When Taylor Lautner was almost recast in Twilight film with a 'muscular' man

If you’re someone who watched all Twilight films, you’d know Taylor Lautner’s fandom at the time when the films were a rage, was real. Taylor Lautner played the role of Jacob Black in the first Twilight film. According to the Lautner, hewas supposed to have been recast by another actor, someone who was bulkier and more muscular than him for the role.

Taylor revealed this on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast. “My character in the first book is supposed to be like a 16-year-old little scrawny boy, and in the middle of ‘New Moon,’ he transforms into this 25-year-old looking built, muscular man,” he said.

So while Taylor Lautner fit the profile of the character in the first book, the makers wanted to recast for his role so that they could rope in a more muscular guy. Taylor revealed that they were to “cast like a mid-20s guy to carry on and be Jacob for the rest of the franchise.” “I had to fight for my role back,” he said.

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Taylor was determined to keep the Twilight role with him and hence began “hardcore working out for about nine months.” This led to him gaining 20-25 pounds. “I was ready, so when we got that call, my team was like, ‘Have you seen him recently?'” he said.

Taylor still had to re-audition for the role.

Later in the podcast, Taylor Lautner discussed how growing up in the limelight affected his body image. “I dealt in the last five to seven years with a lot of body image issues because in the franchise, not wearing that many clothes, you know. And I also was 17, 18, 19 years old, and it was a lot easier to have a body like that, but that’s what most of the world knows me as,” he said.