A breakthrough role, also known as breakout role,^[1] is a term in the film industry to describe the performance of an actor or actress in a film which contributed significantly to the development of their career. It may not always refer to a film debut, but a film which may have had some mainstream success that resulted in the widespread recognition or popularity of the actor. Such a moment in an actor's career may often occur some time after they begin acting. Often a breakthrough role is a significant increase in importance in the actor's part in the film moving up from a minor character or extra to one of the leading cast.

Most of the top actors and actresses in Hollywood or in the world film industry can pinpoint such a landmark which marked the beginning of commercial success.

For example, the Dollars trilogy marked the breakthrough role of Clint Eastwood and Dr. No in 1962 marked the moment in Sean Connery's career despite both actors having appeared in several films prior to this. For John Wayne, the breakthrough role of his career was The Big Trail in 1930. Another example is the 2007 film Transformers (film) which marked the breakout role for actress Megan Fox - enabling her to grow from being a co-star to a lead role in the 2009 film Jennifer's Body.

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Alan Cumming
Cumming during the 2011 Fashion Week
Born	(1965-01-27) 27 January 1965 (age 47) Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, writer
Years active	1980–present
Spouse	Hilary Lyon (1985–1993) Grant Shaffer (2007–present)
Website
http://www.alancumming.com

Alan Cumming, OBE (born 27 January 1965), is a British stage, television and film actor, singer, writer, director, producer and author. His roles have included the Emcee in Cabaret, Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, Mr. Elton in Emma, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids films. He has also appeared in independent films like The Anniversary Party, which he co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in; and Ali Selim's Sweet Land, for which he won an Independent Spirit award as producer.

His London stage appearances include Hamlet, the Maniac in Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist, for which he received an Olivier Award, the lead in Martin Sherman's Bent, and as Dionysus in The National Theatre of Scotland's The Bacchae. On Broadway he has appeared as Mac the Knife in The Threepenny Opera, the Emcee in Cabaret, for which he won the Tony in 1998, and Design for Living. Cumming also introduces Masterpiece Mystery! for PBS. He currently appears as Eli Gold on The Good Wife, for which he has been nominated for two Emmys, two SAGs^{[disambiguation needed ]}, a Satellite Award and Critics' Circle Award.

He has also written a novel, Tommy's Tale, had a cable talk show (Eavesdropping with Alan Cumming) and produced a line of perfumed products labelled "Cumming". He has contributed opinion pieces to many publications and performed a cabaret show I Bought A Blue Car Today. Retaining his British citizenship, Cumming became a naturalized U.S. citizen on November 7, 2008.

As of the 25th of May 2012, he will be returning to live in Scotland so as to be eligible to vote in the Scottish referendum on independence, scheduled for 2014.

Early life[link]

Cumming was born in Aberfeldy, in Perthshire, Scotland, the son of Mary (née Darling), an insurance company secretary, and Alex Cumming, a forester. He has stated that his father was physically and emotionally abusive towards him.^[1][2] He has one older brother, Tom, and a niece and two nephews. Brought up in Angus, Cumming attended Monikie Primary School and Carnoustie High School. Following graduation, he spent a year and a half employed as an editor and columnist for the pop and TV magazine TOPS before entering the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. On graduation from Drama school he married fellow student, Hilary Lyon; they divorced eight years later and had no children.

Film[link]

Cumming made his film debut in Gillies MacKinnon's Passing Glory in 1986. His feature film debut came in 1992 when he starred alongside Sandrine Bonnaire and Bruno Ganz in Ian Sellar's Prague, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and earned him the BestActor award at the Atlantic Film Festival and a Scottish BAFTA Best Actor nomination. American audiences first saw him playing the oleaginous Sean Walsh, an unwanted suitor of Minnie Driver's character, in Circle of Friends, an Irish film released in 1995. Also in 1995 he played Boris Ivanovich Grishenko in the James Bond film GoldenEye.

