Just because you’ve seen Taylor Lautner with his shirt off a thousand times doesn’t
mean you know him all that well.
How did he almost lose his most iconic role?
How has TikTok helped restart his career?
Here are all the details of Taylor Lautner’s stunning transformation.
Taylor Lautner was born to Deborah and Daniel Lautner on February 11, 1992 in Grand Rapids,
Michigan.
He grew up in the suburb of Hudsonville, alongside his younger sister, Makena.
The two remain close to this day.
His dad was a pilot and his mom worked for a software company.
He had a happy and peaceful childhood, though he did reveal to MLive that his house burned
down when he was just four years old.
Luckily, no one was injured in the blaze.
According to Rolling Stone, Lautner attended Catholic church as a child, and his parents
instilled in him a strong work ethic.
As a result, he spent much of his childhood playing football and baseball.
However, karate was his primary athletic focus growing up.
Lautner began participating in martial arts when he was just six years old.
By the time he turned seven, MMA Underground reports that he took first place in three
events at his first national tournament.
In a 2018 interview on the Jonathan Ross Show, Lautner shared the heights of his accomplishments
in the sport.
"I became a black belt at the age of 10.
And then, when I stopped doing it at 14 I was a four-time world champion."
Lautner says that his coach, Mike Chaturantabut, encouraged him to give acting a shot, and
even offered the Lautner family a place to stay in Los Angeles while he went to auditions.
Chaturantabut truly believed in Lautner from the beginning, and when his pupil achieved
success in films, he assured Rolling Stone that Lautner had trained extremely hard to
attain his skills in martial arts and acting.
At the very beginning of his career, Lautner mostly won minor roles in commercials and
on sitcom television shows such as The Bernie Mac Show and My Wife and Kids.
He also performed voiceover work on childhood favorites Danny Phantom and What's New, Scooby-Doo?
Unfortunately for Lautner, as his acting career progressed, he became subject to bullying
at school.
He told Rolling Stone,
"When I was in school, there was a little bullying going on.
Not physical bullying but people making fun of what I do [...] I just had to tell myself
I can't let this get to me.
This is what I love to do.
And I'm going to continue doing it."
After a string of minor roles, Lautner got his first big break as one of the titular
characters in 2005's The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.
Directed by Spy Kids director Robert Rodriguez, the film allowed Lautner to show off his martial
arts skills in its various fight sequences, though Rodriguez only learned of the young
star's athletic prowess after he'd already been cast.
A young Lautner told Access Hollywood that he was so excited he lost sleep after booking
the job.
He felt optimistic that a film by someone as accomplished as Rodriguez would do well
at the box office, and went on to say he hoped to take on some more dramatic roles in the
years to come.
Despite all his enthusiasm, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl wasn't the career
boon Lautner hoped it would be.
Box Office Mojo reports that the film didn't perform very well in theaters.
Thankfully, Lautner's feature debut's reception would not impede his career for long.
Though Lautner had a few roles after Sharkboy, none would skyrocket him to worldwide fame
until the iconic fantasy romance Twilight came along.
He recalled to MLive that his agent first told him that the role of Jacob Black, protagonist
Bella Swan's best friend, was available.
Still, Lautner didn't grasp how much of a phenomenon the movie would become until he
was already in the casting process.
When he finally got wind of excitement surrounding the upcoming film, he wanted the role even
more.
Lautner told Rolling Stone that no one involved in the film realized how successful it would
become.
While people would tell Lautner and his co-stars they expected Twilight to be a hit, It wasn't
until the movie came out that Lautner realized how big it was actually going to be.
According to Box Office Mojo, Twilight made more than $400 million worldwide, and Lautner
became a globally-recognized actor as a result.
While the first Twilight movie was an overnight success, the real vampire-werewolf-mania didn't
begin until the sequels were released — and Lautner nearly missed out.
In New Moon, the second installment of the Twilight saga, Jacob Black gains insane muscle
mass due to his transformation as a werewolf.
There were reportedly initial doubts that Lautner could physically transform the way
his character needed.
Ashley Greene, who portrayed vampire Alice Cullen in the films, explained on her podcast
that pretty much all the film's stars could have been replaced at that point in the franchise.
While she's unsure of whether or not they had an alternative actor lined up for the
part of Jacob, he confirmed that the filmmakers did express doubts regarding his ability to
bulk up.
Lautner managed to prove everyone wrong.
According to Rolling Stone, he secured his job by drinking protein shakes, eating a lot,
and training for several months to put on 20 pounds of muscle.
His transformation was so profound, even Bella Swan was impressed.
"Hello, biceps.
You know, anabolic steroids are really bad for you."
When he emerged, he undoubtedly looked the part of a super buff werewolf.
Reflecting on what it was like while is job security was still up in the air, Lautner
told MTV,
"Honestly, if I would have let myself get to that darkest moment, it wouldn't have been
good.
So I tried to focus on what I could control the whole time and not let whatever was going
on outside get to me.
And that's what I did."
With the increasing success of the subsequent Twilight movies, Taylor Lautner's popularity
only continued to rise.
He won the People's Choice Award for Best Breakout Movie Actor in 2010 and hosted an
episode of Saturday Night Live.
He was ranked No. 2 on Glamour U.K.'s Sexiest Men of 2010 list.
losing the top spot to his Twilight co-star and on-screen rival, Robert Pattinson.
The public could not get enough of Lautner, and the paparazzi and fans alike constantly
followed him.
He's told some interesting fan stories throughout the years.
For example, he told Jay Leno a woman asked him to sign her underwear.
He also told Reuters another fan got his signature tattooed on her arm.
Lautner also acted in other projects in between his stints as a werewolf.
