Taylor Lautner reflects on body image issues post Twilight saga

Twilight star Taylor Lautner has recently reflected on his struggle with body image after filming the Twilight saga.

During a new episode of The Squeeze podcast, Taylor revealed how working in the movie had “affected” him in the “future” with “body image” issues.

Taylor, who played Jacob Black in all five Twilight movies, shared that the physical transformation for the “character” took a toll on his mental health.

“In the first movie, I was 140 pounds, and in New Moon I was 175,” said the actor.

Taylor continued, “So yeah, that wasn't my natural body. I had to work very hard for it and very, very hard just to maintain it.”

The actor mentioned that he was “forced to be in a gym multiple times a day, six days a week” but after the franchise ended in 2012, he stopped going to the gym and “started losing the eight pack”.

“I started having more normal of a body. I thought I looked fine,” stated the 30-year-old.

However, later, when people uploaded the “comparison photos” online, this had effected my mental health.

“They put the side-by-sides 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,” explained Taylor.

Taylor pointed out, “I've gotten healthy again, but in order to get my body physically healthy, it took my mind getting healthy first. But yeah, those side-by-side images continued for years and years, and it messed with me. It hurt.”

While looking back, Taylor suggested that it’s important to prioritise mental heath over body image.

“Your body can look unbelievable, you can be ripped, shredded, whatever you can lose weight, you can put on muscle and if you're not healthy mentally, then that's all for nothing because that can work against you,” he asserted.

Taylor advised, “Don't find happiness in what you want your body to look like. Don't think just because you lose the 20 pounds 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 added.