Taylor Lautner became one of the great figures of Hollywood. But he didn't find a way to deal with fame.
The Twilight saga, whose first installment hit theaters in 2008, was much more than a teen hit, and not just because it was able to captivate viewers of other ages. His script was based on the novel of the same name by the writer Stephenie Meyer, although at first there were several controversies due to the differences between what was seen on the big screen and what could be read on paper. Finally, an agreement was reached and it was able to be released in theaters, becoming -what has been said- one of the most profitable products in the industry, even though the sequels did not obtain the same results in collections or critics.
But beyond the event, Twilight marked the lives of its main actors. For good, and bad. Although the great protagonists were Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, the film's vampires, alongside the counterpart, Taylor Lautner, who was part of the wolf pack. Two families, two stories, but with many aspects in common, despite everything.
And in real life, Kristen, Robert, and Taylor - who concern us on this occasion - suffered in real life the cost of success. They experienced controversial situations from fame that almost took them out of the circuit.
Taylor Lautner was born on February 11, 1992, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His childhood was uneventful, following a path similar to other children in his city. At the age of six, he began taking karate classes and quickly became one of the most outstanding students. With just a few months of training, by the decision of the teacher he had at Fabiano's Karate School, he began to compete in championships. He almost always returned to his house with some trophy.
He was only eight years old when he represented the United States in the World Karate Association where, in the Junior World Forms and Weapons event, he won three gold medals. By age 11, Taylor was already number one in the world in NASKA's Black Belt Open Forms. A year later he took the World Junior Martial Arts Championship. By this time he had already moved to Los Angeles to -without neglecting karate- feed his other passion: acting.
His first foray was in Shadow Fury, in 2001. Two years later came The Bernie Mac Show. They were small appearances, but they helped him to start rolling his path. In 2005 he was cast in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. After filming ended, he was adrift for a while, not getting roles but not worrying either: he had plenty of work as a model. In 2008, the moment came when he touched the sky with his hands thanks to his character Jacob Black, in Twilight.
He was just 17 years old when he made the leap and had Hollywood at his feet. From then on, he worked non-stop: the producers had him as their first choice whenever a project appeared. But few noticed that Taylor suffered from achievement, encountering such popularity as a teenager. Going out on the street, from one day to the next, became impossible for him. There was no way he could go on with his life like he was up to now, and he was affected.
“When I was 16, 17, and 18, I would wake up and try to just go for a walk or go on a date, and I would have 12 cars waiting outside my house to follow me everywhere, or show up at the airport, or wherever… And all those screaming fans. Not many things in life can happen overnight. Fame, yes. And it can also suddenly disappear, that's clear to me too," Lautner said in an interview with Today.
Right away he said that the best alternative he found was to stay locked up in his house. He would go out to film, for work reasons, and then return to what was his bunker to escape everything that overwhelmed him. “I spent many years without going out on the street. The times I went out I prepared myself for that; he put a hat on my, sunglasses, and tried to camouflage me. Even so, I left very scared, thinking that they could discover me. All this was generating some anxiety, an ugly feeling, so I did not go out if it was not necessary, "added the actor.
He spent more than a decade without going to a supermarket: he had to delegate even that simplest daily task. One of his passions was going to the movies, and he also had to get rid of that. He found himself at a crossroads: he was happy with the fulfilled dream of being an actor, succeeding in a world in which very few manage to transcend, but he was not willing to pay the price of fame.
That led to an ambivalence that bounced around in his head for a while. “At the moment it's like it gets frustrating because you just want to live a normal life. But then when all that is taken out of you, you start questioning yourself and you start saying, 'Oh, people don't care about me anymore?' And that fear kind of goes away. You notice it and that's the dangerous part because that can really mess with your mind."
In 2012, a Forbes magazine report ranked him as one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. He was barely 20 years old and at that time his income was 26.5 million dollars. Another circumstance surely made him dizzy, and he collaborated so that he fell into a dark area due to the latent possibility of not having his feet on the ground. The background of other young people who experienced a similar situation and could not overcome it is many.
But Taylor, little by little, got used to it. Although there was a time when he walked away from everything. With no money problem, he decided to step aside after he participated in Run de Tide, in 2016. He was in contact with his fans through his social networks, but not much else. Only in 2020 did he decide that it was time to return to the first leagues. The phone did not stop ringing, but he said no until he was called to film the political documentary, Miss Americana.
He is currently part of Netflix, not only because of the Twilight saga, which is still available on the platform but because of Home Team, a movie that was released this year. It is an entertaining comedy, with good repercussions. In a way, this is his return, much more mature and knowing where he is moving.
