After a grueling day on the set of Eclipse and playing guinea pig in preparation for shooting fight scenes, the always-gracious Kellan Lutz was sweet enough to use some of his much-needed down time to chat with me.
Kellan is an open book about many things close to his heart, including a several month journey to Africa to film Generation Kill, and his dog, Kola. I’ll reveal more about his passions tomorrow in part two of our interview. During our conversation, however, the issue of respect came to play, giving fans an inside peek into the lack of privacy which has become a constant in the lives of the Twilight stars.
Hype surrounding the Saga and enthusiastic, gift-bearing fans are at a culminated high during the filming of Eclipse, as are paparazzi determined to catch the actors in any situation, both on and off set. While the actors of the Twilight Saga are incredibly generous and appreciative of their endearing fans, they, too, enjoy their much-needed, rarely granted seclusion.
About his fans and desire for unrequited privacy from paparazzi, Kellan said:
Everyone’s so loving and supporting- there’s no haters. There’s so many Twilight fans that have given me presents- gummy bears or chew toys for my dog. It’s so humbling; people wanting to have a picture with me or wanting me to sign something. It’s so endearing.
But when we’re here working 12, 14, 16 hour days, on our off days we just want to be a normal human being and go get a bite to eat or go play pool and be normal. We just want to get out of our hotel rooms or apartments, but we can’t, and that’s a tough thing. And we don’t always want to have to look our best. I just love dressing comfy to go out, but we can’t because there’s always photographers there.
The other day I was working out at the gym. Photographers were shooting from across the street through the windows of the gym to me working out. I couldn’t just work out and blow off some steam. So where does the privacy start and the publicity end? When is it enough?
We’re all very happy to be working and be part of an amazing franchise like this, and we wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s allowed me to get some great work and to do amazing movies, independent ones that I can show some great acting with, and some great character roles, but really, we’re just human…
I can’t fathom what other people go through. I’m just a part of this franchise… I’m Kellan. There’s nothing super special about me that’s worthwhile. I wish there were more pictures of people helping out. Show Brad and Angelina and all the good work they do. Show me at my charity events, but really, do you need to see pictures of me walking my dog 20 million times?
Immediately following our conversation, I found this e-mail along with link and pictures from a widely known paparazzi-friendly site waiting in my inbox:
Kellan Lutz shows off his tight and toned body at a local Vancouver gym Wednesday during breaks in the filming of Eclipse. The Twilight hottie checked himself out in the mirror as he worked out - and with a body like that, who can blame him! See the newest pics of the shirtless Emmett Cullen...
Pictures representing the very lament Kellan had just shared were being plastered around the net as we spoke.
Understandably, viewing images and videos of our favorite Twilight actors, even being caught off guard, satiate a need fans have for that immediate fix of eye-candy. Though we don’t mean any harm, in feeding our addiction we unknowingly instill an inert sense of hurt in our favorite actors.
Kellan knows that paparazzi and fandom is a part of his lifestyle, and he graciously embraces the limelight under the proper circumstances. His intermittent, spontaneous lament, however, immediately put a soulful, heartfelt need of all the Twilight actors to light in a manner that may touch others and spur true fans to act.
The next time you’re tempted to check out that salacious picture of your favorite Twilight star caught “in the act,” be it working out, eating, grabbing a coffee, walking a dog, or catching a ciggy break in the dark, take a deep breath, resist temptation to gawk, and allow the actor to maintain what little bit of privacy s/he can.
It’s the least we, as fans, can do for the actors committed to bringing the story of the Cullen clan and the Twilight Saga from the pages of the black, glossy books, to life on the big screen.
Be sure to read part two of our interview for a more casual, yet insightful look into the world of Kellan Lutz!
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Photos: Summit Entertainment
Comments
What a great article! I hope more actors begin to speak out so the more "extreme" fans can understand what their behavior does.
This is a great article about a very serious topic, let's hope people will understand it and start giving all the "stars" some space. At the end of the day they're all human and we need to see that !!
Once again,thank you x
a great article! he gave the tabloid readers a good reminder. When they are out doing press for their respective movies or attending events, that is the time for pictures. Not when out walking their dogs, going to concerts or whatever it may be. They are just normal people who want and deserve privacy like the rest of us when they are on their own time.
good for you. Kellen expressed himself in a respectful thoughtful and insightful way. I am sure it hurts him to see his castmates also not allowed a moment of private peace. Perhaps they should issue tasers to the security people and when the greedy paps get too close they get zapped. in my opinion they are not even fans but just low bottom feeders living off the discomfort of others.
ok about fans but i doubt photographers and paps will ever give a damn about it.. :( they do it for a living... and pics = money so the more the better :/
Excellent interview! Love Kellan!! Poor guy can't take his dog jogging in peace :( If only people had respect for others in general, it would all be so different.
Great Article!
This is a wonderful article about a topic that is very close to my heart. Yes, the paps will keep snapping the pics as long as there is a market out there for them. It's our job to do all we can to reduce that market. Articles like this are a wonderful step in that direction.
Thanks to you, and of course a warm heartfelt thanks to Kellen, for bringing this topic to for forefront. We need more articles like this.
Thanks for the article. That's why I love Kellan, he's always kind to his fans, and even if it's tough to handle sometimes, he'd better smile to pap unstead of getting angry. He's the best ^^
thanks for writing something worthwhile.
i think the extreme fans are too crazed to listen to reason, even from the objects of their fixation. it's like they want to consume them until they're destroyed, and they lament their destruction all the while.
when i taught english in martinique, my young students wanted my autograph and often gave me presents; and one pulled out some of my hair for a keepsake. it was so weird, and it's like the girl (like 10 years old) didnt even care that she pulled it out. there was this overly happy gleam in her eyes.
thus i find the socially inappropriate fans kind of fascinating, so much more than the lucky actors. although i am interested in them, just because it's quite the life change to go from nobody to the top ten on the starmeter. kind of cool, kind of annoying. always temporary. try not to lose it during the ride.
