Part of USA Today article Move over, movie vampires: Werewolf pack is back talks a little about Chris Weitz’s thoughts on Taylor Lautner playing the role of Jacob Black:

“Director Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) picks up where Twilight’s Catherine Hardwicke left off on the production that starts shooting March 23. One of his first tasks on the sequel was deciding to keep Lautner, whose gangly Native American high-schooler in the first film transforms into a hulking giant over the course of the book series as he fulfills his tribe’s destiny.

“Taylor is a formidable guy, kind of a great tool in the toolbox,” Weitz says of the nearly 17-year-old actor who has been working out daily and has packed on 29 pounds, most of it muscle. “In the first movie, we did not see or recognize how dangerous a character he could be.”

As for Taylor himself, “he can kill me with his left pinky. But he is too nice to do that. There is something compelling and sexy about him. He captures the spirit of Jacob.”

Brandy from Bam’s Blog posted “Now that Taylor Lautner has been confirmed for “New Moon,” I went back to my notes from my interview with the young star from the “Twilight” junket last fall in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Lautner plays Jacob Black, pal of heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), in “Twilight.” In the second book, “New Moon,” Jacob begins turning into a werewolf. The transformation puts Bella between two loyalties: her boyfriend, Edward (Robert Pattinson) is a vampire, and vampires and werewolves are enemies.

Chris Weitz, who is directing the film version of “New Moon,” recently tapped Lautner for the sequel, after determining that the teen star would be convincing in the role. In “New Moon,” Jacob grows bigger and stronger as he transforms into werewolf. Lautner has been bulking up for months in preparation to play Jacob in the sequel.

“Jacob’s character gets so cool. It is so more in-depth in the rest of the series. When he turns into a werewolf it is like he has two separate personalities. When he’s himself he’s this nice outgoing guy and when he goes werewolf on you he’s super intense and Bella’s just blown away like ‘what is with this freak now,’” Lautner said in the interview.”

Read the full post here!

Here’s a great video of an interview with Edi Gathegi, Rachelle Lefevre, and Taylor Lautner on Access Hollywood.