During a New York store appearance, Twilight actor and Calvin Klein underwear poster boy, Kellan Lutz, talks vampires and briefs with Metro.
Before you began acting, you were a model. What about Calvin Klein underwear made you want to go back to modelling again?
I got into modeling when I was in a financial crisis. It was a great way to make money. I never thought I was pretty by any means. But it was great to be a part of that world. And the pinnacle of that world is to be on a billboard. I grew up wearing Calvin Klein. It’s one of those things. As a model, I dreamt of being Marky Mark, being on a billboard and selling that company.
Speaking of Marky-Mark, were you nervous about comparisons when shooting this campaign?
I was thrilled. I loved Marky-Mark’s campaign. And by no means was I trying to fill his britches or, uh, boxer-briefs. I was just stepping into them and doing my best to follow in his footsteps. And that’s all I can hope and pray for. I think the audience has really enjoyed the campaign, so it’s nice to be a part of it.
Any surprises in store for the next Twilight movie, Eclipse?
It’s really tough for our characters — the movies are based on the books. So a lot of characters are like — they barely have lines, they’re barely in it. But you can’t rewrite the books. And I’m just grateful to have a line or a purpose in there. But definitely, Emmett’s character and story grow immensely in Eclipse. You see the battle between the newborns and you see the werewolves coming along. It’s a big fighting movie, and that’s Emmett’s strength. So there’s the fighting and the big brother role, which is nice.
Since you were already in production, did you really have to prepare physically for this Calvin Klein campaign?
Well I did. You know Emmett, my character, is more of the big guy. So I don’t need the washboard abs, just the size. So I did a lot of push-ups and tons of protein. But for Calvin Klein, it’s underwear. So I called up my buddy Rich McDonald who’s a personal trainer friend of mine. He put me on a great diet that took out the candy (which I love) and the carbs past 4 o’clock (which I break here and there). And he told me a great thing, which is too drink water as much as you can. Cause when you don’t drink water, your body needs to hold on to it to stay hydrated. So I started training with him and he got me into the shape that I need to be for the campaign. I trained for two weeks.
So … boxers or briefs?
Boxer-briefs! And I love the blue-trimmed ones. The blue ones bring out my eyes (laughs). I didn’t come-up with that. I was on the street and I bent over to pick up my bag out the car and this girl yelled out, “You have the blue ones on and your eyes are blue.” And I was like, ‘Oh yeah, they do bring out my eyes!’
