Taylor Lautner facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Taylor Lautner
Lautner at the 2012 Comic-Con
Born	Taylor Daniel Lautner (1992-02-11) February 11, 1992 (age 33) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, martial artist
Years active	2001–present
Spouse(s)	Taylor Dome ​ (m. 2022)​
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Taylor Daniel Lautner (born February 11, 1992) is an American actor and a skilled martial artist. He is famous for his roles as Jacob Black, a werewolf, in The Twilight Saga movies (from 2008 to 2012). He also played Sharkboy in the movie The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (2005). Taylor has won many awards, including seven Teen Choice Awards and an MTV Movie Award.

Taylor started learning Karate and Xtreme Martial Arts when he was six years old. By age 10, he earned his black belt. He even became a four-time world champion by the time he was 14! He began acting in small TV shows like The Bernie Mac Show (2003). Later, he did voice acting for cartoons such as What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2005) and Danny Phantom (2005). In 2005, he got his big chance to play Sharkboy. That same year, he also appeared in Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

In the late 2000s, Taylor became a teen idol. He worked hard to change his body to keep his role as Jacob Black in the Twilight movies. This made many people notice him. In 2010, he was named the highest-paid teenage actor in Hollywood.

In 2011, Taylor starred in the action movie Abduction. He performed almost all of his own stunts in this film. He then appeared in the comedy movie Grown Ups 2 in 2013. From 2014 to 2018, Taylor was in the BBC comedy show Cuckoo. In 2015, he starred in the action film Tracers and the comedy The Ridiculous 6. The next year, he played Dr. Cassidy Cascade in the TV series Scream Queens.

Taylor Lautner's Early Life and Training

Taylor Lautner was born on February 11, 1992, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His mother worked for a software development company. His father was a pilot. Taylor has a younger sister named Makena. He grew up in Hudsonville, Michigan, and was raised as a Roman Catholic. Taylor has Dutch, French, and German family roots. He also has some distant Native American ancestry.

Taylor has shared that he was sometimes bullied at school because he was an actor. He said he told himself, "I can't let this get to me. This is what I love to do. And I'm going to continue doing it."

He started his first karate class when he was six. A year later, he went to a national karate tournament. There, he met Michael Chaturantabut, who created Xtreme Martial Arts. Chaturantabut invited Taylor to train with him. Taylor trained for several years and earned his black belt by age eight. He also won many junior world championships.

In junior high, Taylor was busy with karate, baseball, and hip-hop dance. He won an award for "Best Smile" and played in his school's American Football game. He went to Valencia High School in Santa Clarita, California until his second year. Michael Chaturantabut, who was once a Blue Ranger in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, suggested Taylor try acting.

For a few years, Taylor and his family flew from Michigan to Los Angeles for auditions. They would sometimes fly back to Grand Rapids for school on the same day. Taylor managed to balance karate and acting with playing football and baseball. He also took jazz and hip-hop dance classes. This became very tiring. So, in 2002, Taylor and his family decided to move to Santa Clarita, California.

Taylor Lautner's Acting Career

Starting Out: 2001–2007

After moving to Los Angeles, Taylor quickly found small roles. He appeared in TV shows, films, and commercials. In 2001, he was in the TV movie Shadow Fury. He also did a voice-over for a Rugrats Go Wild commercial. He then had small TV roles in The Bernie Mac Show, My Wife and Kids, and Summerland.

Taylor also lent his voice to animated shows. These included Danny Phantom, Duck Dodgers, and What's New, Scooby-Doo?. In 2005, he got his first major role in the movie The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D. Taylor spent three months filming in Austin, Texas. The movie received mixed reviews but was a small success worldwide. Taylor was even nominated for an award for his performance. For this film, Taylor used his martial arts skills to choreograph all his own fight scenes.

A few months later, he played Eliot Murtaugh in Cheaper by the Dozen 2. This movie was not well-liked by critics. After filming, Taylor realized he was becoming famous because of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. In 2006, he appeared in the show Love Inc. and the TV special He's a Bully, Charlie Brown. Two years later, Taylor had a main role in the TV show My Own Worst Enemy. He played Jack Spivey, the son of Christian Slater's character.

Becoming a Star: The Twilight Series (2008–2009)

In 2007, filmmakers started looking for actors to play Jacob Black. Jacob is a Native American friend of the main character, Bella Swan, in the Twilight movie. This was the first film in the Twilight Saga. Taylor had not heard of the Twilight books before. But his agent told him to audition. He read lines with Kristen Stewart, who was already cast as Bella.

The first Twilight movie was a huge success. It earned $69 million on its opening weekend! It made $392 million around the world. Critics had mixed feelings about it. At the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, Taylor was nominated for Best Breakthrough Performance.

