By: debbie lynn elias
Earlier this Fall, Taylor Lautner jumped out front and center as the top bill in John Singleton’s action flick, ABDUCTION. During my Los Angeles press day for ABDUCTION, John Singleton talked about Lautner and what the future may hold for him:
ABDUCTION is not the type of movie associated with John Singleton. Why did you take on this project and hoped for franchise?
For me, it was just being able to work with someone like Taylor. Someone who is young, has all this energy, who was an established star but someone who, by virtue of me working with, I could show what I would do with that person. I bring the funk and the coolness to whoever I work with.
Why is ABDUCTION a good for Taylor Lautner as a first “starring” top-billed film?
It’s not just about the action aspect of it. He gets a chance to be funny. He gets a chance to be charismatic. He gets a little bit of emotion here and there, a little bit of drama. Itfs not just running and kicking ass. It’s cool because he got a chance to do stuff that he hadn’t had an opportunity to do in other pictures; be really physical, which he’s been ever since he was a kid.
A lot of people are already labeling Taylor Lautner as the next Tom Cruise. Do you think that’s accurate?
I think that’s accurate in an action sense. But I wanted him to concentrate on was Tom’s transition from the Risky Business, Top Gun stuff to the Rainman, Born on the Fourth of July. Because he hadn’t seen Born on the Fourth of July. He just saw Rainman. He watched Top Gun. He had seen all those pictures. But I [told him], “Look how Tom made a conscious decision to work with these types of directors and to work with veteran actors like Dustin Hoffman and Paul Newman who, you know when he was that young, was getting advice from those older actors, those veteran actors. And that just made him better. So, when you talk to Taylor, that’s his plan. Itfs like, “Okay. I want to work with interesting directors and actors.” On the surface, people may be like, “Why am I directing this movie?” I’m known for gritty, harsh street stuff. But [Taylor] really wanted to mix it up and have something different in terms of his first starring role. He wanted to have a whole different vibe. That’s something he really went after. We had just had lunch and I said, “Hey, I promise you. You do a movie with me and you’re gonna be surprised at what you do. You’re gonna look up at the screen and be ’Wow’. At least be proud of what you did.”
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