Taylor Lautner at Comic Con 2009

The Short Story: Taylor Lautner

Birthday: February 11, 1992
Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Famous For: His breakthrough role as Jacob Black in the Twilight saga; gaining approximately 30 lbs. between the first and second Twilight films after convincing the director not to re-cast the character
Quick Scoop: Studied karate from the ages of 6 to 13; Was ranked number 1 in the world in the following specialties when he was 11: NASKA's Black Belt Open Forms, Musical Weapons, Traditional Weapons and Traditional Forms
Awards: 2009 Teen Choice Awards: Fresh Face Male, Twlight.

Biography

Taylor Daniel Lautner was born on February 11, 1992 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was born to Deborah and Daniel Lautner and is Dutch, French, German, and Native American.

Lautner began studying and practicing karate very young-at age 6. He began winning tournaments as early as the next year, when he was only 7. It wasn't long before he was a junior world champion, winning three medals in the World Karate Association. In 2003, when Lautner was only 11, he was ranked number 1 in the world for NASKA's Black Belt Open Forms, Musical Weapons, Traditional Weapons and Traditional Forms.

After a coach encouraged him to try out for a commercial, Lautner was hooked by acting. He began traveling between Michigan and Hollywood for auditions until his family decided to make the move to Los Angeles to focus on his acting career. In his first role, Lautner appeared in the made-for-TV movie Shadow Fury. Soon after, he landed roles in Summerland, The Bernie Mac Show, and My Wife and Kids. He also had small roles on The Nick and Jessica Variety Hour and America's Most Talented Kids, where he showed his Marital Arts skills.

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Lautner started also landing voice-over roles. He was cast in a recurring role as YoungBlood on Danny Phantom and also did some work on What's New Scooby Doo? And He's a Bully, Charlie Brown.

Lautner got his first breakthrough in 2005 when he landed the role of Sharkboy in the Robert Rodriguez film, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D. He followed that up with a role in the Steve Martin family comedy Cheaper by the Dozen 2. In 2008, he was cast as Christian Slater's on the short-lived NBC series My Own Worst Enemy.

It was later in 2008 that Taylor won the role of a lifetime-Jacob Black in Twilight co-starring with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. After the movie was a huge success, the studio decided to make the next two Twilight saga movies, New Moon and Eclipse. The role of Jacob was small in the first movie and drastically increases in the second installment. The character goes through major physical changes between books, and there was discussion to recast Lautner's role with someone else bigger. Lautner heavily campaigned to keep the role, promising the director to gain 30lbs. He did and got to keep the role.

Lautner was also cast in the 2010 romantic comedy Valentine's Day starring Julia Roberts, Jennifer Garner, and Anne Hathaway.

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