Taylor Lautner Once Shared He Refused to Take His Shirt off for ‘Valentine’s Day’
The Twilight films saw Taylor Lautner frequently going shirtless for several scenes. But it wasn’t a reputation he wanted to carry on to other movies if it wasn’t required.
Taylor Lautner once explained how having to go shirtless in ‘Twilight’ caused body issues
It required a lot of effort on Lautner’s part to obtain the kind of physique that he had in the Twilight films. This included sometimes following a careful and heavy diet while spending several hours in the gym. On the podcast The Squeeze (via Yahoo), Lautner explained that he jumped from 140 to 175 between the first Twilight and its sequel. The 35-pound difference demonstrated the massive results of his training regimen.
But reflecting on his training, he discovered that maintaining the physique had an unexpected side-effect on his mental health.
“When I was in it, when I was 16 through 20 years old, starring in this franchise where my character is known for taking his shirt off every other second, no, I did not know that it was affecting me or going to affect me in the future with body image, but now looking back at it, of course it did, and of course it is going to,” he said.
The actor would take a break from training as hard as he did for the Twilight films. When the media took notice of how different his body looked as a result, Lautner admitted that it bothered him.
“They put the side-by-sides of me shirtless in the ocean in a scene from that movie compared to me in Eclipse or whatever and being like, ‘Wow, he’s let it all go.’ I was like, ‘Oh, man. Did I really let it all go?’ I didn’t think I looked that bad,” he said.
Taylor Lautner once refused to take off his shirt for ‘Valentine’s Day’
Valentine’s Day was a 2010 romance film that featured an ensemble cast. The film’s premise revolved around several characters who found themselves falling in love in interconnected stories. Lautner would star in the film as a high school student who develops a close bond with Taylor Swift’s character.
Somewhere in the film, however, Lautner was going to remove his shirt. Although he didn’t mind doing so for the Twilight flicks, he drew the line for Valentine’s Day.
“The script said we were walking into school and Willy takes off his shirt,” he once recalled to GQ. “I said, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. Time out. He’s gonna take off his shirt in the middle of school? No, no, no. The reason I took off my shirt for New Moon is because it’s written in the book that way. And there’s reasons behind it.'”
Taylor Lautner fought to keep his shirt on in ‘Breaking Dawn’
Valentine’s Day wasn’t the only time where Lautner vetoed shirtless scenes. In Breaking Dawn, Lautner was also expected to go shirtless about as much as he did in any other Twilight film. But the actor made sure that wouldn’t be the case this time around.
“There was some negotiating for sure, oh yeah. There were more [shirtless scenes] when I read the original script, trust me,” Lautner once told MTV news. “And I got it down to a very, very small amount, which I was so happy with.”
One of the reasons he was so adamant about reducing how long he was shirtless for was the weather.
“No, it’s just so I don’t have to freeze to death while I’m filming this movie. I don’t know why people don’t believe me; it’s uncomfortable,” he added. “Everybody on set, the crew, the cast are wearing clothes; bundles of clothes. And I’m just chillin’ there naked. It’s uncomfortable.”