This is a wonderful article! I agree whole heartedly that these wonderful actors/actresses deserve their own lives away from the spotlight and this article proves even more that some people need to step back and think about what the stars feel like when their privacy is invaded 24/7...
he is so hot and a good actor in the movies he is working on now
hey! COULD YOU IMAGINE TO BE FOLLOW EVERY WHERE YOU GO 24 HOURS A DAY,JUST TO HAVE A PICTURE OF A ACTOR... COME ON , KELLAN IS RIGHT !!! give then a break. I am a very big fan of TWILIGHT and i love to see then in mag or net , but they do have a lifetime, after all. They all need a private life whit out spending money for a bodygard.So when you whant to distrub a actor just for fun or money...think 2 secs, if you'll like to be in is skin 2 mins and be distrub for nothing.It's true behind the role, they are normal person......THINK ABOUT IT... lynn
i think he is right they should give them some privacy and let them be who they are and stop following them around all the time for a picture
I've been behind the anti-paparazzi movement for a very long time. As an event photographer in Los Angeles, I have known Kellan for quite a while & seen the growing number of paparazzi plaguing this wonderful young man. I've encouraged a number of fan websites to stop posting paparazzi photos because, in truth, it is the fans' appetite for these intrusive photos which fuel the paparazzi photographers to continue doing what they do. If paparazzi photos were not a lucerative source of income, they would stop doing it. FANS FUEL THE PAPARAZZI. If fans stop buying into the paparazzi photos, the paparazzi photographers would stop earning money and stop following celebrities.
As a professional acquaintance, I find Kellan's enthusiasm & spirit quite uplifting & contageous. He is always happy to see the event photographers who have been invited to cover the events he attends. He carries himself with character but is not arrogant nor self-centered. He is simply lovely.
OK, nice words in the comments, but how many of you have actually seen those pics taken in the gym, or while walking Kola from the many (if not 20 million - yet) occasions... Until there are no laws (and serious punishments) this won't stop, the business built on paparazzi photos is too big to die 'naturally'.
I saw the gym pictures and you can tell with the last ones that he caught sight of the photog and was NOT thrilled. Made me feel bad that I SAW the pictures and the ones with his dog too. People really need to back off of all of them. Being in the movies shouldn't ruin their personal life. I absolutely LOVE Kellan. I'm always impressed by his class in interviews and fan interactions :) Along with some of the other actors from the movies.
Really people? Kellan is just a person! Why do people advertise whenever something bad happens in life to those people? Why can't they show any of the good things that they do? That would be awesome. Instead of posting titles that say, "Mommy I hate you!" and things like that, put things that are inspiring like this. I AM obsessed with the Twilight Saga, but I also understand that people should have a life outside of paparazzi and other things. So, if I ever see any famous person on the street, I'll be one of the few poeple who doesn't try to mob them or touch them. I suggest you all do the same.
Yes, Kellan is hot. I agree, but that doesn't mean that he's not a person who has a life. I agree with "Respect for Actors." I'm not going to pull his harir out or do stupid obsessive things like that. Anyone who does has lost my respect.
you i often find myself wanting to buy a mag to see what celebs are doing....but i dont because i dont condone the invasion of privacy! If I want to read an interview i come to sites like this one! Not to mention i dont read trash!!!
Great article & kudos to Kellan for saying what needs to be said. Celebs need and deserve their privacy. They should get the same respect any one of us would expect. Thanks to a great tip from Pattinson Online, when I am in line at a store and I see tabloid magazines about Twilight, I turn the magazine over so the rubbish on the cover can't be seen. Not a huge thing, but doing that might stop a few of these trashy magazines from being sold.
Great article. The fans drive the paparazzi. As this wonderful article states, do NOT click on the pix on the internet, do NOT buy the trash mags. Do not follow the actors everywhere they go, screaming at them. Give them space. They are people, very gracious people it would seem. The paparazzi would die away if fans stopped buying their wares. They are selling sleaze. Don't buy it! I do not understand parents who allow their children or go with their children to stalk these actors. It is mind-boggling. I love the movies and the books, but out of respect for the actors, I just plan on seeing their work, not stalking their every move and invading their lives. If fans continue to do that, they will kill what they profess to love....
Kellan speaks really well to this issue. I try really hard to stay away from Paparazzi photos but it is hard because they are everywhere. It really does make me sad to see photos where clearly their privacy is being invaded and beyond that they are being harassed....especially Rob.
I must say that it would be nice to start having some scheduled and planned photoshoots and interviews soon--there was way more of that before Twilight than there is now. I wish they would give some of the longstanding fansites more access like they did with Twilight--I strongly believe that access really helped make Twilight the success that it was. I know many of us fans feel like we need a little something in the way of interviews/photoshoots--why is Summit holding out on us? I am sure more will start happening soon but for most of us soon is not soon enough. I love that Kellan makes fun of the Paps--kudos to him for that.
Dosent Kellen eat a rice crispies when he is in the lunch room?
Unfortunately, fame comes with a price. And that price is your privacy. Its like these days the paps are just willing to go to the extremes to get pictures. I mean years ago it was not as bad as it is now. But with different magazines and other sources willing to pay the big bucks for pics this will never go away. I feel sorry for Kellan. But now I even feel more sorry for Robert. I think he has less privacy than all the cast members put together. Kellan is right...outside of the fact that they do movies they are just normal people that want to do normal things and they can without a million flashing cameras in there face. It really is sad.
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