Taylor Lautner is one of the most recognized names when it comes to the young-adult genre in Hollywood. Though he has starred in a number of notable projects like The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, Valentine’s Day, Abduction, andGrown Ups 2, his most memorable role was his work in the Twilight franchise. Starring as Jacob Black, he had the entirety of the fantasy film series’ audiences torn between him and Robert Pattinson’s Edward Cullen.
In recent times, however, the actor has opened up about how being on this franchise took a huge toll on his mental health for many reasons. This included Lautner struggling to accept himself due to constantly comparing himself to Pattinson, as well as having some severe body dysmorphia.
Twilight Gave Taylor Lautner Body Image Issues
During an interview with People magazine, Taylor Lautner talked in great detail about his days working in the Twilight franchise, more specifically, the negative aspects of it. His character in the film series was constantly shirtless and had to showcase his peak physique. This meant that the actor would have to maintain an extensive workout routine to make sure that he could stay in shape. He spoke about how this pressure affected his mental health.
“It was my entire life,” he admitted, in part. “In the first movie, I was 140 lbs., and in New Moon, I was 175. So yeah, that wasn’t my natural body. I had to work very hard for it and very, very hard just to maintain it.”
The actor revealed that maintaining the physique became his entire life in the worst way possible. In this first film, where his character was still relatively in the background compared to the rest, he was 140 lbs. In the next film, Twilight: New Moon, he had to work out a lot to make sure he still had this part and was not replaced by another actor. So much so that the actor ended up reaching 175 lbs. He added that this was not easy for him in any way whatsoever, and he had to work extremely hard to maintain it.
The Fame From Twilight Was Strange For Taylor Lautner
Taylor Lautner then went on to tell People that, being as young as he was when the franchise came out, with the first film releasing when he was only 16 years old and the last releasing when he was 20 years old, he was deeply impacted with the sheer amount of fame he was getting because of his role. He explained this, stating that one of the biggest aspects that affected him deeply was the debate of fans picking his character or that of Robert Pattinson.
“I was so young,” Lautner recalled. “I was 16 when Twilight came out, 17 for New Moon and Eclipse. I finished the franchise by the time I was 19.” He went on to describe the “very strange” feeling he had while “traveling the world and being in different cities and having thousands of screaming fans either take your side or the other guy’s side.” he added, “Like, we’re a team. We’re both just trying to make the best movies … but it was a little bizarre the competitiveness,” Lautner said. “There wasn’t a competitiveness between me and Rob, but having that constant reminder, it definitely had an impact.”
This debate, on its own, was one of the biggest in the world at the time, with the fan base being torn by it, and fighting the others for their choice. The actor confessed that this had a big impact on him growing up. He clarified that he did not feel like he was competing with Pattinson, it was simply an odd experience for him to witness fans of the franchise compete over and compare the two.
