The Host Director Reveals How Film Is Different From Twilight: "No Guy Takes His Shirt Off!"

Hunky Jake Abel explains why he remains fully clothed and the promise he made to Stephenie Meyer about a sequel

By John Boone Mar 20, 2013 6:51 PMTags
Jake Abel, Stephenie Meyer, Max Irons Todd Williamson/Invision/AP

Stephenie Meyer's latest movie, The Host, is no Twilight 2.0. For one, "I can tell you, I don't think this is giving anything away, that no guy takes his shirt off," director Andrew Niccol revealed to us last night at the film's premiere when we asked what makes the two films different.

So sorry, ladies and gents, but if you were expecting hunky Max Irons and Jake Abel to fill the half-naked void left by Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner (respectively), you will be sorely disappointed.

But don't jump (space)ship just yet: "There's a lot of romance. You can do it without that!" Niccol assured us about his alien flick. Plus, the lack of shirtlessness isn't totally his fault.

"Here's the thing, I said I would take my shirt off if it was written in a scene that made sense," Jake Abel explained to us. "And the scene that it was supposed to be in, it was just weird. It was like, I'm threshing wheat, I stop, look at her and take my shirt off because I'm hot all of a sudden, then go back to threshing wheat. It didn't work, so we didn't do it."

Somewhere, Taylor Lautner is suddenly realizing he didn't have to angrily rip off his shirt when he received Bella's wedding invite in Breaking Dawn (hindsight is 20/20, dude!). But Jake might be losing his shirt sooner rather than later:

He continued with a laugh, "I think I promised Stephenie that if we get a sequel, I have to do it, no matter what—which I instantly regret."

On the subject of those sequels, Niccol told us he wants to avoid the Twilight trend of switching directors every film: "I'd love to be involved in the sequel...It's supposed to be a trilogy. But Stephenie needs to start writing these books!"

For the record, Stephenie told reporters she is currently at work writing the second installment but isn't positive yet if the series will be a trilogy. Cross your fingers though, because we assume there will be even more shirtlessness if we get three films!