By: debbie lynn elias
Some years ago, I received an out-of-the-blue email inquiry concerning an upcoming film and a request that I interview its lead child actor, described to me as being “the next big star.” That film was The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl. And the young actor? That was Taylor Lautner. That was six years ago. And look where Taylor Lautner is today.
After a few voice roles and some small tv and film roles post-Sharkboy, at age 16, Taylor Lautner found himself cast in what would become one of the largest franchises in movie history – Twilight – and thrust into a never ending spotlight. Achieving almost “instant” recognition the world over as werewolf Jacob Black , one would think the early fame would give Lautner pause to become jaded or even worse, take his success for granted. But as I learned on the eve of not only the fourth installment in the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn Part 1, but with the release of John Singleton‘s Abduction, Lautner’s first top-bill vehicle sans his Twilight co-stars, that is anything but the case.
When first meeting Lautner, one is struck by his smile, his intense dark eyes and mannered politeness – all of which he has retained since childhood. A three time world champion in martial arts before age 12, Lautner has had a lifetime of self-discipline and familial grounding. In talking about his involvement in martial arts, one can hear the excitement in his voice, undoubtedly still the same excitement about sports he had at age 6. “I just loved being active and I loved sports. I said, ‘All right, I want to enroll in as many sports as possible.’ So, I gave everything a shot from football, baseball, basketball, soccer, karate, swimming. It was insane. Then as I got older I started narrowing it down to the things that I was most passionate about. It ended up coming down to football and martial arts. What I think I ended up liking about it the most was the competitiveness, but then probably the life lessons that it teaches you. Martial arts has been really important to me and the lessons that it’s taught me, from hard work and self-discipline, all of that stuff.”
Finding his martial arts training similar to that for acting, “I’ve always told myself that nothing comes without hard work. This role [Abduction] specifically required so much preparation physically and emotionally. Emotionally, that was the most important part for me, to be able to dive into this character’s shoes and try as much as possible to relate to this journey that he goes on. And also trying to relate to the emotions that he has to deal with, but there was a lot of preparation involved in that.” But in addition to the emotional aspect of his character Nathan is the extremely strenuous physical aspect, and particularly an all out mano-y-mano backyard training session between Lautner and his on-screen father Jason Isaacs of Harry Potter fame.
“I actually don’t know how tough Jason is. He’s so nice and so funny. We had to prepare for that fight quite a bit. I started boxing training in general three months before I went to Pittsburgh just so that I knew what I was doing a little bit when I showed up. But the choreography of that fight was so intense and it was a really long fight. There were so many maneuvers and if either one of us was off by one punch or one block we were going to be knocked in the face. So, we’d literally be filming a scene at the kitchen table and it was, like, a few days away from the big fight scene and we’re at the kitchen table in between takes rehearsing our moves for the fight scene. It was really important to us. It turned out great and is one of my favorite scenes.” Also “great” are two stunts of which Lautner is most proud – the first, “when I did the giant slide on the glass in the [PNS] baseball stadium. I was so excited about that stunt and was so thrilled that they were allowing me to do it. But after, and I’m being honest, about fifteen or twenty takes I was like, ‘All right. Where’s the stunt double?’ It was fun for a while, but then you get a few bumps and bruises.” But then came “riding on the hood of the trunk, flying down the road. That one took some negotiating from me to allow them to let me do that. At first they were like, ‘No. That’s not happening. You are not getting on the hood of that truck.’ Somehow I convinced them to allow me to do it, but then they were like, ‘OK. But you’re only going twenty miles an hour.’ I was like, ‘Come on, people. Haven’t you ever heard of method acting? I need to be able to relate to the adrenaline that this character is experiencing.’ So, we got up to about fifty, fifty five.”
A defining moment in his career, with Abduction, Lautner is placed in the hot seat. As “the” name above the title, while he knows this is “his” film, “I definitely can’t take all the credit. I was surrounded by a ridiculously amazing cast. The filming process was such a team effort with the cast and our director and the crew. We had a lot of fun making it, but I’m very proud of the movie and I can’t wait for people to see it.”
But even with new challenges like Abduction, Twilight is never far from Lautner’s thoughts, or heart. “I’m so close to that franchise and to that character [Jacob] and to everyone involved in it that it’ll be so close to me for as long as I live. It was really emotionally finishing filming. It’s sunk in, but then I don’t really know if it has because when we finished filming before we’d be bummed, but we knew in another couple of months we’d just be back filming another one. This time around that wasn’t the case. So, it was tough and it’s definitely going to be tough to let go. Thankfully for the next year and half we’ll be able to talk about it and promote it together, but when it’s all said and done it’ll be really weird.”
Filming Abduction right before the “the last two Breaking Dawns, this movie stretched me as an actor more than I’d ever been stretched before. It was perfect before in Breaking Dawn Part 1, [as] my character gets so emotional and changes so much. Now that was by far the most I’ve ever been stretched, and it was great to ease into it with Abduction right before that. So, this was a great experience and then leading into that.”
At the forefront in the minds of many is the passing of the Tom Cruise brand of “action” mantle onto Lautner. Calling even the comparison of himself to Tom Cruise, “intimidating”, Lautner is the first to admit “I’ve looked up to him since I was really young. I think the biggest reason that I’ve looked up to him is just his career choices. He’s always continued to challenge himself and do different things, going from Risky Business to Top Gun to Jerry Maguire to Born on the Fourth of July. The variety in those roles and genres is absolutely insane and that’s what I admire about him the most. That’s my goal. My goal is to be able to challenge myself like he did. If I end up with a tenth of the career that that guy’s had I would be completely happy.” But Lautner also knows that with aspirations such as this, hard work will be involved. “I mean I hope there is a way to ready myself. I’m always keeping my open for things that I’m passionate about. I try to not focus on what’s the right and wrong decision. I try and just go with things that I love and tell stories that I want to tell, but I am looking for something different. I had a great experience with [Abduction] and this was a dream come true for me. But now after this I want to find something that’s different. There’s a few things right now that I’m really excited about and that are different. I should be making my mind up soon on what will be next.”
As he reflected on the premiere for Abduction, Lautner is clearly a grounded and grateful young man, sharing the spotlight with fellow cast and crew, and still in awe of his popularity. “I was surprised by the outcome [of fans]. I haven’t experienced a premiere outside of the Twilight franchise in a while, since Valentine’s Day, and so I was wondering what this would feel like. The energy was just insane. It was absolutely amazing. [The premiere] was focused on the movie as opposed to [a] franchise. I mean, we had a lot of people there. Sigourney [Weaver] was there. Jason Isaacs. Everybody. But it was a great feeling. Those relationships mean a ton to me.”
Looking ahead to the future, Lautner wants to “challenge myself to do different things. I hope that this new and exciting life professionally maintains and I just hope that a few years down the road that I’m doing this. . .[I’m] so thankful for be[ing] able to have the same life that I’ve always had. I have this now one which is great, but I have the same life that I’ve always had before with my family and my friends. . . I wasn’t expecting it at all. It kind of all came really quickly and it took a while to soak in and I still don’t fully understand it or understand why it happened. So, I’m still a little confused, but I’m happy and not complaining. It happened and I’m sitting here today and I’m the most thankful guy on this planet. I do love what I do. I’m having the time of my life.”
And as for Breaking Dawn Part 1? “I can’t wait for everyone to see because you’re going to see everyone of the characters in a different light than you’ve ever seen them before. It was by far the most challenging experience that I’ve ever had as an actor. [The fans] are going to be really happy with the movie. I know that. But their reactions mean everything to us because they’re who we’re making the movie for and they’re the reason that we’re making movie number five.”
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