Taylor Lautner Reveals Twilight Were Originally Going To Recast Jacob In New Moon

19 April 2024, 15:56 | Updated: 26 April 2024, 15:17

The Lautners appear on Call Her Daddy

Sam  Prance

By Sam Prance

"I had to fight for my role back...I still had to re-audition."

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Can you imagine the line "Bella, where the hell have you been, loca?!" being said by anyone other than Taylor Lautner? Well, if it had been up to the Twilight casting directors someone else would have played Jacob Black in Twilight: New Moon.

Yes! Despite the fact that Taylor Lautner brought the character to life perfectly in the original Twilight film, and the fact that millions of fans all around the world had already fallen in love with Taylor, the studio had plans to recast Jacob.

Now, Taylor has revealed that he had to re-audition for the part because the producers wanted to go in a different direction.

Taylor Lautner reveals they were originally going to recast Jacob in Twilight New Moon
Taylor Lautner reveals they were originally going to recast Jacob in Twilight New Moon. Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images, Summit Entertainment / LANDMARK MEDIA / Alamy Stock Photo

Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Taylor said: "They called me and said, 'Thank you for your participation but we are recasting you for the rest of the franchise.'" He then explained: "My character in the first book is supposed to be like this 16-year-old scrawny, little boy and then in New Moon, he transforms into this like 25-year-old looking built, muscular man."

Taylor continued: "So there plan just all along was to cast a 16-year-old, which they did, I was 16 at the time and then they were gonna 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."

Discussing how he worked to keep the role, Taylor said: "Thankfully, I started [the gym] process, the second we stopped filming the first movie. I knew if I wanted to continue playing him that I've got to do something."

Making Taylor stress over losing the part? This is even worse than nicknaming someone's daughter after the Loch Ness monster.

Taylor added that his team helped fight for him to keep the role: "When we got that call, my team was like, 'Have you seen him recently?' They were like, 'No, why?' 'Well, you may want to take a meeting with him or something.' I had been like hardcore working out for like 9 months at this point and probably had about 20 or 25 pounds added at that point."

Taylor then said: "They were surprised but they didn't make it easy. I still had to re-audition. Thankfully, Kristen was like, 'You're not reading with any casting director. You're doing that with me.' Which was very sweet of her. It all worked out."

It all worked out in the end but what if it didn't?! Twilight: New Moon without Taylor? Unthinkable.

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