Although he only had a brief role in the first Twilight film, actor Taylor Lautner takes centre stage in The Twilight Saga: New Moon as werewolf Jacob Black. Whilst recently in London with fellow New Moon stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, Taylor spoke about beefing up, doing his own stunts and the surprise he feels about his legions of supportive fans.

Are you still surprised by the levels of excitement that come with Twilight?
Taylor Lautner (TL): Yeah, I guess after Twilight we expect anything but it's still a constant surprise. I'm always surprised by fan reaction and the amount of fan support we have behind us just because none of us expected it when we worked on Twilight. Coming into New Moon was a slightly different feeling but it's great to know we have that level of support behind us.

What did you think about doing your own stuntwork on the film?
TL: The stuntwork was a lot of fun and I really glad that I had the opportunity to do a lot more physical stuff. I had never ridden a dirt bike before. It was kind of scary at first and I had to go through some training so I could make the five seconds of me on the dirt bike look cool. But there were a lot of sequences and Chris [Weitz, director of New Moon] was really open to some random ideas.

How did you transform yourself physically for the role? And do you have any exercise tips for the rest of us?
TL: Obviously, it required a lot of hours in the gym. The most important and difficult part of the process, though, was the eating. I had to double and triple my calorie intake per day. It was a matter of eating every two hours... just disgusting things like meat patties and raw almonds and sweet potatoes. I'm really busy, I'm driving into downtown LA all day for meetings, so it's hard to get that food in me every two hours, so I carry baggies with the meat patties and all kinds of stuff in them. It was the only way to do it. So, it was definitely a lot of hard work... but worth it.

What do you do in your downtime and have you had to give up anything?
TL: It used to be martial arts but I haven't done much of it in a while and I'd definitely be rusty. I do like playing football and spending time with my family and friends.

How do you cope with the fans' screaming? And how do you prepare yourself for that kind of adoration?
TL: I don't think there is any preparation. We kind of live off the fans’ adrenaline.

If you could go back and audition again, would you? And whose role would you like to play other than your own?
TL: Is Bella an option? I'd love to get inside Bella's mind!