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Lutz fired up in sci-fi thriller

In his 11-year career Twilight star Kellan Lutz has played Hercules and worked with Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harrison Ford.

But he’d never experienced anything like the highs- and challenges- of collaborating with director Shane Abbess in the futuristic sci-fi thriller SFv1.

Lutz plays Sy, a former nurse who is now a drifter with a haunted past. Sy forms an unlikely alliance with Kane (Daniel MacPherson), a lieutenant who works for off-­world military contractor Exor. In a race against time they set out to rescue Kane’s young daughter Indi (Teagan Croft) amid an impending global crisis precipitated by Exor.

“This is completely different from anything I’ve ever done; it has so much heart,” the US actor tells IF from the set in Sydney.

“I had never been part of a movie that was so emotional, with so much stress and trauma. But it’s been an unbelievable new experience. Shane is a brilliant storyteller with a strong vision who allows his actors to create their own characters.

“There is less and less risk-taking among filmmakers these days. Shane wants to create films with real substance. As the characters were originally written Sy was the angry, crazy one and Kane was easy going. As filming went on so much changed, for the better."

Lutz first met Abbess in Los Angeles five years ago when the director was developing The 7th Day, a sci-fi film set in a spaceship, with Source Code writer Ben Ripley. (Abbess was set to direct Source Code but departed after creative differences with Jake Gyllenhaal and Duncan Jones was hired).The director wanted Lutz to play the lead. That project has yet to materialize but Lutz is still keen.

The actor is grateful that playing Emmet Cullen in the Twilight franchise opened many doors for him, although he says modestly, “I was a small cog in the machine.”

His credits include Patrick Hughes' The Expendables 3 alongside Sylvester Stallone, Statham et al, playing the title role in Renny Harlin’s The Legend of Hercules and a young William Shatner in Michael Almereyda’s Experimenter.

The Legend of Hercules flamed out at the box-office, prompting him to conclude, “I wish we had spent a bit more time on the story and used some of the scenes that didn’t make the final cut.”

In Steven C. Miller’s upcoming Lionsgate actioner Extraction he plays Bruce Willis’s son, who launches a rescue operation when his CIA operative father is kidnapped by a group of terrorists.

He also hosts the action stunt game show Bullseye for the Fox Network, which has been renewed for a second season.

When SFv1 is released he is willing to bet audiences will experience so many “oh my God moments,” many will want to watch it again.