'Twilight' star Kellan Lutz relied on faith after daughter's death: ‘She’s up in heaven’
"Twilight" star Kellan Lutz opened up to Fox News Digital about why his faith is so important to him and how it helped him overcome the incredible loss of his daughter.
For Kellan Lutz, it’s simple: "My faith is everything."
"I don't know how people who don't believe in something can have hope in anything," he told Fox News Digital.
"When you lose your job, when COVID hit, when people die, when there's no work to be found, it's depressing," he continued.
Lutz gave examples – dealing with the actors’ strike, or not being able to visit his COVID-stricken grandfather in the hospital – as things out of his control when he focuses on getting through with his beliefs.
"So it's one of the things where my faith is everything. It's the top," he explained.
Lutz and his wife, Brittany Lutz, have been married for six years and, in 2020, faced the heartbreaking loss of their daughter six months into the pregnancy.
WATCH: ‘Twilight’ star Kellan Lutz explains why his faith is ‘everything’
The 38-year-old said the loss "was so confusing" but with a support system and his faith, he and the family were able to grieve the stillbirth the best they could.
"It still is hard when the dates come around, but I know in my heart that she's up in heaven," he said. "We named her, and I can't wait to see her. So that's the hope. We're here on Earth for a finite period of time. And up there, I'm going to be so joyful and so down here, I can be joy-filled knowing that. And that's what keeps us going."
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
He added, "I'm so grateful that my wife and I believe the same thing. We [know] a lot of other couples who don't believe the same thing. And I'm like, ‘That's tough,’ especially if someone doesn't believe in something and the other person does, because how do you say, ‘Hey, it's going to be OK’ when that person doesn't believe it's going to be OK?"
The couple welcomed two more children into their lives, daughter Ashtyn in 2021 and son Kasen last August.
Fatherhood and feeling protective of his family played a key role in his latest film, "Due Justice." In the movie, Lutz plays a Marine seeking retribution after his wife is murdered, and his daughter is kidnapped by a violent gang.
Lutz joked he’s played a Marine in "quite a few projects" but to prepare for the role he turned to another protective onscreen dad: Liam Neeson’s character in "Taken."
LIAM NEESON 'RETRIBUTION' ACTION HERO ROLE LATEST IN STORIED CAREER MARKED BY LOVE AND LOSS
"This is pretty much my ‘Taken’ movie. And I love Liam Neeson. I love those movies," he said. "He is just an icon with [the] ‘Let's go rescue the family after they've been taken, one, two, three, four, five, 10 million times’ [genre]."
He added he enjoyed filming in Seattle with the crew and director, Javier Reyna.
WATCH: Kellan Lutz on the inspiration behind his role in ‘Due Justice’
"It's an all-in-one package of enjoyment for me when I get to do these action movies," Lutz said.
The "FBI" star noted his character doesn’t hold back, saying, "There's not my typical long, minute fight scene, two-minute fight scenes. It's just that, ‘Hey, you harm my family. I'm going to end your life.’"
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
As a father, getting into the character was easy, but also a struggle to deal with the movie’s darker themes.
"It’s so disturbing. But this happens, and it happens to people, and it's just so tragic," Lutz said. "And like, I have a daughter, right? And just getting there in the character, when we shoot those emotional scenes, you can't help but get that churning in your stomach of like, ‘What if this happened?’ And it helps you really, really get there. But then it's also really kind of hard to come back to reality. You need to make sure you have an anchor and then get yourself out of it as soon as you can."
For Lutz, that anchor is his family and his wife, who he does weekly check-ins with.
"We have Sunday meetings where we sit down and talk about the week and talk about, more so now with the kids, like what can we do better in this season? Because your children are always growing. So there's different seasons in life, and we do things differently," he explained.
The actor’s career can take a toll on raising two kids under 2, especially when he has to travel for work.
"It’s the hardest thing… I go away to do movies and then my wife gets in such an amazing routine with the kids.… And then I'm doing my thing. I'm shining on being a light on set and doing what God called me to do. And then I come home, or I come back for 24 hours because I fly back on my day off, and it kind of throws her out of whack."
He continued, "She loves it, but it also messes up what takes a couple of days to form. And so, I think that's the hardest thing. But it's again, she wouldn't change it for the world. And I want to see my kids. And she loves having me there."
"Due Justice" is currently available in theaters and on demand and digital.