So, if you were me and a teenage girl you might totally freak out in the situation I was in … which was sitting side by side with a sweet, smiley, considerate, handsome Taylor Lautner.  Earlier in the day Taylor was talking ‘Breaking Dawn’ at the Comic-Con panel and later he was talking about ‘Abduction.’  Which is Taylor’s first film outside of the ‘Twilight Saga’ since that whole thing began … and it’s a chance for him to really establish himself as serious leading man to compete with the other young guys out there like Shia and well … wait.  Maybe there isn’t that much competition.  The concept of a young leading man who can own an action film is actually pretty fresh right now.  No one else is doing it and hasn’t in recent memory.  That’s not a guarantee that people will see the movie, but if the fact that a lot of people in the ‘Breaking Dawn’ panel seemed more interested in ‘Abuduction’ than the next ‘Twilight’ movie is any indication of how the film may perform, Taylor’s on the right path.

Me: Hey!  Last time I saw you for an interview you were drinking a protein shake.
Taylor Lautner: I was?!  In the middle of the interview?

Sort of, they brought it in for you on a silver platter and you kind of had to try to drink it in between takes. Anyway, do you still drink them?  You didn’t seem to like them much.
I had to for the rest of the franchise.  So for Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2, I definitely had to maintain it.

Did you not have to for ‘Abudction’?  You look pretty big in this one too.
For ‘Abduction,’ yeah, I kind of had to because it was filmed in the middle.  It was right before ‘Breaking Dawn.’  So when I finished ‘Abduction’ I had to be ready to go straight to ‘Breaking Dawn.’  I mean … I’ve always just loved sports and just doing activities.  So I enjoy going to the gym.  And you know playing with my friends and stuff like that.  But with Abduction it was less like physical weight lifting training and more boxing, motorcycle training, wrestling, fight training.  Just more like that kind of training.  Which was cool to kind of change the pace.

What was your favorite stunt to do in film, which one are you most proud of?
It actually was at a baseball stadium.

This one?
Not this one.  It was at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.  And there is this giant glass awning. It’s huge, it goes over the top of the escalators.  And in order for me to evade the bad guy and give myself some more time I jump on top of the giant glass awning and I slide down the entire thing.  And it’s like, basically this enormous slide.

That sounds intense.
It was.  I knew I always wanted to do that stunt.  Because it just seemed fun.  But after doing it like 15, 20 times, it actually, it was kind of tough, but it was still fun.

So, your acting circles is getting smaller.  Draco Malfoy’s dad plays your dad in ‘Abduction.’  So another ‘Harry Potter’ – ‘Twilight’ connection.
Yeah, Jason Isaacs.

Can he seem anything but mean?  He’s so scary.
Uh, yeah. He’s scary in the books?

In Harry Potter, yes.
He is.  Um, he is amazing.  He’s, I mean, not only, he’s an incredible actor.  I love him.  He was the bad guy in ‘the Patriot.’  So yeah, I guess he is known for a bad guy.  But, he’s so great in the movie.  And he’s one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met.  And we, we had a lot of fun together.

Wow, I never would have guessed that, he so doesn’t seem like he’d be funny when you see him act.
Really?

Because he’s so intense and scary, yeah.
That’s so weird (to try to think of him that way) now.

So, I’m wondering – did you screen test with any actresses besides Lily Collins for her role?
I did not.  She was the only one…I think everybody knew from the very beginning, from the first moment we saw her, she was the girl.  So, after that she was the only one.  She’s great in the movie.  I can’t wait for everyone to see her.

So what is like to actually get to have a girl just simply like you back?
(lauging) It’s a wonderful feeling.  I know. It’s true. It’s always been so complicated before. Because this love triangle (with Jacob-Bella-Edward) I can never get the girl that I want.  I mean Nathan and Karen they have a great story.  They’ve known each other for a long time, since they were young kids.  They’re neighbors.  They kind of had a thing of like years ago, but it wasn’t much.  And their journey together is really special.  And I’m looking forward for everyone to see that.  ‘Abduction’ is a love story…it’s a lot of things.  It’s a love story.  It’s a mystery.  It’s an action thriller.  And I think it’s really a movie for everyone.

You said that your characters knew each other for a long time.  Do you still keep in touch with a lot of people that you grew up with? 
Yeah, no, that’s super important to me.  I mean I was raised in Michigan.  So most of my family and friends are back there.  But it’s super important for me to like keep in touch with them.

That’s nice to have those ties.
Yeah, absolutely.

So, I have a couple fan questions. Tammy wants to know what you’re going to be doing next?
Right now I’m focusing on promoting ‘Abduction’ and then ‘Breaking Dawn.’  I literally, in two weeks, I start my world tour for ‘Abduction.’  I do that and after I finish and I do my world tour for ‘Breaking Dawn.’  So the Fall is going to be pretty jammed with promoting.  Which I’m excited about.  And then in the meantime we’re reading a lot of scripts and deciding what will be next after that.

And on a lighter note, Alyssa wants to know how you are so tan.  And she emphasized tan by spelling it with extra As. Taaaaan.
(laugh) That’s hilarious.  I think I literally was just born tan as a baby.  It’s really weird.  And I’ve actually gotten lighter within the past couple years.  But this summer I’ve actually been outside a little more.  And I’m starting to get darker again. But I have no idea.  I could not tell you.  I’m Dutch, German and French.  So, it could be from the French.  But I don’t know.

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