Taylor Lautner
Taylor Daniel Lautner (pronounced
/ˈlaʊtnər/,
lowt-ner; born February 11, 1992) is an American actor, voice actor, model, and
martial artist. As a child, Lautner took up martial arts at
Fabiano's Karate 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.
Early life
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 Airlinespilot.
[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.Lautner grew up in
Hudsonville, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids.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."
He took his first karate class at the age of six. 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.Lautner trained with Chaturantabut for several years, earning his black belt by the age of eight, and winning several junior world championships. 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.
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. He went to public school in Valencia until his sophomore year of high school.
Career
2001–2007: Early career
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.He then appeared in small television parts on
The Bernie Mac Show,
My Wife and Kids, and
Summerland. 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.The same year, he earned his first breakout role, starring in the film,
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D.Lautner spent three months on location in
Austin, Texas, to film the movie,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.For the film, Lautner choreographed all of his fight scenes after director
Robert Rodríguez learned of his extensive martial arts training. 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.After returning from Canada filming the latter movie, Lautner said he realized his newfound fame, from Sharkboy and Lavagirl. 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.
Rolling Stone coined his early roles as either "the popular kid, jock, or bully."
2008–09: Breakthrough and The Twilight Series
2010 to present: Continuing Twilight and other projects
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