Taylor Lautner reveals he struggled with body image issues after filming 'Twilight'

Actor shared insight into his struggles of coming to terms with a non-muscular body

While Taylor Lautner may have gotten massive recognition for his well-defined muscular body in Twilight, the actor recently revealed that it led to severe body image issues in the long run. During an episode of his new podcast, The Squeeze, which he co-hosts with his wife Taylor Dome Lautner, the Abduction star discussed the mental toll "having this unbelievable body" took on him.

"When I was in it, when I was 16 through 20 years old, starring in this franchise where my character is known for taking his shirt off every other second, no, I did not know that it was affecting me or going to affect me in the future with body image," Lautner expressed. "But now looking back at it, of course, it did, and of course, it is going to."

According to Insider, Lautner got into shape to play the werewolf Jacob Black by working out several times a day, six days a week and adhering to a strict high-calorie diet.

"It was an all-consuming workout and diet regimen", the Home Team actor explained. "It was my entire life! In the first movie, I was 140 lbs., and in New Moon I was 175. So yeah, that wasn't my natural body. I had to work very hard for it and very, very hard just to maintain it."

Lautner also revealed that when the Twilight films ended, he started "rebelling against the gym" because he was so tired of working out. "What happens when you don't want to see a gym?" he asked. "You start losing the eight-pack. I started having a more normal body. I remember one of the first times seeing it online was very tough. I was filming a movie called Run The Tide, and my character in that is not supposed to be a bodybuilder or ripped guy in any way. I thought I looked fine."

However, before Lautner could get comfortable with his new body, many people started side-by-side comparisons online of the actor's toned physique in Twilight alongside his current body.

"Seeing it online where they put the side-by-side pictures of me shirtless in the ocean in a scene from that movie compared to me in Eclipse or whatever and being like, 'Wow, he's let it all go'. I was like, 'Oh, man. Did I really let it all go?' I didn't think I looked that bad," Lautner added.

Moving on, the Tracers actor also detailed how he eventually learned to prioritise his mental health above all other issues. "Don't find happiness in what you want your body to look like. Don't think just because you lose the 20 lbs. or put on the muscle, you're going to wake up and look in the mirror and all of a sudden be happy. That's not where you should be finding value," he advised.