Kellan Lutz: More than “Emmett” In “Meskada"

Kellan, “Emmett Cullen” Lutz is calling TeenHollywood from his sunny L.A. back yard where he is watching dogs Kola, Kevin and Nala, chase squirrels.

He’s soon off to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the Vancouver area to continue the shoot on the two Breaking Dawn films but, on Dec. 3rd , you can watch Kellan as a small town hottie who goes down a scary path when he needs money in the crime thriller Meskada. We enjoyed Kellan’s portrayal in the film and wanted to catch up on that and other projects.

TeenHollywood: Okay let’s set the scene. What dogs do you have around you there in your yard?

Kellan Lutz: I have a shepherd/husky named Kola that I got from the pound. I love K names. Kevin, we found on the street. He’s a little Chihuahua and we rescued him. Then I’m babysitting this giant German shepherd named Nala and she is the most docile dog ever. My little dogs are like ‘Grrrr, what are you doin’ here?’ They all have different personalities. It’s really funny to share a bed with three dogs.

TeenHollywood: I’ll bet! So, let’s get this out of the way, you are nowhere near wrapped on Breaking Dawn, right?

Kellan: Oh I wish. I’ve got five more months on that. I’ve only done a couple of scenes. [We hear barking and a “No!” from Kellan]. The German Shepard is drinking water out of the pool. Not good.

TeenHollywood: You and Meryl Streep’s daughter Grace Gummer are a couple inMeskada and have a great love scene. What was it like to work with her?

Kellan: She’s a sweetheart. She is so precious and it was her first movie. She’s such a great actress. We both felt really comfortable, especially having a movie where you have a love scene on your first movie, it was great to be open and talk it out with the director ‘Are we being PG or R’?Just getting the comfort level down. She’s a really sweet girl and we’re friends to this day. I just loved the cast. We had a great cast.

TeenHollywood: Was there any hanging out together for the cast off set on Meskada?

Kellan: Jonathan Tucker and I really connected a lot. I grew up in Iowa so I saw this sort of economic depression happen. There, it’s the farming. In Meskada County and the Catskills it’s lumbering. These towns still have so much hope and community. You see that in the movie. They protect their own. It was great to bring it to life. We shot the movie in about three weeks and it was little cabins in the small town we stayed in so yeah, there are some local bars that Jonathan Tucker and I, Nick [Stahl] and Grace and Rachel [Nichols] would all go to and run amok but we had a great time.

TeenHollywood: Your guy Eddie in Meskada causes a lot of trouble in town and then he gets away with it. What’s your take on him?

Kellan: I don’t think Eddie is a bad guy. He was trying to help out Shane [played by Jonathan Tucker] and his brother. They’re friends and Shane is kind of a big brother. Eddie is in a situation where he feels bad because he did something, didn’t mean to do it but it took a drastic turn. He really looks to Shane to hold everything together but Shane doesn’t want Eddie to freak out. It’s a great character piece for us.

TeenHollywood: Sometimes your good friends can really get you into trouble. Has that happened to you?

Kellan: I have a lot of crazy friends and I’m friends with them because they’re crazy. They bring humor to my life but I’ve got a buddy who probably shouldn’t have been driving after the bar but got in a situation and his truck landed in a flower bed and by no means were we strong enough to lift a truck off a flower bed. But, years later, we’ve grown from that situation.We were kids and you learn from that. It’s great to learn life lessons. I’ve had plenty where I shouldn’t have been somewhere and I knew it but I still went. It’s what you take away from that. It’s better to experience that yourself rather than having a parent say ‘don’t do this’.

TeenHollywood: Could you relate in your own life to being a small town guy?

Kellan: Well, I started out in North Dakota which is super small, moved to Iowa, which was small but by the time I moved to Arizona, I was a farm boy at heart living in a big city. Scottsdale is pretty big and moving to L.A. it got even bigger but yeah, I still held on to all my morals or I think I did. So I could relate to a lot of Eddie’s problems. It’s something that is close to home.

TeenHollywood: You are in a ton of upcoming movies. You play the sea god Poseidon and a Lacrosse player and what else besides Breaking Dawn of course?

Kellan: Yeah, in Immortals I’m playing Poseidon which has been a dream project to work on with Tarsem [Singh, the director] and Mickey Rourke. Then I love Lacrosse and that’s in A Warrior’s Heart with Ashley Greene, one of my best friends [he suddenly makes an “ooooof” sound]. Oh! My Chihuahua just jumped up on me. [To dog] You are sooo strong. You are such a cutie. Then I have Love, Wedding, Marriage where I play a newlywed husband with Mandy Moore which is a great new type of role for me. Then The Killing Gamewhere I’m topless for most of the movie and I’m fighting and killing people. That was my Jason Bourne movie. Yeah, 2011 is going to be a fun year of Kellan.

TeenHollywood: Are you reading scripts to find a project after Breaking Dawn?


Kellan: Yeah. I have so much down time up there so I’m reading books, looking for action books that I maybe want to turn into movies. I’ve been reading a lot. I’m trying to get a lot of projects off the ground. It’s great to be a part of that.

TeenHollywood: What are you most looking forward to in Breaking Dawn?

Kellan: I’m really looking forward to doing the arm wrestling scene with Bella. I know I lose it which isn’t fun but I can’t wait to shoot it because I know it’s something the fans are looking forward to.

TeenHollywood: What would you love to say to all your fans out there?

Kellan: I love all the fans and I’m just so thankful. There should be fans for every occupation in the world. I think it’s so important to make someone else’s day by just giving a smile or a thank you. There are fans who make scrap books and send letters. I love reading all the letters. I travel a lot and get a big box of them once a week and there is so much time on airplanes to read them.

They are so sweet and I’ve encountered some fans who are sick or having a bad time and a simple phone call can change their mood or day. I’ll call them. It’s easy to do. Even when I’m sitting in traffic, I like to give encouragement. I’m just Kellan but if their one wish in life is to talk to me, why not?I’ll send them a card on their birthday and say it was great talking to them.

teenhollywood
xoxo
Carrie