Taylor Lautner loses wig

Nov 16, 2009, 12:04 GMT

11/12/2009 - Taylor Lautner - Taylor Lautner loves having short hair again after being forced to wear a long wig for his new movie. © Solarpix / PR Photos

Taylor Lautner loves having short hair again after being forced to wear a long wig for his new movie.

The 17-year-old actor had to don lengthy tresses for upcoming film 'Twilight: New Moon' but was relieved to be told he could ditch it for good in the second half of the sequel.

He told America's Boston Globe newspaper: "I would not want that hair. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn't even recognise myself."

The star also discovered he was a book worm after reading the novels the movie series is based on.

Taylor admits he never really read much before picking up Stephanie Meyer's 'Twilight Saga' series - and then he was hooked.

He said: "As a matter of fact, I was not a book reader at all. The only books I ever read were the ones I was forced to in school.

"But when I started reading this book series, I fell in love with the characters and started turning the pages one after another. It was crazy. I never thought I could do that.

"But I love this story. This franchise has everything in it - romance, action, suspense. It has a dark side to it."

The Hollywood star has also revealed it was extremely tough trying to gain weight for the role and he had to resort to eating every two hours to pile on the pounds.

To bulk up, he carried around a little bag of high-energy foods to make sure he was scoffing enough calories a day.

Taylor said: "I was trying to put on weight. I knew if I was in the gym too much I'd lose weight. I was motivated to get in the gym, but the eating was pretty hard.

"Basically, I ate every two hours. I carried a little baggie with beef patties, raw almonds and sweet potatoes."