In the US[link]

His first movie in The United States was Romy and Michele's High School Reunion playing Sandy Frink opposite Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino. Cumming co-wrote, co-directed, co-produced, and co-starred in the ensemble film The Anniversary Party with friend and former Cabaret co-star Jennifer Jason Leigh, in 2001.^[3] The two starred in the movie as a Hollywood couple. The film premiered at Cannes and garnered two Independent Spirit nominations and a National Board of Review award. He went on to star in and direct Suffering Man's Charity, later released as Ghost Writer.

He had prominent roles in the Spy Kids trilogy, X-Men 2 (as Nightcrawler), Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and played Saturninus in the 1999 Julie Taymor film production of Titus. His many other films include Investigating Sex, Josie and the Pussycats, Emma, Get Carter, Plunkett and Macleane, Son of the Mask, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, Full Grown Men, Spice World, Burlesque, The Tempest, Boogie Woogie and the animated films Garfield, Jackboots on Whitehall and The Smurfs.

Earlier in his career, Cumming also directed two short films, Butter and Burn Your Phone. The latter began its life as a one-off drama on BBC Radio 4. He continues to direct short films and video pieces.

Television[link]

United Kingdom[link]

In the mid-1980s Cumming made his TV debut in the Scottish Television seriesTaggart. He went onto star in STV's Shadow of the Stone and as Jim Hunter, an evil woodcutter, in the Scottish soap operaTake The High Road. He also appeared as the Angel in the lyrical Channel 4 series Heavenly.

His breakthrough role was as Bernard Bottle in the Christmas 1991 BBC comedy Bernard and the Genie, a Richard Curtis-scripted film in which he starred alongside Lenny Henry and Rowan Atkinson. Cumming went on to star as flight attendant Sebastian Flight in the BBC2 cult airline sitcom The High Life in 1995. The series was written by Cumming and co-star Forbes Masson, continuing an acting-writing partnership the two had developed since their drama school days. Masson and Cumming had previously formed a cult Kelvinside musical double act "Victor and Barry", who later made many shows and appearances for STV. They performed regularly at the Edinburgh Festival and appeared in the Perrier Pick of the Fringe season at the Donmar Warehouse in 1988, toured Australia in 1989 playing the Sydney Opera House, released a record ("Hear Victor and Barry and Faint") but were killed off onstage at the London Palladium in the early 1990s.

Cumming returned to British TV screens in 2011 to star as Desrae, a transvestite, on the Sky series The Runaway.

He has also made several documentaries: My Brilliant Britain, about Scottish humour, The Real Cabaret in which he investigated the Weimar cabaret artistes and the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are in which he discovered his maternal grandfather was a war hero who had died playing Russian roulette.

United States[link]

Alan Cumming performing at the benefit concert for the Ali Forney Center (2010).

Cumming has guested on several US TV shows: In 2001, he appeared in the HBO comedy Sex and the City as O the designer in the episode, 'The Real Me'. 2003 saw him playing a cameo role in the sitcom Frasier, playing Niles' yoga instructor. He also guest starred on 3rd Rock from the Sun.

In 2004, he shot Showtime's Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical in which he played the role of The Lecturer – a versatile character who narrates the story and transforms himself into several other minor characters. He also appeared in the TV films Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl, the Disney remake of Annie. Cumming played the role of Bill Blaikie, a gay drag queen party promoter hired by Kit Porter to manage her café cum nightclub, in season 3 of The L Word. His character had an affair with Max, a transgender male character in the show. He appeared in episodes 2 to 7, which originally aired on Showtime in 2006.

In 2007, Cumming played Glitch/Ambrose, an inventor whose brain had been partially removed, in the TV miniseries, Tin Man. He also provided the voice of Chuck Masters, a 50 year-old, paralyzed, HIV-positive gay man in Logo's Rick and Steve, a stop animation sitcom created by Q. Allan Brocka. Cumming also hosted the Oxygen cable television show, "Eavesdropping with Alan Cumming," in which he interviewed female co-stars of his movie roles, and "Midnight Snack," where he and his dogs introduced cult movies. Cumming hosted Saturday night Live in 2000, with musical guest Jennifer Lopez.

He is also the host of the 2008–2012 seasons of the PBS Masterpiece Mystery! series.

He currently plays Eli Gold on the CBS television show The Good Wife. He appeared as a guest star in the latter third of the first season, becoming a series regular in the show's 2010–2011 season,.^[4] He has been nominated for two Emmys, two SAG awards, a Satellite and Critics' Circle award for his performance.

