Taylor Lautner was poised to be the next big thing when The Twilight Saga was at its peak…and
then he just wasn't. What went wrong?
Twilight hype died
Lautner's co-stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were clever with their careers.
While still attached to the franchise, they both starred in other films, like 2009's Adventureland
and 2011's Water For Elephants. As a result, the duo had an easier time transitioning to
other roles post-Twilight. Lautner, however, only had a bit part in 2010's Valentine's
Day to tide him over until the franchise was over. A source told The Hollywood Reporter:
"It's not easy to move out of the shadow of a hit like Twilight. But he's still very young.
There's time for Taylor to become more than just Jacob."
His first star vehicle bombed
Lautner was a marquee name in 2011's Abduction...but the movie didn't do well at all. The film
was critically panned, earning a measly Metascore of 25 and only scored four percent on Rotten
Tomatoes. That wouldn't be so bad if the box office numbers were better, but it only made
$28 million domestically. An agent told The Hollywood Reporter:
"His first movie just wasn't very good, and it didn't justify what he was asking for at
the time."
And on that note…
He's too expensive
Studios just don't see Lautner as being worth the money he thinks he deserves...and they
might be right. Lautner demanded $5 million for Abduction. When that bombed, studios could
no longer justify the whopping $10 million he asked for to star in the re-telling of
the Biblical story of David And Goliath, or the $7.5 million he asked for to star in Stretch
Armstrong.
Yes, that Stretch Armstrong:
"Help, we've been robbed!"
"Stop! Stop evildoers!"
"Introducing super-stretching super hero Stretch Armstrong!"
Both movies were shelved indefinitely. One source told Vulture:
"I remember when [Universal co-chairman] Donna Langley cast him in Stretch Armstrong, she
said to me, 'He's the real deal!' And I thought, 'Based on what?! Based on Twilight?'"
Ouch.
His acting isn't the best
For most stars, acting requires emoting—not just the removal of one's shirt. When Lautner
was expected to do the former instead of just the latter, well, things got difficult. The
reviews for Abduction weren't exactly merciful in their descriptions of Lautner's ability
(or lack thereof). Movieline wrote:
"This may be the first film I've seen where when an actor goes to put his hands thoughtfully
on his chin, it's so awkward I became afraid he'd somehow miss and poke himself in the
eye."
The Village Voice said Lautner "looks like a stranger in his own performance."
And Salon even went so far as to call Abduction:
"a fourth-rate Hollywood thriller that bungles a lot of thievery from better movies, is entirely
bereft of suspense or excitement and features a leading man who absolutely, positively cannot
act."
If Lautner were more skilled, Abduction's failures wouldn't have weighed so heavily
on his resume. But most critics agreed that while the film's story was flimsy, Lautner's
inability to convey any real emotion on screen was a huge part of the movie's problems.
No one bought his fauxmances
Lautner has had a lot of famous girlfriends with suspiciously convenient timing. He "dated"
Lily Collins when they were promoting Abduction in 2011. When that didn't generate quite enough
buzz, they made headlines when Us Weekly reported that they broke up a week before the premiere.
When he had a cameo in Grown Ups 2 in 2013, Life & Style noted that he was dating Maika
Monroe shortly before the movie hit theaters. He dated his co-star from 2015's Tracers,
Marie Avgeropoulos, but E! Online reports that they split a few months before the film
was released in theaters
Lautner's most famous flame was Taylor Swift, who he dated for a few months from late 2009
to 2010. What makes that pairing suspicious? Well, they broke up after their movie Valentine's
Day hit theaters in 2010, and he's the only ex that Swift apparently didn't write a bitterly
angry song about. In fact, the pair were actually friendly post-split, according to MTV News.
That's very unlike her, especially if the relationship was real. So...it probably wasn't.
Another hot werewolf replaced him
All three Twilight fans who were actually Team Jacob have moved on to other hot lycanthropes.
Dylan O'Brien stars in MTV's Teen Wolf series, and his acting chops are significantly better.
Additionally, O'Brien found success in an action franchise, starring in 2014's The Maze
Runner and its sequels. Everyone's probably all #TeamDylan these days...
How he can turn it around
Lautner has been making smart choices lately. Following the box office, if not critical,
success of Grown Ups 2 in 2013, Adam Sandler sought him out for his Netflix offering, 2015's
The Ridiculous 6. Since then, Lautner nabbed a recurring role in the BBC comedy Cuckoo,
where his comedic timing shines.
And although he’s really late to the party, he just joined Instagram, which is pretty
important these days. His first post featured cameos from Adam Sandler...
"Well whatever I decide on, would you do a cameo in my video?"
"I would but ya know the dog doesn't want me doin that kinda thing."
...and David Spade:
"Ok so it's simple, you just take your arm, and you just, Dab. Dab. That's all you gotta do."
"It's just not my thing."
"I'll give you Taylor Swift's cell phone number."
"So it's your right arm?"
Could Lautner's reinvention as a comic actor be in the making? If he can keep it up, he'll
be back on the big screen soon.
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