Name | Taylor Lautner |
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Caption | Lautner at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2009. |
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Birthname | Taylor Daniel Lautner |
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Birthdate | February 11, 1992 |
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Birthplace | Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. |
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Yearsactive | 2001–present |
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Occupation | Actor, voice actor, model |
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Religion | Catholic |
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Signature | Taylor Lautner signature.svg90px |
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Taylor Daniel Lautner (born February 11, 1992) is an American actor, voice actor, model, and martial artist. As a child, Lautner took up martial arts and was ranked number one in his category by the American Sports Karate Association. Lautner soon thereafter began his acting career, appearing in bit roles in comedy series such as The Bernie Mac Show (2003) and My Wife and Kids (2004), before having voice roles in television series like What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2005) and Danny Phantom (2005). In 2005, he appeared in the film, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, and starred in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D.
Lautner got his big break when he was cast as Jacob Black in the The Twilight Saga film series, beginning with the first film, Twilight (2008). Lautner returned for the following two movies, (2009) and (2010), and is set to appear in the last two films for the series, . Lautner has been nominated for several awards for his work in the Twilight series, including honors at the MTV Movie Awards, People's Choice Awards, and Scream Awards.
The late 2000s saw Lautner become a teen idol and rise as a sex symbol, after extensively changing his physique to keep the role of Jacob Black in further Twilight installments, and thereafter generating media attention for his good looks. In 2010, he was ranked second on Glamour's "The 50 Sexiest Men of 2010" list, and fourth on People's "Most Amazing Bodies" list, among other honors. As of 2010, Lautner was considered the highest-paid teenage actor in Hollywood.
Early life
Lautner was born on February 11, 1992 in
Grand Rapids, Michigan to Deborah and Daniel Lautner. He has one younger sister named Makena. Raised as a
Roman Catholic, A year later, he attended his national karate tournament in
Louisville, Kentucky, where he met Mike Chat, the founder of
extreme martial arts. Chat invited Lautner to a camp he held at
University of California, Los Angeles. Lautner trained with Chat for several years, earning his black belt by the age of eight, and winning several junior world championships. By the age of eleven, Lautner was ranked number one in his category by the American Sports Karate Association. He appeared in an
ISKA karate event televised on
ESPN in 2003 that was later lampooned on the sports-comedy show
Cheap Seats that first aired in 2006. For a few years, the Lautners flew from Michigan to Los Angeles for auditions when his talent agency called, and returned to Grand Rapids for school sometimes the same day. Lautner balanced karate and acting with being on the football and baseball teams at his school, and taking up
jazz and
hip-hop dance. After that became tiring, Lautner and his family decided to move to California for a month, to try it out, before moving to
Santa Clarita, California permanently in 2002.
Career
2001–07: Early career
In his first months after moving to Los Angeles, Lautner appeared in small television roles, small film roles, and ads and commercials. In 2001, Lautner first appeared in the made-for-television film,
Shadow Fury. He then got a voice-over job in a commercial for
Rugrats Go Wild. He then appeared in small television parts on
The Bernie Mac Show,
My Wife and Kids, and
Summerland. Lautner then earned voice-over roles in animated series such as
Danny Phantom,
Duck Dodgers, and
What's New, Scooby-Doo?. In 2005, he had a role as Elliot Murtaugh in the comedy film
Cheaper by the Dozen 2. The same year, he earned his first breakout role, starring in the film,
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D . Lautner spent three months on location in
Austin, Texas to film the movie, which was received with negative reviews from critics, and was a minor international success. However, Lautner was nominated at the
2006 Young Artist Awards for Best Performance in a Feature Film by a Leading Actor. Months later, he was cast as Eliot Murtaugh in
Cheaper by the Dozen 2, which was panned by critics, being named one of the "Worst Films of the 2000s" by
Rotten Tomatoes. In 2008 he appeared in the show
Love Inc. and the TV special
He's a Bully, Charlie Brown. Two years Later, Lautner appeared in a lead role in the short-lived NBC drama,
My Own Worst Enemy, portraying
Christian Slater's son, Jack Spivey.
2008–09: Breakthrough and The Twilight Series
In 2007, filmmakers began a search for actors to portray
Jacob Black, a
Native-American friend of lead character
Bella Swan in
Twilight, the first film in the
The Twilight Saga film series. In January 2008, an open casting call was held in
Portland, Oregon. Lautner had not heard of the
Twilight series before, but was urged by his agent to audition. At his audition, he read lines with
Kristen Stewart, who had already been cast as Bella, and they acted out scenes from
and
. The film was a commercial success, earning $69 million its opening weekend, and has grossed $392 million worldwide. It received mixed reviews from critics, having a "Rotten" rating with a
weighted average of 5.5/10. On
Metacritic, which assigns a
weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, it has an average score of 56 from the 37 reviews. In an attempt to keep the role, Lautner weight-trained extensively and gained approximately 30 pounds of muscle. In an interview, fellow cast member Kristen Stewart talked about Lautner's transformation saying, "He's an entirely different person physically." Co-star Robert Pattinson said after seeing Lautner's body, "I saw him and thought 'Jesus, I'm going to get fired." The commercial performance of the film outpaced the first film, setting several box office records including the biggest midnight opening in the United States and Canada and the biggest single-day opening.