Theatre[link]

Cumming began his theatre career in his native Scotland, performing in seasons with the Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, Dundee Rep, The Tron Glasgow and tours with Borderline, Theatre Workshop and Glasgow Citizens' TAG. He played Slupianek in the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh's 1988 production of Conquest of the South Pole, which later transferred to the Royal Court in London and earned him an Olivier Award nomination as Most Promising Newcomer. He went on to perform plays with the Bristol Old Vic and the Royal Shakespeare Company and played Valere in La Bete at the Lyric, Hammersmith, London. In 1991 he played The Madman in the 1990 Royal National Theatre production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo, for which he won an Olivier Award.^[5] He also adapted the play with director Tim Supple. In 1993 he received great critical acclaim and the TMA Best Actor award for playing title role in the 1993 English Touring Theatre's Hamlet (playing opposite his then-wife, Hilary Lyon, in the role of Ophelia), He played the role of Emcee in Sam Mendes's 1993 revival of the musical Cabaret in London's West End opposite Jane Horrocks as Sally Bowles. He received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He reprised the role in 1998 for the Mendes-Rob Marshall Broadway revival, this time opposite Natasha Richardson as Sally Bowles. He won a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance.^[6]

Other US stage roles include Otto in the 2001 Broadway production of Design for Living by Noël Coward, Mac the Knife in Bertolt Brecht-Kurt Weill musical The Threepenny Opera opposite Cyndi Lauper. Cumming performed alongside Dianne Wiest in Classic Stage Company's production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Viacheslav Dolgachev. In 2002, Cumming and then-boyfriend British director Nick Philippou formed the production company The Art Party. The company's first and only play was the first English production of Jean Genet's play Elle, which Cumming had adapted from a literal translation by Terri Gordon. The company folded in 2003.

In 2006 he returned to the West End playing the lead role in Bent, a play about homosexuals in Germany under the Nazis. In 2007 he took the lead role in the National Theatre of Scotland's production of The Bacchae, which premiéred at the Edinburgh Festival in August, transferring to the Lyric Theatre in London and then to Lincoln Center, New York, winning him Herald ArcAngel award.

He collaborated again with John Tiffany and the National Theatre of Scotland in 2012, playing all the roles in Macbeth

Other work[link]

Cumming in the gallery art work "Sliphost"

Cumming wrote a novel, Tommy's Tale, published in 2002.^[7] He has also written articles for magazines, notably as a contributing editor for Marie Claire magazine, writing on the haute couture shows in Paris, as well as what it was like for him dressing as a woman for a day. He also contributed articles to Newsweek, Modern Painters, Out, Black Book and The Wall Street Journal . He has also written introductions and prefaces to may books, including the works of Nancy Mitford, Andy Warhol and Christopher Isherwood and wrote a chapter of If You Had Five Minutes with the President, a collection of 55+ essays by members or supporters of The Creative Coalition.^[8] Cumming recorded a duet of "Baby, It’s Cold Outside" with Liza Minnelli to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the September 11 Fund.

In 2005 he released a fragrance called "Cumming," and a related line of scented bath lotion and body wash. A second fragrance arrived in 2011, naturally names Second Cumming, with all proceeds going to charity.

On 1 September 2009, Cumming released his first solo album based around his one man show, I Bought a Blue Car Today.^[9]

In 2012 he launched his photography career with his first exhibition Alan Cumming Snaps ^[10]

Personal life[link]

Cumming lives in New York City with his husband, graphic artist Grant Shaffer, and their dogs, Honey and Leon.^[11] The couple dated for two years before entering into a civil partnership at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London, on January 7, 2007.^[12] Cumming and Shaffer remarried in New York on January 7, 2012, the fifth anniversary of their London wedding.^[13]

Once described as "a frolicky pansexual sex symbol for the new millennium", Cumming has stated that he considers himself bisexual, "although the pendulum has obviously swung".^[14] Previous relationships include an eight-year marriage to actress Hilary Lyon, a two-year relationship with actress Saffron Burrows, and a six-year relationship with theater director Nick Philippou.^[15] After his civil partnership with Shaffer, when asked if he was monogamous, he stated "I don't believe that monogamy is feasible".^[16] In 2006, Cumming stated that he "would dearly like to adopt a child", but that his life was "too hectic" for children.^[17]

