Taylor Lautner recently revealed that he was close to being recast in the Twilight franchise.
In a new interview with Alexandra Cooper on the upcoming episode of her podcast 'Call Her Daddy', the 31-year-old opened up about potentially being excluded from the rest of the Twilight films after the debut movie hit our screens.
Lautner appeared alongside his wife Taylor Dome, when she told the host: "And do you know that he wasn't actually supposed to be Jacob through the rest of the franchise?"
"Wait, they were going to take you out?", responded Cooper, who couldn't believe the revelation.
The actor then went on to explain the thought process behind the entire idea of the re-casting, stating that the creators had called him and let him know the news.
"They called me and said 'Thank you for your participation, but we're recasting you for the rest of the franchise,'" he said.
"What? Because they thought you were so bad? But you were great!", Cooper stated.
"My character in the first book is supposed to be this 16-year-old, little, scrawny boy and then in the middle of New Moon [the second Twilight movie in the franchise] he transforms into this 25-year-old-looking, like built and muscular man," he explained. "So their plan all along was to cast a sixteen-year-old - which they did, I was sixteen at the time - and then they were going to cast a mid-twenties guy to carry on and be Jacob for the rest of the franchise."
Lautner then stated that he was forced to "fight for his role back" and "hit the gym."
The actor added that he was thankful that he started the muscle-building process straight after he finished the first movie as that helped his case massively.
But he also had his team to thank as they prompted the creators of the movie to "take a meeting with him" so they could see all of his progress in person.
That didn't mean it was easy though as he also went on to reveal that he had to re-audition, but he did have support from his co-star Kristen Stewart, who played Bella Swan in the franchise, so there was that too.
"It all worked out," Lautner added.
Have a look at the clip below:Of course, fans were glad the 31-year-old still managed to keep the role.
"They practically had him recast too. i believe it was gonna be stephen strait. i remember the fans online being livid they wanted to recast," wrote one user, while another added: "I don't understand how they think its a good idea to EVER recast a character. I won't even watch some things when they recast..."
A third also added: "I low key love that Kristen was like nah, he’s with us. He’s gonna read with me."
Prior to his stint in Twilight, Lautner had not really gained much fame in the industry. However, after portraying the ever-so-handsome wolf-human hybrid Jacob Black, he secured a loyal fanbase as well as multiple other opportunities.
In the end, though, he chose to take a step back from the industry and focus on his mental and physical health before finding the love of his life and starting a new chapter altogether.
While the star might have been out of the public eye for a while, his fans remain loyal to him and these days, he's focussed on starting a podcast with his wife, as well as some other small but notable roles, which included making an appearance in his ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift's music video for 'I Can See You.'
