Taylor Lautner: Teen Wolf
HAVE YOU EVER SNORTED a line of cocaine before?” “A line of cocaine?!” Taylor Lautner, 17, replies. “No. I’ve never done any drug.”
We are sitting on a gym mat in the North Hollywood headquarters of Xtreme Martial Arts. And we are trying as hard as we can to find some dirt on Lautner.
Two days earlier, Lautner wrapped filming in Vancouver on Eclipse, the third episode of the teen romance based on Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling Twilight books about the love triangle between a girl from a broken home, an overprotective vampire who has intimacy issues and an amorous werewolf stuck in the friend zone.
Lautner, as every girl under 16 knows, is the latter manimal, Jacob. With the eight-pack abs. And the tan, chiseled face. And the pearly-white smile. And the squeaky-clean Disney-worthy reputation that we are attempting to ruin.
Although he’s lived around L.A. for much of his life, Lautner, oddly, had no idea where to do this interview. So I suggested going to visit the person who is the key to his career, without whom it wouldn’t have been possible: Mike Chat, also known as the blue Power Ranger and, more important for Lautner, the founder of Xtreme Martial Arts, a school of theatrical fighting that transformed Lautner from an 11-year-old world karate champion into a 17-year-old superstar heartthrob. Outside the studio, there are three life-size photos of Lautner at age 11 emblazoned on the glass windows. There are also three paparazzi waiting for him to emerge.
Lautner is wearing a black Xtreme Martial Arts T-shirt and matching sweatpants. And, as the line of questioning continues, he grows more and more uncomfortable.
You haven’t even smoked pot once?
No.
How about cigarettes?
No.
Not even tried them without inhaling?
No.
Have you ever been arrested?
No.
How about traffic tickets? What’s the worst moving violation you’ve ever gotten?
I’ve never gotten one. Wow. This is interesting.
Um, how about urinating on public property? Have you ever done that?
On public property?
Like an alley or a park bench.
I guess, like, forests or in the woods if it’s an emergency.
That doesn’t count. What about drinking? Have you ever been drunk?
No.
Come on, I don’t believe that.
I could just be answering no to everything.
OK, so you’ve probably been drunk before and maybe watched some porn. OK, OK. Yeah, it is up to you for interpretation.
So if you’ve been drunk, what’s the harm in saying it? There’s nothing wrong with it.
Can I ask you something?
Sure.
What did you do with Zac Efron when you interviewed him?
Taylor Lautner is not used to this type of interview. We will spend the day together doing martial arts, evading paparazzi and eating steak. And talking. A lot.
It will be, in a word, awkward.
This is because Lautner isn’t really a star. Right now, he is a phenomenon. Outside the home where he lives with his parents and sister, there can be as many as 12 paparazzi vehicles lurking. There have been three books written about him, countless fan websites, and every week, the tabloids offer fresh speculation on his rumored relationship with Taylor Swift.
Yet all these fans and journalists hounding him, obsessed with him, haven’t really seen him do anything yet. Aside from a few roles, his acting experience is limited to four unexceptional scenes in Twilight, the first film in the series.
Lautner is featured far more prominently in the sequel, New Moon, getting almost as much screen time as the brooding Robert Pattinson, who plays vampire Edward. “This could have happened to anybody who played Jacob,” Lautner says modestly. “I was just lucky enough to be the one that has that opportunity. I’m so grateful. It’s Twilight. It’s not me personally.”
Lautner was not originally supposed to be in New Moon, because between the two books, the character transforms from a diminutive boy to a giant of a man. So as soon as filming on Twilight ended, before a new director was even assigned to New Moon, Lautner began preparing for the casting by drinking protein shakes, eating every two hours and working out until he gained 20 pounds of muscle. His co-stars put in strong words for Lautner, who promised New Moon‘s director, Chris Weitz, he would gain 10 more pounds of muscle, which he accomplished, winning not only the role but the hearts of teenage girls everywhere.
“He gets a lot of attention because he’s buff,” says Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella in the Twilight films and who became Lautner’s closest friend on set. “But I think as soon as the movie comes out, people are going to realize that’s not why he got the job.”
But even though fame has come to Lautner later than it has to Stewart and Pattinson, he appears to be handling it with much more ease. “You look at Kris-ten Stewart and Robert Pattinson, and they look miserable about their success,” says a Hollywood producer. “Taylor is like a kid in a candy store. He’s so happy and excited.”
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