Taylor Lautner confirms that he had to re-audition to keep his role as Jacob in The Twilight Saga: New Moon as some pushed for a new actor.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon actor Taylor Lautner reveals that he had to re-audition for the sequel film in order to avoid being recast. Based on the hit book series by author Stephenie Meyer, the first movie in the hit Twilight franchise was released in 2008, chronicling the complicated love story of Kristen Stewart’s Bella and Robert Pattison’s Edward, a vampire. Lautner stars in all five movies in the franchise as Jacob, a werewolf who competes with Edward for Bella’s affection.

In a recent interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast (via Variety), Lautner reveals that he had to “fight for my role back” by re-auditioning for New Moon. “My character in the first book is supposed to be like a 16-year-old little scrawny boy,” the actor explains, “and in the middle of ‘New Moon,’ he transforms into this 25-year-old looking built, muscular man.” Lautner says the production intended to “cast like a mid-20s guy to carry on and be Jacob for the rest of the franchise.” To keep his role, the actor put on 20-25 pounds by “hardcore working out for about nine months.”

In an interview with Yahoo! last year, Lautner detailed his “nightmare” diet of 5,000 calroies a day that he used to get into shape for New Moon. His meals consisted of “raw sweet potatoes and turkey patties and protein shakes that were essentially just mud.”

Would A Jacob Recast In Twilight Have Worked?

It’s not necessarily unusual for actors to be recast in major franchises. Roles can be recast for a variety of reasons, including behind-the-scenes troubles, creative revamps, and contract disputes. Recastings, however, can be jarring for audiences, especially if it’s a lead role. Depending on how effectively an actor potrays his or her character, that actor can become one with the role, and it can be hard to separate the two.

While Jacob isn’t as prominently featured in the first Twilight as he is in later installments (he transforms into a werewolf for the first time in New Moon), he’s still a central enough figure that swapping actors might’ve been confusing for audiences. That’s not to mention how odd it would have been in-universe for Jacob to go from someone who looks like a teenager to someone who looks like he’s in his mid-20s.

In hindsight, it’s also important to recognize that the Twilight cast is a crucial reason for the movies’ success. The films were never critical darlings, but they were a big hit with audiences and became major box office hits. Actors like Pattinson, Stewart, and Lautner were propelled to periods of superstardom due to their roles, and recasting Lautner may have resulted in a fairly considerable backlash. It’s certainly possible that recasting Jacob for The Twilight Saga: New Moon could have worked, but it’s evidently for the best that Lautner was kept on.