Take it off!

Twilight hunk Kellan Lutz holds no illusions about the nature of his stardom. “Producers and studios know what sells,” the impressively fit actor told UsMagazine.com during a Monday phone interview. “It’s nice to be one of the guys that can help sell a movie by taking his shirt off.”

Lutz, 25, recently topped Men’s Health magazine’s inaugural list of Best Summer Bodies — beating out such six-packed studs as Matthew McConaughey, Twilight costar Taylor Lautner, Zac Efron and others.

Still, Lutz told Us, “By no means do I want to be a piece of meat for the rest of my career. It’s funny when you get asked to do a talk show, and then they follow it up with requesting you take your shirt off.”

The star called Us from New Orleans on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina; working with charity the St. Bernard Project, Lutz helped build five houses in seven days for the still-recovering city.

“We were working around the clock at 50 hours at a time in different shifts,” Lutz marveled. “We got it done just in time. We had so many people come out and lend a helping hand. It was so touching. ”

Lutz’s girlfriend AnnaLynne McCord first introduced him to the St. Bernard Project. “She really educated me on the need down there,” Lutz told Us. “You don’t really grasp what is going on unless you are down there experiencing it.” (He also recently shot a romantic comedy, Love Wedding Marriage, with Mandy Moore, in the area.)

He’ll be back in Louisiana when Breaking Dawn begins filming in Baton Rouge. “I’m hoping to truck down and work with the St. Bernard Project [there] as well. Hopefully I’ll be bring some other cast members too.”

Cast members like…Robert Pattinson? “It would be a great surprise for everyone,” Lutz said, laughing. “Although I would have to take video of Rob trying to hammer a nail, he might hurt himself.”