Cumming used to be a member of the Church of Scotland until his mother received a letter from them saying they had "read something about me being an atheist and would I like to leave". He said he had attended out of tradition, but realized being a part of it was "only condoning and validating lots of things I disapprove of: oppression, guilt, shame, etc".^[18]

Since coming out as bisexual in 1998, Cumming has promoted LGBT rights, emceeing and attending fundraisers for organizations such as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), as well as several AIDS charities, including the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR) and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Cumming is also a patron of NORM-UK, an English-registered charity concerned with foreskin health and matters related to circumcision; he has condemned the practice of non-religious routine infant circumcision, particularly in the United States.^[19][20]

In March 2005 Cumming received the Vito Russo Award at the 16th Annual GLAAD Media Awards for outstanding contributions toward eliminating homophobia.^[21] In July of the same year he was also presented with the HRC's Humanitarian Award in San Francisco, also for his LGBT public stance. In November 2006 Cumming received a Doctor of Arts honorary degree from the University of Abertay Dundee. He also is a patron of the Scottish Youth Theatre, Scotland's National Theatre 'for and by' young people. Cumming was appointed an OBE in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to film, theatre and the arts and activism for LGBT rights.^[22][23][24]

On November 7, 2008, Cumming became a dual-national and was sworn in as a citizen of the United States of America at a ceremony in New York City.^[25][26]

Filmography[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Cumming, Alan (2002). Tommy's Tale. London: Michael Joseph. ISBN 0-7181-4489-9. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alan Cumming

• Alan Cumming - Cumming, personal website
• Alan Cumming at the Internet Broadway Database
• Alan Cumming at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Alan Cumming at the Internet Movie Database

Katie Leclerc
Katie Leclerc, 2011
Born	Katie Lynn Leclerc (1986-11-06) November 6, 1986 (age 25) San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2005–present

Katie Lynn Leclerc (born November 6, 1986)^[1] is an American actress. She has appeared on several television series, including Veronica Mars and Fashion House. In 2011, she received a lead role on the show Switched at Birth, starring as Daphne Vasquez.

Personal life[link]

Katie Leclerc was born in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in Lakewood, Colorado. She is the youngest of three siblings.^[2] She is hard-of-hearing and at age 20 was diagnosed as having Ménière's disease, a degenerative inner ear disorder whose symptoms include fluctuating hearing loss and vertigo;^[3] both her father and older sister have Ménière's disease as well.^[4] Although she is hard of hearing, she is able to use speech.

Career[link]

Katie Leclerc discovered her passion for acting in grade school when she got the lead role in a production of Annie.^[3] When she moved to San Diego, Katie continued to pursue theatre at Valley Center High School with VC Drama's International Thespian Society Troupe 6199. She took part in commercials for Pepsi, Cingular, Comcast, and GE. In 2006, she was in the Rascal Flatts video "What Hurts the Most" as a student in the classroom. She started her television career when she guest-starred on Veronica Mars. Since, she has acted in many other television shows. Her first main actress role was in the show Switched at Birth, where she plays Daphne Vasquez, a girl who is deaf and was given to the wrong family at the hospital after she was born. On playing the character Daphne, she has commented:

"My agent submitted me for a nationwide casting call for the roles of Emma and Daphne. I ended up getting a call back, and that’s when I was asked to try a “deaf accent.” It’s something we discussed in depth. We wanted to make sure my portrayal was respectful and done correctly. At the same time, we felt that using a deaf accent would be a really strong choice for the character."^[5]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Katie Leclerc at the Internet Movie Database

Keri Russell
Russell at the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 premiere, November 2010
Born	Keri Lynn Russell (1976-03-23) March 23, 1976 (age 36) Fountain Valley, California, United States
Occupation	Actress/Dancer
Years active	1991–present
Spouse	Shane Deary (m. 2007) «start: (2007)»"Marriage: Shane Deary to Keri Russell" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Keri_Russell)

Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe Award. Russell has since appeared in several films, including Mad About Mambo (2000), We Were Soldiers (2002), The Upside of Anger (2005), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Waitress (2007), August Rush (2007), Bedtime Stories (2008) and Extraordinary Measures (2010).