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

For the next movie, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the director, Chris Weitz, wanted to find a new actor for Jacob Black. This was because Jacob's character changes a lot physically in the books. He becomes much bigger and stronger. Also, Jacob's role becomes much more important. He falls in love with Bella and becomes a shapeshifter.

To keep his role, Taylor worked out a lot. He gained about 30 pounds of muscle! In January 2009, it was announced that Taylor would continue to play Jacob. His co-star Kristen Stewart said Taylor was "an entirely different person physically." She also 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."

New Moon made even more money than the first movie. It broke records for its opening weekend. The movie earned $142 million in its first weekend in the U.S. and Canada. Worldwide, it made $274.9 million in its opening weekend. Critics were not as positive about this movie. However, Taylor won Favorite Breakout Movie Actor at the 35th People's Choice Awards.

After New Moon came out, Taylor and his co-stars, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, became huge teen idols. Taylor was especially admired for his new strong physique. The three actors appeared on many magazine covers and TV shows together.

Between the second and third Twilight films, Taylor was in the movie Valentine's Day. He played Willy Harrington. He acted alongside Taylor Swift, who was rumored to be his girlfriend at the time. They were nominated for Best Kiss at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards. Even though the movie got mostly negative reviews, it made $213 million. Taylor also presented awards at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards and the 82nd Academy Awards. On December 12, 2009, Taylor hosted Saturday Night Live. This made him one of the youngest hosts in the show's history.

Current Projects: 2010–Present

Taylor returned for the third Twilight movie, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, in 2010. This film made more money than the previous ones. It became the highest-grossing film in the Twilight series. It was also the highest-grossing romantic fantasy and vampire movie ever in the U.S. and Canada. The popularity of Taylor and his cast members continued to grow. Many fans joined "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" to support the film. Taylor's fan base also started to include older audiences.

In November 2010, The Hollywood Reporter said Taylor was one of the young male actors who could become the new "A-List" stars in Hollywood.

Taylor was supposed to be in two other films, Northern Lights and a movie based on Max Steel. But he left those projects because of other opportunities. He also had plans for a movie about Stretch Armstrong and a thriller called Cancun. Taylor filmed a spy movie called Abduction with Lily Collins. It was released in September 2011. Critics did not like the movie, and Taylor's acting was mostly criticized. However, Taylor won a Teen Choice Award for Choice Action Actor for Abduction in 2012.

He then appeared in the last Twilight films, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn movies. These were released in 2011 and 2012. After that, Taylor filmed Grown Ups 2 with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. It came out in September 2013.

In February 2014, it was confirmed that Taylor would join the BBC Three comedy series Cuckoo. He took over a role from Andy Samberg. Taylor continued in this role for three seasons. From September to December 2016, Taylor also starred in the comedy horror series Scream Queens.

On July 7, 2023, Taylor appeared on stage with Taylor Swift. She premiered a new music video for her song "I Can See You" at her Eras Tour concert. Taylor Lautner, Joey King, and Presley Cash star in the video. Taylor Lautner was also the inspiration for Taylor Swift's song "Back to December" from her Speak Now album.

Taylor Lautner's Personal Life

Taylor Lautner has a special workout plan, which was featured in Men's Health magazine. He also follows a specific diet. He developed his body for his role in The Twilight Saga: New Moon. He still practices and trains in martial arts regularly.

Taylor is a big fan of the Detroit Lions football team.

While filming Valentine's Day in October 2009, Taylor started dating his co-star Taylor Swift. They broke up later that year. After filming Abduction with Lily Collins, he dated her from November 2010 to September 2011. From 2013 to 2015, he was in a relationship with Canadian actress Marie Avgeropoulos, his co-star from Tracers. Taylor then dated actress Billie Lourd, his co-star from Scream Queens, from December 2016 to July 2017.

In 2018, Taylor announced he was dating Taylor "Tay" Dome, a nurse from California. The couple got married on November 11, 2022, in California. Taylor Lautner had said that his wife would also take his last name, making her name "Taylor Lautner."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Shadow Fury	Young Kismet
2005	Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, TheThe Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D	Sharkboy
	Cheaper by the Dozen 2	Elliot Murtaugh
2008	Twilight	Jacob Black
2009	Twilight Saga: New Moon, TheThe Twilight Saga: New Moon	Jacob Black
2010	Valentine's Day	Willy Harrinton
	The Twilight Saga: Eclipse	Jacob Black
2011	Field of Dreams 2: Lockout	Iowa Farmer	Short film
	Abduction	Nathan Harper
	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1	Jacob Black
2012	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2	Jacob Black
2013	Grown Ups 2	Frat Boy Andy
2015	Tracers	Cam
	The Ridiculous 6	Lil' Pete
2016	Run the Tide	Reymond Hightower
2022	Home Team	Troy Lambert
TBA	The Token Groomsman	Scott	Filming

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Music videos

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Taylor Lautner para niños