Photo: Taylor Lautner
Biography of Taylor Lautner
Taylor Lautner is an American actor and model, best known for his role as Jacob Black in the Twilight film series based on the novels of the same name by Stephenie Meyer.
Childhood and youth
Taylor Daniel Lautner was born on February 11, 1992 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The actor’s mother, Deborah, worked for a software company, and his father, Daniel, was a pilot for Midwest Airlines. Taylor has a younger sister, Makena. Taylor’s unusual appearance is explained by violent mixing of blood: among his relatives there are French, Germans, Irish and Indians.
Taylor started karate at the age of 6. Hard work paid off – the boy went to the national tournament in Kentucky, where he was lucky to meet Michael Chaturanthabut, a Thai-American actor and stuntman. The boy trained with Chaturanthabut for several years, earning a black belt by the age of 8 and winning several world junior championships. In parallel with karate, Lautner was fond of baseball, jazz and hip-hop dancing, and also played for the school American football team. But it was karate that eventually led him to the world of cinema – the mentor insisted on this, who considered the acting vein in Taylor. He persuaded the boy to audition for an advertisement, and although the auditions were overwhelmed, Taylor liked the atmosphere that prevailed in the studio. The choice of future profession was made.
For several years, Lautner flew with his parents from Michigan to Los Angeles for auditions, sometimes returning to his hometown for the start of classes. Such a rhythm of life greatly tired the child, and relations with classmates were getting worse, and then in 2002 the family decided to move to California.
Actor career
In the early years after moving to Los Angeles, Lautner appeared in small roles in TV shows and commercials, as well as doing voice acting for cartoons (What’s New, Scooby-Doo?, Duck Dodgers). In 2005, Taylor landed his first and immediately starring film role: alongside Taylor Dooley, he starred in Robert Rodriguez’s The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava in 3D.
Karate classes came in handy at the right time: having learned about the sports skills of a teenager, Rodriguez allowed him to stage all the fight scenes in the film. The picture failed at the box office, but Lautner was nominated for the Young Actor Award (the award eventually went to 14-year-old Josh Hutcherson, the future star of The Hunger Games).
Lautner soon appeared in Cheaper by the Dozen 2, an adventure comedy with Steve Martin, which was heavily criticized and called “one of the worst films of the 2000s.” A more successful project was the drama series My Own Enemy (2008), in which Lautner played the son of Christian Slater’s character.
Most of the roles that Taylor got were of the same type. Rolling Stone magazine concluded that Lautner’s early roles were necessarily “popular guy, jock or bully”. But that all changed in 2008, when the actor auditioned for the role of Bella Swan’s friend in Twilight, based on the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. Lautner had never heard of the book, but his agent convinced him to audition.
The producers were pleased with Lautner’s performance and approved him for the role of Jacob Black, a Quileute Indian who has the ability to turn into a werewolf. Other heroes of the romantic saga about the confrontation between vampires and werewolves were played by Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.
The film was a commercial success, earning $392 million worldwide in its first week. At the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, Lautner was nominated for the Breakthrough Actor Award: Men, but the award went to his colleague Robert Pattinson.
Starting filming the continuation of the story, the film “Twilight. Saga. New Moon “(2009), the directors were going to find another actor for the role of Jacob – he had to more accurately portray the metamorphosis that happened to the hero and his transformation into a” new, big Black “. The role was claimed by Michael Copon, but the role eventually went to Lautner, who had to train hard and gain almost 15 kg of muscle. Convincing changes in appearance delighted everyone, including Pattinson.
“When I saw his body, I immediately thought: “My God, they will definitely fire me!”, – shared the actor.
The film, released on the big screens, attracted so many viewers that it broke all box office records on its first weekend of film distribution. Lautner, Stewart, and Pattinson have all moved on to teen idol status, while the athletic Taylor has earned the title of sex symbol along the way.
Between the second and third “Twilight” Lautner starred in the romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day” (2010), appearing in a duet with singer Taylor Swift. The couple was nominated for the 2010 MTV Movie Awards in the Best Kiss category, but ironically, the award went to Lautner’s colleagues Pattinson and Stewart.
The third film “Twilight. Saga. Eclipse (2010) received mixed reviews, but became the franchise’s highest-grossing film, as well as the highest-grossing romantic fantasy and werewolf-vampire film of all years in the United States and Canada. The number of Lautner fans grew every day, the number of awards and nominations increased, and it became more and more difficult to lure the actor into other projects. However, Taylor appeared in the title role in the action thriller The Chase (2011), working on set with the legendary Sigourney Weaver and Alfred Molina and getting a lot of bad reviews for his acting.
In 2011-2012, the actor starred in the films Twilight. Saga. Breaking Dawn: Part 1″ and “Twilight. Saga. Dawn: Part 2”, after which his career went down. A small role in the comedy Odnoklassniki 2 (2013) with Adam Sandler, several episodes in the British sitcom Peek-a-Boo (2012-2018), low-rated films Tracers (2015) and The Ridiculous Six (2016), which even didn’t get hired.
The indie film Ride the Wave (2016) could have been a new page in the actor’s career, but critics unanimously accused the actor of being unconvincing. A more successful project was the series Scream Queens (2015-2016) in the comedy horror genre, although it was closed after the second season.
“Getting out of the shadow of a hit like Twilight is not easy,” Lautner complained in an interview.
Taylor Lautner’s personal life
In high school, Taylor Lautner began dating high school friend Sarah Hicks. After three years of romance and a break, the young people resumed their relationship, until the heart of a handsome man in 2013 won the blonde actress Maika Monroe.
Canadian actress Marie Avgeropoulos soon took her place, and then Lautner switched to model Rayna Lawson.
At the end of 2016, the actor had an affair with his Scream Queens colleague Billy Lourd, but already in October 2018 he confirmed a relationship with a girl named Tay Dome. Also on the list of Taylor’s fleeting novels are actress Lily Collins, singers Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez. In 2018, Taylor Lautner introduced his sweetheart, Taylor Dome, to fans. Fans believe that they met through the actor’s sister – both girls study at a medical university and are friends. Lautner often publishes pictures with his girlfriend, walking with her around Los Angeles. Their relationship continues to this day, and fans are looking forward to when they reach the next level.
Taylor Lautner now
It is difficult to make any predictions about what Taylor Lautner will do next. The actor admits that he has become very picky about the roles and is ready to wait for a really worthwhile offer. Now the actor is having a good time with friends and family, doing a lot of sports, traveling and learning to DJ.