Early life[link]

Russell was born in Fountain Valley, California, the daughter of Stephanie (née Stephens), a homemaker, and David Russell, a Nissan Motors executive.^[1] She has an older brother, Todd, and a younger sister, Julie. The family lived in Coppell, Texas; Mesa, Arizona; and Highlands Ranch, Colorado, moving frequently because of the father's employment. Although Russell is best known for her acting, she studied at Starstruck dance studio in a suburb of Denver. She earned a spot on the Mickey Mouse Club show by her dancing.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

1991–2002[link]

Russell first appeared on television at age 15 as a cast member of the All-New Mickey Mouse Club variety show on the Disney Channel.^[2] She was on the show from 1991 to 1993 and co-starred with future actor Ryan Gosling and future pop stars Chasen Hampton, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake.^[3]

In 1992, she appeared in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid alongside Rick Moranis and in 1993, had a role on the sitcom Boy Meets World as Mr. Feeny's niece. Russell appeared on Married with Children in a 1995 episode ("Radio Free Trumaine", production 9.24). She subsequently starred in several film and television roles, including the 1996 made-for-television film The Babysitter's Seduction.^{[citation needed]} That year she also had a role on the short-lived soap opera series Malibu Shores. In 1994, she appeared in Bon Jovi's music video "Always" with Jack Noseworthy.^{[citation needed]} In 1997, she appeared in two episodes of Roar alongside Heath Ledger.^{[citation needed]}

From 1998 to 2002, Russell starred as the title character on the successful WB Network series Felicity; she won a Golden Globe for the role in 1999. Russell's long and curly hair was one of her character's defining characteristics. A drastic hairstyle change at the beginning of the show's second season was thought to cause a significant drop in the show's television ratings.^[4]

During the show's run, Russell appeared in the films Eight Days a Week, The Curve, and Mad About Mambo, all of which received only limited releases in North America. Her next role was in the film We Were Soldiers (2002), playing the wife of a United States serviceman during the Vietnam War. The film was released two months before the end of Felicity's run.

2003–present[link]

Russell at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

When Felicity ended, Russell took a break from acting. She moved to New York City and took two years off to avoid the business of Hollywood, spending time with friends.^{[citation needed]} Russell subsequently made her off-Broadway stage debut in 2004, appearing opposite Jeremy Piven, Andrew McCarthy, and Ashlie Atkinson in Neil LaBute's Fat Pig.^[5] In 2005, she returned to television and film, beginning with an appearance in the Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie The Magic of Ordinary Days, theatrical film The Upside of Anger (alongside Kevin Costner, Joan Allen and Evan Rachel Wood), and the television miniseries Into the West.

Although a number of her Felicity co-stars went on to appear in producer J. J. Abrams' series, Alias, Russell declined invitations to be part of the show.^{[citation needed]} In a seminar at the Museum of Television and Radio, Abrams said, "I've asked Keri if she would ever do it, and I usually get this, sort of like, giggle — and then she hangs up". In 2005, Abrams asked Russell to join the cast of Mission: Impossible III, a film he directed, and she accepted. The film was released on May 5, 2006. In the summer of 2006, Russell was chosen to be a celebrity spokeswoman for CoverGirl Cosmetics.^{[citation needed]} Before she was in Mission Impossible: III, she was screen tested for the role of Lois Lane in Superman Returns but lost the role to Kate Bosworth.^{[citation needed]}

She taped two episodes as a guest character on the NBC show Scrubs in 2007. She played Melody, a sorority sister and good friend of Elliot Reid played by Sarah Chalke. The first episode aired on April 26, and the second on May 3.^{[citation needed]} She starred in Waitress, a well-reviewed independent film in which she played Jenna, a pregnant waitress in the American South; it was the fourth film in a row in which Russell had played a pregnant woman.^[6] The film opened on May 4, 2007 and Russell's performance was positively received by critics,^[7] with Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun writing that Russell's performance had "aesthetic character" and "welds tenderness and fierceness with quiet heat".^[8] In the summer of 2007, Russell appeared in The Keri Kronicles, a reality show/sitcom sponsored by CoverGirl and airing on MySpace; the show was filmed at Russell's home in Manhattan and spotlighted her life.^[7]

