"'HE's the 'MAN'"

Fashion model Kellan Lutz became one of the breakout stars of The Twilight Saga

In the wake of The Twilight Saga’s success, Lutz has done roles in films like A Nightmare On Elm Street, A Warrior’s Heart, and Immortals. Now the 28 year-old lands his biggest role to date as the titular character in The Legend Of Hercules.

We mentioned to Lutz if he felt regal wearing the costume and the cape of Hercules.

“Very, very,” Kellan replies, “Working with Sonu [Mishra], who is our costume designer, she said, ‘It was so amazing to have you here for the fitting,’ because they were trying to dress normal models, but they didn’t have the stoic posture. And for me, when you’re playing a character, you really get into character and you really just feel that regal vibe of the royal blood, so to speak, and she just loved putting the costumes on me.”

“She says, ‘You bring them to life! You bring them to life!’” he adds, “So I definitely felt like Hercules. I was very well-prepared mentally, but having her design such amazing, elaborate wardrobe to wear, definitely felt like Hercules through and through. And then, also having our set designers and our prop masters create this amazing world for us to live in as actors made it really fun.”

We asked Kellan if he found it hard to speak the dialect that was used in ancient Greece.

“Yeah, it definitely does,” Lutz answers, “The speech was quite difficult because I’d want to change it and make it more normal-speaking, like how I would normally say it. But as you said, that’s how they spoke at the time period, so sometimes, I would just correct it subconsciously and [director] Renny [Harlin] would be like, ‘You said it again!’ ‘Oh, geez, sorry,’ so then, I have to redo it.”

We commented to Lutz about how fantastic and unique the action sequences in The Legend Of Hercules are, particularly the scene with Hercules battling

"'HE's the 'MAN'"

the six.

“Well, we worked with some amazing stunt coordinators and they’ve watched almost every action movie,’ he says, “So as they’re designing these fights for you, they know what’s been done before and what hasn’t and they’re very creative as well. So even coming down to the lightning sword, I loved it, it was really cool. You had to act like your vibrating because you have lightning on your sword and throw it around.”

“It’s really cool seeing that come to life,” Kellan continues, “And then, working with the chains and fighting people, that was really unique. And yes, that six against one gladiator arena fight, doing all the slow-mos and ramping shots and phantom shots and then, watching playback, it was beautifully done and choreographed.”

We asked Kellan about his favorite hero moments or shots in the film.

“My favorite, again,” he says, “I love all action movies, just all the action moves that we did in Hercules. But my favorite one is the mud pits, because we worked so hard, when I fought Lyubo [Hristoskov], this big 6’7″ mixed martial arts fighter from Bulgaria, he’s a big dude.”

“I like beating people who you don’t think you can beat, even if it’s for a movie,” Lutz continues, “And even in the mud pits, it was just dirty, we were fighting to the deaths and really just throwing each other around, and doing that superman punch as I’m leaping in slow-motion, you see the water and the sands burning off my arm, it was really stunning.”

The Legend Of Hercules was shot and will be released in theaters in 3D. We asked Lutz of his opinion on the spike in use of it in recent years.

“Well, I think some movies can do it, some movies shouldn’t be shot in 3D,” Kellan answers, “I don’t think we need it, but if it enhances the depth of the movie, then why not? I’m more forward with adventure, I hope that’s what

"'HE's the 'MAN'"

people take out of this movie. I hope they go on the adventure of The Legend Of Hercules. I hope they sit on the edge of their seats and experience the world that we create.”

“And with our 3D, being able to see the depth that Renny created,” he adds, “As scenes where we’re on the horseback and we’re going through the woods and you see the grass in the foreground, being able to put the glasses on and see just how deep, how much depth there is in our little shot that we’re doing, it was just beautiful to witness.”

We asked Kellan if his physique made him feel destined to play a classic character like Hercules when he got the call that he would play him.

“No, no, no,” Lutz says, “It was just one of my proudest moments and I was very honored that he chose me, and he actually called me up. We share the same birthday, it’s very serendipitous that we’re neighbors, his cat comes to my place, we hang out all the time, already, he’s my favorite director that I’ve ever worked with, and I really feel like this brotherhood to him. And when he called me on March 21, he led on just chatting, actually I went home because I had some family members pass away and just wanted to be with family and what not.”

