Taylor Lautner Says He Was Almost Recast with a ‘Built, Muscular Man’ for New Moon: ‘Had to Fight for My Role’

Taylor Lautner did everything possible to fight for his role in the Twilight franchise.

The actor, 31, made a joint appearance with his wife, Taylor Dome, on the most recent episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast and spoke about how he was almost recast for the role of Jacob Black after the first film.

“They called me and said, ‘Thank you for your participation, but we’re recasting you for the rest of the franchise,'” he told host Alex Cooper. As for the reason for doing so, he said it came down to how his character is described in the successful book series, written by Stephenie Meyer, on which the movies are based.

“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. So their plan all along was to cast a 16-year-old, which they did. I was 16 at the time. And then they were going 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 explained.

Having the books as a reference point encouraged Lautner to begin hitting the gym after filming the first movie, 2008’s Twilight. “I was ready, so when we got that call, my team was like, ‘Have you seen him recently?'” he said, explaining that he had been “hardcore working out for about nine months” and had gained “20 or 25 pounds.”

Although he had a dramatic physical transformation, he said he still had to reaudition for the role.

Elsewhere in the podcast, Lautner told Cooper, 29, that being a part of the successful franchise and under the public limelight made him reevaluate his self-worth and what he cared about.

“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.

When asked where he is with his body image now, Lautner said, “Much better, but certainly not perfect,” and credited his wife and friends for helping him be comfortable in his skin.

“I’m much better at it now, but there’s good days and bad days still,” he added.