Russell next appeared in August Rush, a drama released in November, 2007. She also appeared on the cover of the New York Post's Page Six magazine on November 11, 2007.^{[citation needed]} She has completed roles in Butterfly: A Grimm Love Story (titled Rohtenburg for its German release), in which she plays Katie Armstrong, a graduate student who writes a thesis paper on an infamous cannibal murder case, and the thriller The Girl in the Park, opposite Sigourney Weaver, Kate Bosworth and Alessandro Nivola.

Russell later appeared in Bedtime Stories, with Adam Sandler playing the lead.^[9] In an appearance on The View on December 15, 2008, Russell said she got the part because Sandler's wife Jackie had seen Russell in Waitress and suggested her for the movie.

Russell portrayed Wonder Woman in a direct-to-video animated feature released March 3, 2009.^[10] She starred alongside Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford in the Tom Vaughan-helmed Extraordinary Measures^[11][12] for CBS Films. The drama, which started filming on April 6, 2009 and was released on January 22, 2010, was the first film to go into production for the new company.^{[citation needed]} Russell played Aileen Crowley, a mother who tries to build a normal home life for her sick children while her husband, John (Fraser), and an unconventional scientist (Ford) race against time to find a cure.^[13]

Russell played Emmy Kadubic in the premiere season of Running Wilde, a Fox comedy series cancelled in May 2011.^[14]

Personal life[link]

Russell and Shane Deary, a carpenter she met through mutual friends,^[6] became engaged in 2006 and were married on February 14, 2007 in New York.^[15] The couple have two children: son River Russell Deary (born June 9, 2007)^[16] and daughter Willa Lou Deary (born December 27, 2011).^[17]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Keri Russell

• Keri Russell at the Internet Movie Database

Taylor Lautner
Lautner at the Abduction premiere in September 2011.
Born	Taylor Daniel Lautner (1992-02-11) February 11, 1992 (age 20) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, voice actor, model
Years active	2001–present
Signature

Taylor Daniel Lautner (pronounced /ˈlaʊtnər/, LOWT-ner; born February 11, 1992)^[1] is an American actor, voice actor, model, and martial artist. As a child, Lautner took up martial arts at Fabiano's Karate^[2] in Holland, Michigan 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 is best known for playing Jacob Black in The Twilight Saga film series based on the novels of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. He also starred in the action film, Abduction, which became a sleeper hit.

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 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. Also in the same year, Lautner was named the highest-paid teenage actor in Hollywood.

Early life[link]

Lautner was born on February 11, 1992 in Grand Rapids, Michigan to Deborah and Daniel Lautner.^[3] His mother works for a software development company, while his father is a Midwest Airlines pilot.^[3][4] He has one younger sister named Makena.^[3] Raised as a Roman Catholic,^[5][6] Lautner is of mixed German, French, and Dutch heritage, and has "distant" Native American ancestry (specifically Ottawa and Potawatomi) through his mother.^[7][8] Lautner grew up in Hudsonville, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids.^[9] Lautner stated that when he was younger he was bullied in school because he was an actor. 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."^[10]

He took his first karate class at the age of six.^[3] A year later, he attended the national karate tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, where he met Michael Chaturantabut, the founder of Xtreme Martial Arts. Chaturantabut invited Lautner to a camp he held at University of California, Los Angeles.^[3] Lautner trained with Chaturantabut for several years, earning his black belt by the age of eight, and winning several junior world championships.^[9] 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.^[11]

In junior high, Lautner—who was involved in karate, baseball and hip-hop dance—won the award for "Best Smile" and played in the school's Turkey Bowl American Football game.^[12] He went to public school in Valencia until his sophomore year of high school.^[13]

Chaturantabut, who once portrayed the Blue Ranger in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, suggested to Lautner that he take up acting.^[3] 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.^[3] Lautner balanced karate and acting with being on the football and baseball teams at his school, and taking up jazz and hip-hop dance.^[14] 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.^[3][14]

