Biography
Like Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee before him, Taylor Lautner came to be an actor after a top-ranking career in martial arts. He was encouraged to try his hand at acting after establishing himself as a karate champion at age nine, and his martial arts skills immediately came in handy for his feature debut as a tween superhero in Robert Rodriguez's "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D" (2005). More roles in family films like "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" (2004) followed, and while Lautner's TV career seemed cursed with failed series, it did not hinder the young actor from evolving into a heartthrob with the teen set. In 2008, Lautner was launched to stardom after landing a supporting role in "Twilight" (2008), the pop culture phenomenon based on the teen vampire romance book series by Stephenie Meyer. Lautner reprised his role as shapeshifter Jacob Black throughout the four-film series, vying for the love of human Bella (Kristen Stewart) with an adventurous spirit that earned the actor increasing interest from film directors looking for a new young adult star who could both woo the girls with his intensity and impress the boys with his rugged agility. After the series ended with "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2" (2012), Lautner showed off his comic ability in Adam Sandler's "Grown Ups 2" (2013) and "The Ridiculous 6" (2016), starred in urban action drama "Tracers" (2015) and family drama "Run the Tide" (2016), and returned to television with starring roles in British sitcom "Cuckoo" (BBC Two 2012- ) and Ryan Murphy's "Scream Queens" (Fox 2015-16).