“So he called me and we were just chatting like buddies, and he’s like, ‘Well, hey, yo, the reason for my call, I just wanted to call you in person and sorry for the bad news.’ And I was like, ‘Hey, look, I wish you the best. I love the project. You’re an amazing director and whoever you got, I hope they knock it out of the park, and I’m just rooting for you,’” he continues, “He said, ‘Well, let me finish,’ and he was like, ‘I just want to say I’m sorry, but you’re going

"'HE's the 'MAN'"

to have to get on a plane to Bulgaria next week,’ and I was like, ‘What?! What?!’ I was in the parking lot after the gym. I was like, ‘Did you punk me?!’ He loved it. I was just losing my mind. I was just so excited and just jumping for joy. It was really such an amazing phone call.”

We asked Lutz about whether his workout regimen had to be more intense in playing the role.

“Well, yeah, I pushed myself to the limits,” he replies, “And also, a very unique way of working out. When you’re riding a horse, you have a lot of fun riding the horse and working, but you’re working out your abdominals, as well as your legs quite a bit. Lifting the sword, I had to do that for hours on end a day and it really works out your upper body, then also, working out on set, but also, my diet was very important.”

“I adapted the Paleo Diet, because I wasn’t sleeping much,” Kellan adds, “I didn’t have much time to hit the gym, but I was really trying to focus on what I was feeding my body. I try to stay healthy, so I would eat really healthy, and that really kept me going, it gave me the energy, and also, it trimmed me up nice, because I was deleting all the fatty foods and the carbs and the processed sugars like the candies that I love so much, which was the hardest thing to give up, like the gummi bears.”

We talked to Kellan further about how much we loved the Hercules cape. We asked him if he would wear one on the most socially acceptable time of the year to wear unconventional clothing, Halloween.

“Yeah, of course,” Lutz answers, “Look, that’s why I started my clothing line Abbot + Main, I lived down in Venice and there’s something angelic and fairylike and beautiful about the people down there and

"'HE's the 'MAN'"

the breeze that’s on Abbot Kinney, I’d sit there and I’m at my coffee shop and I’m watching women wear five layers of clothes, like long, drapey things just blowing in the wind and it’s beautiful.”

“It just gives you that elegance, so for me to wear a cape, I would love to do it,” he continues, “I would love that look and I’d own it. I’d probably just wear a cape and some jeans and you could just feel like a superhero.”

We talked about how being an action hero likes Hercules involves carrying a certain level of gravitas and making grand speeches. We asked Lutz if that’s in him to do so or does he have to focus to bring that out.

“No, it’s definitely in me,” Kellan says, “It does take some work when you are on horseback and you have a sword in your hand and you’re trying to lead an army in the ring and your horse is moving. You’re trying to take care of yourself and it’s freezing, so that’s why I’m glad we got to do ADR and I got to let my emotions come out and act behind it, while not focusing on having the horse flown over. I love Braveheart, I love Ben-Hur, and you get a lot of inspirational speeches out of those movies that I took on to my own. It was fun leading the men into battle.”

We asked Kellan if it was hard to keep Braveheart out of his head in his attempts to make his performances in The Legend Of Hercules his own.

“No, I try to use it,” Lutz replies, “I draw from stuff and I make it my own, but all that stuff is in the back of my head. It’s the tools in the chest, your little secret pocket to pull from, so you see how calm William Wallace was as he’s leading the charge and he pokes some fun, then he drives

"'HE's the 'MAN'"

it home. You got to paint the story and get your fellow comrades’ attention.”

We mentioned that there is talk about doing a film adaptation reboot of the 1980’s toys and cartoon Masters Of The Universe. We asked Lutz if that was something he could see himself doing if the opportunity arose.

“Yes, that’s another one of my heroes growing up,” Kellan says, “I would love to play He-Man. It was Tarzan, Hercules, and He-Man that were my fantasies that I would play as a young boy, and I got two of the three, and now He-Man. I would love to play He-Man. I really would.”