‘Twilight’ star reveals he almost quit before ‘Breaking Dawn’

Back in 2008 and up until the release of Breaking Dawn Part 2 in 2012, the cultural impact of the Twilight Saga was at its peak. The vampire love story series marked a huge turning point in young adult fiction and shot many of its stars to great fame. For Kellan Lutz, who starred as vampire Emmett Cullen, there were many high and low moments of being a part of the films, and he even considered quitting the series at the height of its fame. 

Lutz opened up about some of the struggles he faced on the fims’ sets on the new podcast, The Twilight Effect, hosted by Melanie Howe and fellow Twilight alum, Ashley Greene. The actor revealed there were extensive waiting periods that drained him of his passion for acting and even pushed him to consider leaving the franchise. 

“I was just happy to be there, especially in Twilight. Obviously, as the other movies progressed and we just had to wait around, I almost didn’t do the Breaking Dawn movies because I was like ‘Guys, mentally I need to be doing something’ and it was draining. I only have one life and if I only live to be thirty, I just spent a couple months [waiting on set]. My agent was like ‘But all the money you’re making?’ and I’m like, you can’t take it with you.

I really don’t care about the money. I’ve worked enough. I’m grateful we did the movies, but it got to the point where my passion, the twinkle in my eye wasn’t there anymore and that’s concerning when you fall out of love with what you do.”

Breaking Dawn was the third film in the installment and was released in 2011. While the actor had starred in a few films and series before booking Twilight, it was his role as a member of the Cullens role that opened a lot more doors for him and increased his popularity and star power in Hollywood. The role also earned him four back to back wins in the Choice Movie: Scene Stealer Male category at the Teen Choice Awards. 

Since the end of the Twilight Saga, he has starred in a few big budget films, like Immortals and The Expendables 3. He most recently starred in the first three seasons of FBI: Most Wanted, and currently voices the character King Tsunami in the Netflix original superhero series, The Guardians of Justice.