the most formidable vampires in the supernaturally popular “Twilight Saga.” A deceptively innocent-looking character, Jane has the power to inflict intense pain on others simply by willing it. She uses her ability eagerly and often as an enforcer for the Volturi coven, the closest the vampire world has to a royal family.
“Dakota is the most feared out of all the Volturi. She’s the one with the worst power,” said Cameron Bright, who plays Jane’s twin brother, Alec, in the press conference. “We’re the henchmen. We kind of do what they (the Volturi leaders) say. For me, as Alec, I’m the only one that isn’t quite afraid of her but I still am. Like I’m not afraid to say what I want, where everybody else is always kind of watching their words.”
Fanning broke out with her acclaimed performance in the 2001 drama “I Am Sam” and has since accumulated 40 TV and movie credits. But “New Moon” offered the petite blonde a chance to take on a new kind of role.
“It was fun to get to play a feared character, you know, something different than what I’ve done before. And also, she uses her power not for good, which was another thing that was kind of interesting to me,” she said.
“We had to tone Dakota down. She was too evil. Her natural personality is too evil and we had to tone the volume down on the evil,” joked co-star Michael Sheen, who plays Volturi leader Aro.
Putting in the crimson contact lenses that mark Jane as a vampire who consumes human blood helped the young actress get into the role.
“It’s really scary. I think it makes anyone look automatically evil,” she said. “It was really fun. You get used to them after a while. You can see pretty good, but it’s still kind of weird.”
Like scores of other teenage girls, Fanning considers herself a fervent fan of the “Twilight” series. She loved the first movie and read all four of Stephenie Meyer’s books in about a week. But she wasn’t starstruck when she met Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and the rest of the “Twilight” cast. After all, she has worked with the likes of Robert De Niro, Sean Penn and Denzel Washington.
“They were just so nice and so welcoming, and just a really great cast,” she said of her fellow “New Moon” actors. “So, it was kind of hard to be star struck even though you’re such big fans of them and excited to meet them.”
Fanning already has reprised her villainous “New Moon” role in the third movie, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” which wrapped at the end of October. In between the “Twilight” sequels, she got to work again with Stewart, who plays series heroine Bella Swan, in “The Runaways,” the biopic of the seminal ‘70s all-girl rock band. Fanning portrays lead singer Cherie Currie, while Stewart plays guitarist Joan Jett.
“We became really good friends and really close throughout all the experiences we’ve had this year. I couldn’t ask for a better person to do three movies in a row with than her,” Fanning said of her co-star.
Though she stays busy with her acting career, Fanning has made it a priority to make the most of her school days. She is a junior at Campbell Hall, a private Episcopal school in North Hollywood, and was recently crowned homecoming princess.
“I thought it was really important to have the high school experience. It was something that I wanted.
“I think it’s really great to have that balance of like a completely normal life and then a completely abnormal life. I really didn’t see a reason why I wouldn’t be able to do both, and I was lucky that I was able to go to a school that lets me leave and everything,” she said. “I don’t know if there’s a ‘how to’ guide as to how I balance it. It just kind of has happened, and I have really great friends and great family and the best of both.”
-BAM
Photo gallery: “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” L.A. premiere
“The Twilight: New Moon” star Kristen Stewart wore a long, pale, glamourous gown at Monday’s premiere in Westwood, Calif. (Associated Press photos)
“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” Week continues here on BAM’s Blog with a photo gallery of moments from Monday night’s glitzy premiere in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.
“Twilight” star Kristen Stewart eshewed her usual mini-dresses and Converse shoes for a long, gray-stitched gown, though she kept her a few of signature grunge-goth flourishes, including her dark eyeliner and disheveled updo. According to MTV.com, Stewart’s gown was by Oscar De La Renta.
Robert Pattinson lived up to his heartthrob title in a black Gucci suit with his usual stubble and mussed hair. And 17-year-old Taylor Lautner also looked quite the movie star in his blue Calvin Klein suit and spiked locks.
Check out these Associated Press photos of the cast and other celebrities at the premiere:
Robert Pattinson smiles on the red carpet.
Taylor Lautner grins at the hordes of “Twihard” fans thronging the red carpet.
Lautner and Stewart show off their red carpet finery.
Dakota Fanning, who plays mean vampire Jane, wore a short lacy Valentino dress.
Ashley Greene, who plays Alice Cullen, signs autographs for fans. She wore a long red Prabal Gurung gown.
See more photos after the break.
Michael Sheen shares his first “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” fan experience
From left, Michael Sheen plays Aro, Jamie Campbell Bower plays Caius and Cameron Bright plays Alec, three of the Volturi vampires, in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”
“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” Week continues here on BAM’s Blog, and British actor Michael Sheen joins “The Twilight Saga” with the second film, opening Friday. He plays Aro, a leader of the Volturi coven. The Volturi act as a sort of royal law enforcement squad for the vampire world.
Sheen, whose previous credits include the werewolf Lucian in the “Underworld” films along with the acclaimed dramas “The Queen,” “Blood Diamond” and “Frost/Nixon,” already has experienced his first encounter with a overly excited “Twihard” fan, though the sequel hasn’t opened yet.
I haven’t really experienced much of the ‘Twilight ‘fan stuff yet. But, I did go into a store in L.A. to buy a pair of jeans and I went into the little cubicle to try my jeans on. It’s always a quite nerve-wracking time when I come out of the cubicle to look in the mirror anyway and I like that to be a private moment. As I came out, there was a woman shaking, going ‘You’re Aro, aren’t you?!’ and I just hid in my cubicle again,” he said during a press conference at the recent “New Moon” press day in Los Angeles.
-BAM