Although it began after the release of the first film, upon release of New Moon, Lautner and his co-stars Stewart and Pattinson transitioned to teen idol status, with Lautner particularly admired by teens for his new physical characteristics, becoming a sex symbol. The trio appeared on many covers and televised appearances together. Lautner won "Best Fantasy Actor" at the 2010 Scream Awards, and he is nominated for "Favorite Movie Actor" for his role in Eclipse at the 37th People's Choice Awards, and "Best Fantasy Actor" at the 2010 Scream Awards. One of the better offers was the lead in a movie about Stretch Armstrong and a hostage thriller, Cancun. These films and a Bourne Identity-esque spy film with Lily Collins entitled Abduction, as well as the remaining films in the Twilight series, , are anticipated to be released over a two-year period from 2011-2012.
As of 2010, Lautner was considered to be the highest-paid teen actor in Hollywood. According to Mickey Rapkin of GQ, the use of Lautner's physique in films has been compared to Megan Fox in her work. After his massive physical change following Twilight, Lautner became a tabloid teen idol with his co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Lautner, determined to stay in the series, worked out every day and gained over 30 pounds of muscle in order to bulk up the role of Jacob Black for the remaining films in the The Twilight Saga. Michelle Lanz of MSN Wonderwall said that Lautner's change may have saved his career. Lautner's abs in particular have been subject to media attention, with The Wrap stating that companies bidding for the actor in movies in 2011 would "shell out for the young actor's much-on-display though mostly untried abs." Mickey Rapkin of GQ said, "the film's marketing issues were solved when Lautner's "abdominal muscles became New Moon's main talking point, not to mention his calling card." Hartinger said the magazine reached an "new low" and did not have common decency, noting that there was not a line between "child and adult" although Lautner was in adult-like roles.
Lautner has stated that he doesn't want to be just known for his looks, as some have attributed his popularity to that and not his actual acting skill. In an interview, the actor revealed that he was originally supposed to have a baring scene in the movie
Valentine's Day. He stated, "The script said we were walking into school and Willy takes off his shirt. I said, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa. Time out. He's gonna take off his shirt in the middle of school? No, no, no. The reason I took off my shirt for
New Moon is because it's written in the book that way. And there's reasons behind it." Lautner later said he would not bare his chest for any role that did not call for it. In June 2010, Lautner covered
GQ magazine. The actor was lampooned in conservative writer
Laura Ingraham's
satirical The Obama Diaries, commenting to have Lautner as a mascot for the
White House Easter Egg Roll, to fit their health-conscious theme, and have Lautner don a furry bunny head and appear shirtless. He commented, "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." Lautner has an intricate workout plan, which was covered by
Men's Health, and has a specific diet after developing his body for
. In addition, he still practices and trains in
martial arts regularly. He has stated that he is drug and alcohol free.
Lautner resides in Valencia, California with his parents and younger sister. The actor also stated that he enjoys the small-town feel in Valencia, which is a planned community of Santa Clarita, California, in Los Angeles County, where Mitchel Musso and Ashley Tisdale also reside. Although it only cuts down on a few, Lautner has stated he prefers living in the town because it is not as paparazzi-heavy. Lautner has said that he has never thought of moving out on his own yet, stating, "The thing I love is that my home life hasn't changed. I still help out with the garbage. I still help out with the lawn." He owns a BMW 5 series, which have tinted windows for obscurity.
In 2009, Lautner was linked romantically to American country pop singer Taylor Swift and American actress and pop singer Selena Gomez. Between April and May 2009, Lautner was rumored to be in a relationship with Gomez after they were spotted numerous times together, however nothing was confirmed. It was revealed that they broke up in December 2009, with sources citing lack of chemistry and deciding they were better friends. Other sources said that Lautner was more interested than Swift, and others said that the romance was overblown and not serious from the start. The first time Swift has apologized in a song, she said it was about a person who deserved the song, further commenting, "This is about a person who was incredible to me, just perfect to me in a relationship, and I was really careless with him." Media pointed out the song had blatant references to Lautner, with Swift referring to her former significant other as tanned skinned, with a "sweet smile."
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 2001
| Shadow Fury
| Young Kismet
| Small role
|-
|rowspan="2"|2005
|
| Sharkboy
| Main role, Young Artist Awards nomination.
|-
|Cheaper by the Dozen 2
| Elliot Murtaugh
|Sequel
|-
| 2008 || Twilight || rowspan="2"|Jacob Black || People's Choice Awards, Scream Awards, MTV Movie Awards, and Teen Choice Awards nominations
|-
| 2009 ||
| Kids' Choice Awards and Young Artist Award nominationsGolden Raspberry Awards nomination for Worst Couple
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2010 || ''Valentine's Day || Willy Harrinton || Part of ensemble cast. MTV Movie Awards nomination for Best Kiss
|-
|
| Jacob Black
| Scream Awards, People's Choice, and Teen Choice Awards nomination
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2011 || Abduction || Nathan || Lead role, post-production
|-
|
| rowspan="2"|Jacob Black
| rowspan="2"|Two-part film, filming
|-
| 2012
|
|}
Television
References
External links
Category:1992 births
Category:Living people
Category:Actors from California
Category:Actors from Michigan
Category:American child actors
Category:American film actors
Category:American karateka
Category:American television actors
Category:American people of Dutch descent
Category:American people of French descent
Category:American people of German descent
Category:Native American actors
Category:People from Grand Rapids, Michigan
Category:People from Los Angeles County, California
Category:People from Ottawa County, Michigan