Look, people (that means you too, Twilight Moms): Taylor Lautner is all grown up now, legal and everything at 19 years of age. He's got his first non-Twilight starring role coming up in John Singleton's Abduction, which is also his first young adult bid for action supremacy. So even though he's arguably the most legitimately nice young actor of his generation -- seriously, this kid's poised like a pro -- he's growing up on-screen faster than teen mom Bella Swan. And you know what that means? Steamy love scenes!
Lautner spoke with journalists today in Los Angeles about all things Abduction, from the action stunts that he insisted on doing himself (stadium parkour!) to his acting idol, Tom Cruise, who he met for the first time under pretty unusual circumstances. And, yes, he spilled the beans on the very involved -- yet PG-13 -- love scene he shares in the film with co-star Lily Collins, the both of whom decided to get especially hot and heavy in the scene for the sake of the film, Singleton told Movieline. (Look for our exclusive interview with the director to come.)
Jump in to hear the sweet-to-wacky revelations Lautner shared earlier today.
1. Lautner and co-star/love interest Lily Collins didn't let the film's PG-13 rating get in the way of their... commitment... to their performances during one "steamy" scene. "That's why [there's] the cut off or the little, 'I'm getting hungry,' excuse right before. It was great. We went for it, and sometimes those scenes can be awkward. It just depends, but thankfully it was all good."
2. Lautner convinced Singleton and Co. to let him do some of his own stunts, including a game of Ship's Mast that had him riding the hood of a car at up to 55 mph. "That one took some negotiating from me to allow them to let me do that. At first they were like, 'No. That's happening. You are not getting on the hood of that truck.' Somehow I convinced them to allow me to do it, but then they were like, 'OK. But you're only going twenty miles an hour.' I was like, 'Come on, people. Haven't you ever heard of method acting? I need to be able to relate to the adrenaline that this character is experiencing.' So, we got up to about fifty, fifty five which was not quite the eighty on the speedometer, but it was fast."
3. Lautner has a sense of humor about who his Twilight character Jacob winds up falling for in Breaking Dawn. [SPOILER] At least in Abduction he gets the girl who's his own age. "Right, I know. Still, even in the last one he ends up with the kid. It was a great feeling, a great feeling to actually end up the girl." [END SPOILERS]
4. Lautner's favorite movie, the one he watches over and over, stars one of his Twilight castmates. "The movie that I have watched a million times, and if I meet somebody that has not seen it I force them to sit down and watch it -- I don't know why I'm so obsessed with it -- [is] Man on Fire with Denzel [Washington] and Dakota Fanning."
5. Lautner's action hero idol is Tom Cruise. (Duh.) "I've looked up to him since I was really young. I think the biggest reason that I've looked up to him is just his career choices. He's always continued to challenge himself and do different things, going from Risky Business to Top Gun to Jerry Maguire to Born on the Fourth of July. The variety in those roles and genres is absolutely insane and that's what I admire about him the most... If I end up with a tenth of the career that that guy's had I would be completely happy."
6. The first time Tay-Tay met Tom, however, was "weird." "He was in his Les Grossman outfit because we filmed this thing for the opening of the MTV Movie Awards two years ago. So, it was kind of weird for me to meet my idol, Tom Cruise, and he's in this giant fat suit and he's bald. That was kind of weird, but then I met him a couple of times after that."
7. The most fun he's had acting didn't come as Shark Boy, Jacob Black, or the parkouring hero of Abduction but in drag. "I had the time of my life with SNL where I got to dress up as a girl and dress up as this foreign blonde pop star, playing these weird roles like he did with that. I have a lot of fun doing that. So, I'd definitely be open to that."
8. Abduction, which Lautner filmed between The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and the two series-ending Breaking Dawn installments, was the 19-year-old's most challenging role to date. Or Breaking Dawn was. One of them. "This movie stretched me as an actor more than I'd ever been stretched before. It was perfect before in Breaking Dawn Part 1, specifically, my character, he gets so emotional and he changes so much. Now that was by far the most I've ever been stretched, and it was great to ease into it with Abduction right before that. So, this was a great experience and then leading into that."
Abduction is in theaters September 23.