Taylor Lautner of 'Twilight Saga: Eclipse'

Credit: Summit

10:25 a.m. PT Summit has allowed for video recording at the "Twilight Saga: Eclipse" press conferences. I, alas, do not have a video camera. What I *do* have is fast-ish fingers and a [currently] reliable Internet connection. So follow along as I live-blog today's various press conferences. Up first... Taylor Lautner, after the break.

10:30 a.m. PT Start time approaching. Anticipation building. Head hurting just a little... Also note that my signal is a bit iffy. So just cross your fingers for the next few hours for me...

10:34 a.m.  Taylor arrives. Natty silver blazer.

10:35 a.m. "Probably the people around me. They're what I care about. They're my motivation." That's Taylor's answer to the first question, regarding what drives him. He says he also drives a car that gets him from Point A to Point B.

10: 36 a.m. "I was bummed that I wasn't involved in too much action... I got to kiss Bella for the first time," Taylor says of new things in this movie. He says he and Rob didn't compare notes.

10:38 a.m. Taylor says he doesn't have an entourage, but he has a couple guys.

10:39 a.m. "Occasionally you really want some ice cream," Taylor says, regarding the desire to cheat in his diet. He explains that it's actually just as difficult to keep the muscle mass as it was to acquire it in the first place. He says it's 10 times harder. We don't ask to check his math.

10:40 a.m. "Jacob matures quite a bit," Taylor says, though he emphasizes that the changes are all from the book, because that's what the fans want to see. 

10:40 a.m. Taylor gets to work with Robert Pattison more in this movie. "Usually I have to hate him in the scenes and it's difficult. He's such a funny nice guy," Taylor says. Awww... "As soon as they call cut, we just bust out laughing," he says.

10:41 a.m. The tent scene is his favorite scene he got to do with Rob.

10:41 a.m. Even Taylor is amused by his frequent shirtlessness. "Those are the awkward scenes, where everybody is fully closed and it's raining and I'm waiting there, the only person just posing there."

10:42 a.m. Taylor can't tell us how "Breaking Dawn" will be split. 

10:42 a.m. "Whatever the book says, that's most likely what we're going to do," Taylor on when he takes his shirt off.

10:43 a.m. "Chances are it might be a little different from the doll," Taylor says, regarding the "Stretch Armstrong" movie. He adds, "The cool thing with the toy is that there is no story," calling it "super-exciting and creative."

10:44 a.m. Taylor says there are a lot more pros than cons to celebrities.

10:45 a.m. More on the tent scene, specifically the line where Jacob tells Edward, "After all, I'm hotter than you." Context matters. Taylor says, "It's another one of those lines that was a little difficult to say to Rob."

10:45 a.m. "It's by far my favorite movie," Taylor says of "Eclipse." He encourages you to see it. 

10:46 a.m. "Working with Mr. Cruise was really surreal. Making a movie with him would be one of my dreams," says Taylor of his experiences with Les Grossman at the MTV Movie Awards.

10:46 a.m. Taylor has never been in a love triangle, at least not since elementary school. He says he wouldn't want to find himself in the romantic situation depicted in the movie.

10:48 a.m. Ack. Awkward Taylor Swift question. No real answer. Clearly.

10:48 a.m. Taylor has only met Bill Condon once and very briefly, so they haven't talked "Breaking Dawn." He's looking forward to those conversations.

10:49 a.m. "I think that was definitely the right thing to do," Taylor says of breaking "Breaking Dawn" into two movies. "There's just so much to do with the Wolfpack and the Baby." If you could hear his tone as he says "the baby." He sure sounds... wary. As he should.

10:50 a.m. Taylor's guilty pleasures are "American Idol." He hasn't missed an episode in nine years. "I can't believe I just said that."

10:51 a.m. "Yeah. I really... I haven't started thinking about it too much..." Taylor says of the "unique romantic entanglement" he has in "Breaking Dawn." He adds, "That will be interesting, for sure." 

10:51 a.m. "I wouldn't say they're weird, but they're definitely passionate," Taylor says of "weird" fan encounters.

10:52 a.m. "It definitely is surrounding yourself with your family and the friends you've been around forever," Taylor says, regarding the key to staying grounded and not getting a swelled head. "We sit at home. We're not that exciting. We watch 'American Idol' every Tuesday and Wednesday," he says. 

10:53 a.m. Is anybody else thinking what I'm thinking? Taylor Lautner should TOTALLY be replacing Simon Cowell as the new "American Idol" judge.

10:54 a.m. "Yeah, you can be creative. It's a matter of choosing where you go and when you go," Taylor says, regarding whether it's possible for him to go out in public. He says he has low-key restaurants he goes to, but sometimes he just wants to go bowling, even if it becomes a zoo.

10:55 a.m. Is there anything Taylor's looking to take home with him after the movies end, anything of sentimental value? "It would probably be those little jean-shorts."

10:55 a.m. The whole cast, they're all friends. Taylor can't imagine filming without the whole cast. They hang out on the weekends. "We will definitely maintain friendship for a very long time past this franchise."

10:56 a.m. Taylor says that looks for stories when he eyes future projects. He's "super-excited" to get going on "Abduction," which starts production in three weeks.

10:57 a.m. Has Taylor ever fought for a woman in real life? "Yeah. Definitely. If it's important to you... Yeah, I've fought for a woman."

10:57 a.m. Another "Breaking Dawn" question. Does Taylor want to keep the "out-there" elements of the book. He says it's "super-important" to remain faithful to the books. "There may have to be a few little changes here and there," he acknowledges. "I think that Bill Condon, whatever he does is going to turn out amazing."

10:58 a.m. That's it for Taylor. Kristen is next...

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

• Follow

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.