Career[link]

2001–07: Early career[link]

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.^[9] He then appeared in small television parts on The Bernie Mac Show, My Wife and Kids, and Summerland.^[3] 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.^[3] The same year, he earned his first breakout role, starring in the film, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D.^[3] Lautner spent three months on location in Austin, Texas, to film the movie,^[3] 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.^[15] For the film, Lautner choreographed all of his fight scenes after director Robert Rodríguez learned of his extensive martial arts training.^[14] 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.^[16] After returning from Canada filming the latter movie, Lautner said he realized his newfound fame, from Sharkboy and Lavagirl.^[3] 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.^[17] Rolling Stone coined his early roles as either "the popular kid, jock, or bully."^[10]

[edit] 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.^[17] 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.^[17] At his audition, he read lines with Kristen Stewart, who had already been cast as Bella, and they acted out scenes from The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.^[17] 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.^[18] In describing the critical consensus, it stated: "Having lost much of its bite transitioning to the big screen, Twilight will please its devoted fans, but do little for the uninitiated."^[18] 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.^[19] At the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, Lautner was nominated for Male Breakthrough Performance, which was won by co-star Robert Pattinson.^[20]

Lautner with Twilight costars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards.

Initially, director Chris Weitz wanted to recast the role of Jacob Black for Twilight's sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, due to the major physical changes that occur in Black between the two novels, and have an actor that would accurately portray "the new, larger Jacob Black."^[21] Black's role in the novel also increases significantly, with him falling in love with Bella and becoming a werewolf, putting the actor in a starring role. Representatives for Weitz had stated that they were make a full effort to recast the "high-profile gig," and MTV News confirmed that Weitz was looking at Michael Copon to take on the role; however, Summit Entertainment said a decision had not been made.^[21] In an attempt to keep the role, Lautner weight-trained extensively and gained approximately 30 pounds of muscle.^[22] In January 2009, Weitz and Summit Entertainment announced that Lautner would continue to play the role of Jacob in the sequel.^[22] In an interview, fellow cast member Kristen Stewart talked about Lautner's transformation saying, "He's an entirely different person physically."^[23] Stewart later said, "He gets a lot of attention because he's buff, but I think as soon as the movie comes out, people are going to realize that's not why he got the job."^[10] Co-star Robert Pattinson said after seeing Lautner's body, "I saw him and thought 'Jesus, I'm going to get fired."^[24] In an interview with The Wrap, Weitz said Lautner deserved a lot of credit for the movie's box office, stating, "If you look at the movie, it should have been the weakest in the franchise, because Robert Pattinson doesn't play as big a role."^[25] Weitz said Lautner had to "pick up that slack, and if his character hadn't been emotionally, not just physically, appealing, the movie wouldn't have been as big a hit."^[25] 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.^[26] The opening weekend of New Moon is the third highest opening weekend in domestic history with $142,839,137.^[27] The Twilight Saga: New Moon also has the sixth highest worldwide opening weekend with $274.9 million total.^[28] Critical reception was less favorable, with the movie getting a 4.6/10 average from Rotten Tomatoes, and a 44 on Metacritic.^[29][30] Lautner won Favorite Breakout Movie Actor at the 35th People's Choice Awards.^[31]

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.^[32] In between the second and third films in the Twilight series, Lautner was a part of the ensemble cast in the movie Valentine's Day as Willy Harrington, acting alongside his rumored girlfriend at the time, American country pop singer Taylor Swift. The duo was nominated at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards for Best Kiss. Although it received generally negative reviews,^[33] the film grossed $213 million and had the second biggest opening in the United States for a romantic comedy film.^[34] Lautner presented at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards and the 82nd Academy Awards.^[35][36] Lautner hosted Saturday Night Live on December 12, 2009, making him one of the youngest celebrity hosts in the show's history.^[37]

