Twilight star Taylor Lautner: Fans of the movies aren't weird.. but they are definitely passionate

Dec 3 2010 By Robert Hayes

TWILIGHT star Taylor Lautner has had to cope with a whole new world since shooting to stardom as one corner of the hottest teen love triangle of the decade.
Taylor, who plays werewolf Jacob in the series, has become a firm favourite among the Twi-hards, the super-dedicated teen fans who obsess over every element of the books and the films they spawned.
He refuses to criticise the fans, who seem to verge on the obsessive, but does admit it can get a little intense.
He sighed: "I wouldn't say they're weird but they're definitely passionate. Funny.
"I was just in Australia at a fan event with a red carpet and there were 4000 fans and I was walking down the line.
"The fans like to hold out their hands or their arms for you to sign and one arm had a massive tattoo of the wolf pack.
"The real one, the same exact thing and it was pretty cool. She was like, 'Can you sign it?'
"I said sure and I signed right underneath it and the next day someone told me that the girl got my signature tattooed right under the wolf pack tattoo.
"I don't know whether to say that's cool or that I feel bad that I signed her arm. But that's definitely some passion there."
In the face of such adulation, it would be difficult for anyone to keep a level head - let alone when the actor is a lad of just 18.
But Taylor appears to have a sensible head on his shoulders and is at pains to stay grounded.
He says it's all about remembering his job is just that, adding: "It definitely is about surrounding yourself with your family and friends you've known forever.
"I live, all of us do, in two different worlds and they're opposites. This is our job.
"We go to work and we live in this business world and then we go back to our regular world and we do the same things we did before.
"I sit at home. It's not that exciting and I watch American Idol every Tuesday and Wednesday. I spend time with my family and friends. Maintaining that world is extremely important to me."
Like all stars, he finds being followed by paparazzi everywhere he goes irritating.
But he has found ways to give them the slip and enjoy a little privacy in public. He said: "There are a million more pros than cons. The privacy thing is different.
"It's usually not normal to wake up and have 12 paparazzi cars waiting outside to follow you to Starbucks.
"Sometimes it becomes aggravating but you have to tell yourself that this comes with the job and what you're getting out of it on the other side is worth it and you just can't - sometimes it's hard - let them affect you that much or it'll drive you insane.
"Maintaining sanity is pretty important to me. You've got to push that stuff aside. It's never normal.
"You can be creative. It's a matter of choosing where you go - a mall probably not. A movie theatre probably not.
"But I have my hangouts, the good lowkey restaurants, and sometimes you're just like, 'I don't care. I want to go bowling and I'm going to do it.'
"You do it and, sure enough, it's a little hectic but you have fun and then you go back home and go, 'I'm not going bowling for a while.'"
The latest Twilight film, Eclipse, released on DVD on Monday, sees Taylor's character take centre stage as the love triangle between him, Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) cranks up several notches.
And Taylor enjoyed the development of his role: "Jacob matures quite a bit because he's been dealing with his new self.
"He's got to know his new self and the situations he's been put in romantically.
"He deals with a lot and becomes frustrated because he gets this close all the time and then gets told no over and over again. So that's a bummer for him.
"The hardest thing I've found in working with Rob is that usually I have to hate him in scenes and that's difficult.
"He's such a funny and nice guy. So we're doing a scene where we're yelling and screaming at each other and he's slapping my shoulder and I'm shoving him off of me and we're screaming, spitting in each other's faces and then, as soon they call cut, we just bust out laughing."
The pair are at the heart of one very funny and intense scene as they huddle up with Bella in a tent in a blizzard - Edward can't keep her warm as he is cold blooded, but Jacob can.
So Edward has to watch his girlfriend snuggle up to his hated rival.
Taylor said: "The tent scene is really good because it has that intensity but it's also humorous.
"I got the line, 'I'm hotter than you' then. Keeping a straight face was a tough thing.
"I loved the line. I thought, 'This is going to be so hard to deliver and especially with a straight face.' "I'm looking at Rob in the eyes as he's staring at me with that Edward look."
Taylor famously spends much of the film shirtless - in fact there is speculation he must have a contract stipulating no tops.
But he admits trying to maintain his physique between the films is a nightmare.
Sometimes he just wants to pig out. He said: "Occasionally, I really want some ice cream but when it comes closer to the time of filming or you have a magazine photo-shoot then you really just have to stay strong and cut it out.
"The most interesting thing I've found is that it's just as hard to maintain it as it was to put it on in the first place.
"If I'm really busy and I can't get into the gym or don't have time to eat, you lose it like that and it takes 10 times the amount of time to put it back on again. So it's tough."
Next up for Taylor is Abduction, followed, hopefully, by the Stretch Armstrong toy movie.
"Abduction is about a high school senior who finds a picture of himself on a missing person's website and realises his whole life has been a lie.
"It can't be nonsense. Action has to make sense. That's in the story behind it and so I'm super excited to get going on that.
"Maybe I'll be a superhero like a year from now.
"They're doing all the designing and writing the script, so we haven't seen any finalised version but it might be different.
"The cool thing with the toys is that there is no story. With a superhero, you have to stay along with those lines. But a toy, you get to create everything which is super exciting and creative."