He starred in 2010's Valentine's Day and 2011's Abduction, the former of which saw him playing
opposite his real-life girlfriend at the time, Taylor Swift.
By then, Lautner was a globally recognized household name.
After the Twilight hype died down, Taylor Lautner did his best to keep a low profile.
The extreme level of fame that he achieved seemingly overnight was overwhelming to the
young actor.
Hordes of screaming fans would follow him everywhere he went.
He told Today that he didn't go to a movie theater, mall, or grocery store for 10 years
to avoid being recognized.
Even if he did leave the house, he'd need to wear a hat and sunglasses in hopes of not
being harassed.
In the same interview, he also reflected on the fickle nature of fame.
Lautner observed that in the height of his popularity, he felt stressed because he wanted
to live a peaceful life day-to-day.
However, when the public's obsession with him died down, he began to feel insecure and
second guessing whether he still mattered to the world at large.
"You start to question yourself, and start to be like, 'Oh, do people not care about
me anymore?'"
After the Twilight movies wrapped, Taylor Lautner continued to act, mostly in smaller-budget
films like Tracers and Run the Tide.
He also appeared in two movies for Adam Sandler's production company, Happy Madison: Grown Ups
2 and The Ridiculous 6.
"Gol dang, he fell down his pooper!"
He also joined the cast of Scream Queens for its second season, playing Dr. Cassidy Cascade.
He also held a recurring role on the BBC sitcom Cuckoo.
After the series wrapped, Lautner took a long break from acting and wouldn't be seen on
screen again for a few years.
Upon returning from his hiatus, he told Today that he feels a lot better acting again.
In 2020, Netflix released We Can Be Heroes, a spin-off of The Adventures of Sharkboy and
Lavagirl directed by Robert Rodriguez.
Fans of the original film were excited that the OG Lavagirl, Taylor Dooley, would be returning.
However, they were disappointed that Taylor Lautner was being replaced.
When asked why he decided not to reprise his debut film role, he told Screen Rant,
"You know, it just was during a point in my life where I took a step back [...] to focus
on things that were important in my life, and that was my family and my friends and
my fiance."
In a later interview with Decider, Rodriguez explained that he did let Lautner know about
the spinoff while it was in the works.
However, Sharkboy is not the focus of the film.
In fact, his character doesn't have any lines and his face is covered by a mask the entire
time.
Rodriguez was concerned that, if Lautner was in the film, these factors might look like
an insult toward the actor.
In 2021, Taylor Lautner and his girlfriend of three years, Taylor Dome, got engaged.
The proposal was elaborate and romantic, and, according to Access, Dome was said to be so
overcome with emotion that she reportedly couldn't speak.
Lautner explained that Dome had initially requested a simple proposal, but he still
got creative with the tools that he had.
While he popped the question in their kitchen, he took a simple gesture to the next level
by including flowers, candles, and a neon sign asking for her hand in marriage.
As for the whole having-the-same-name thing?
Lautner has joked to several outlets that marrying someone who shares his first name
was in his own self interest.
"I'm so narcissistic, that I wanted to marry somebody so I could just call them Taylor
Lautner."
While Lautner acknowledges that having the same first and last name will get complicated,
the appreciation the couple displayed for one another on social media seems like it
will be worth the confusion.
The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in the "Twilight Renaissance," a resurgence of the fandom's
love for everything Twilight.
The resurrection of Twilight can be seen on TikTok, where one of Taylor Lautner's lines
as Jacob became a meme:
"Bella, where the hell have you been, loca?"
Lautner even stopped by The Tonight Show to recreate the scene with host Jimmy Fallon.
Lautner reflected on the renewal of Twilight's popularity during a January 2022 interview
with ET Online.
He explained that, until recently, most of the fans that would reach out to Lautner were
TwiMoms, the now-grown-up generation of original Twilight fans.
He told People that more recently, a younger generation of Twilight fans have emerged,
and he's once again being stopped by teenagers in the streets.
Luckily, it seems that Lautner is now in a more comfortable place regarding his fame
and public recognition.
Taylor Lautner's years-long break from acting ended when he returned to the screen for the
Netflix comedy Home Team, starring alongside Kevin James.
The film is based on the true story of NFL coach Sean Payton's one-year suspension for
his role in the 2012 "Bountygate" scandal, during which he assisted in coaching his son's
middle-school football team.
Lautner plays the 6th-grade team's coach, Troy Lambert.
The role was a perfect fit for Lautner, given his love of football and his real-life friendship
with Payton.
Lautner told Decider he really enjoyed the process of filming the movie, as he knew his
costars and the people the film was about quite well.
Lautner also expressed to ComingSoon.net that joining the Home Team cast was an easy decision,
as he loves working with Adam Sandler and the Happy Madison team.
He enjoys the production company so much, he even stated,
"I'll say yes to a Happy Madison project for the rest of my life."
He also added that working with the kids who portrayed his character's team was a fun experience.
He felt sympathy and nostalgia for the time when he was in their shoes as a young actor
and athlete, and was excited to befriend and collaborate with the next generation
He enjoys leisure and dogs
Lautner has been enjoying what appears to be a far more low-key lifestyle since his
werewolf days have ended, and now he has a fiancee and two dogs to enjoy it with.
During a brief interview at the 2022 CMT Awards, Lautner noted that his favorite ways to spend
his free time include hanging out with his fiancee and friends.
On their respective Instagram pages, Lautner and Dome can often be seen hanging out at
concerts, games, on the beach, and around their house.
and even at country music events like the 2022 CMT Awards, where Lautner presented an
award.
Fans will be happy to see this former teen heartthrob is no longer feeling the pressures
of Hollywood, and is apparently living his best life!
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