[edit] 2010 to present: Continuing Twilight and other projects

Lautner returned for the third Twilight film, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, in 2010. Receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film surpassed its predecessor to become the highest-grossing film of the franchise and the highest-grossing romantic fantasy, werewolf and vampire movie of all time at the American and Canadian box office.^[38] It ranks as the 36th highest grossing film of all-time in the U.S. and Canada. The popularity of Lautner and his cast members continued to summit, especially via the "Team Edward vs. Team Jacob" campaign that promoted the film.^[39] Lautner's fanbase also began to expand to older audiences.^[39] 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.^[40] On November 2010 The Hollywood Reporter named Lautner as one of the young male actors who are “pushing – or being pushed” into taking over Hollywood as the new “A-List”.^[41][42]

Lautner was initially supposed to be in two films, Northern Lights and a movie based on Max Steel, but pulled out of both films due to scheduling conflicts and better offers.^[25] Other planned projects were the lead in a movie about Stretch Armstrong and a hostage thriller, Cancun.^[25] Lautner filmed a Bourne Identity-esque spy film with Lily Collins, entitled Abduction, which was released in September 2011. He will appear in the remaining parts of the Twilight series, the The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn films, which are anticipated to be released over a two-year period from 2011–2012.^[25]

As of 2010, Lautner was considered to be the highest-paid teen actor in Hollywood.^[43]

Image[link]

Publications such as GQ, Rolling Stone, and People have referred to Lautner as a sex symbol, with the latter publication calling the actor a future epitome of pop culture.^[4][10][44] He has been called the new young adult star that can "both woo the girls with his intensity and impress the boys with his rugged agility."^[14] According to Mickey Rapkin of GQ, the use of Lautner's physique in films has been compared to Megan Fox in her work.^[4] 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 for the role of Jacob Black in the remaining films in the The Twilight Saga. Michelle Lanz of MSN Wonderwall said that Lautner's change may have saved his career.^[45] Several critics credit Lautner's physical characteristics for much of the success of the Twilight series, with critic Sharon Waxman stating, "as a tabloid teen idol, he certainly deserves some credit for New Moon's $700 million worldwide gross."^[25] 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."^[25] 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."^[4] He was named number one on Access Hollywood's "Top 5 Hollywood Abs" list.^[46]

Before the actor turned 18, his sexualized image was often critiqued, and subject to controversy. In December 2009, Lautner appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in a wet t-shirt. Jennifer Cady of E! Online said to wait a few months when Lautner would "be of age, which will make this whole operation you got going on completely legal."^[47] In his interview with the magazine, after declining to talk about whether he was dating Taylor Swift, the magazine pressed Lautner on rumors of him being homosexual, which he brushed off.^[48] Brent Hartinger, a columnist for AfterElton, blasted the magazine, calling the questioning "unimaginably irresponsible," commenting that Lautner was just "a 17-year old kid" and that while the rumors were baseless and speculation from certain blogs and fans, it was disappointing that a "legitimate media outlet" would print gossip.^[48] Hartinger said the magazine reached a "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.^[48]

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.^[4] 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."^[4] Lautner later said he would not bare his chest for any role that did not call for it.^[4] In June 2010, Lautner covered GQ magazine.^[4] 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.^[49] In 2010, Lautner was ranked number two on Glamour's "50 Sexiest Men of 2010 " list.^[50] Men's Health ranked him at third on their list of "Top 10 Summer Bodies."^[51] Additionally in 2010, he was ranked fourth on People's "Most Amazing Bodies" list.^[52]

Personal life[link]

Lautner has an intricate workout plan, which was covered by Men's Health, and has a specific diet after developing his body for The Twilight Saga: New Moon.^[4] In addition, he still practices and trains in martial arts regularly.^[4][10] He has stated that he is drug and alcohol free.^[10]

Lautner resides with his parents and younger sister in Valencia, California, which he says he prefers due to the dearth of paparazzi. Lautner has said that he has never thought of moving out on his own, 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.^[4]

The boost given to his career by the success of the Twilight films made him too busy to attend school, so he took the California High School Proficiency Exam to graduate from high school in 2008. He has stated on the David Letterman show that if he does not have work, he would like to go back to school. He now takes online classes at his local community college.^[13]

In 2009, Lautner was linked romantically to American country pop singer Taylor Swift and American actress and pop singer Selena Gomez.^[53][54]

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

Television[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]