Taylor Lautner took a break from Hollywood after Twilight
“Are you team Edward or team Jacob?” If part of your middle school and high school days revolved around asking your friends this controversial question, you’re probably familiar with the cinematic origins of Taylor Lautner, who split the “Twilight” fandom in half when he made his debut as the teenage werewolf Jacob Black in 2008. In the nearly 14 years since the film premiered, Lautner has remained a cultural icon for his performance as the shape-shifting teenager. While longtime Twihards still reminisce about Jella fan fiction and Lautner’s long hair (it was a wig the whole time), the film franchise took a mental and emotional toll on the star, pushing him to step back from Hollywood.
“It was a learning curve for all of us as a family.”
“In ‘Twilight,’ I was the youngest — I was 16 — and so my parents were a big part of (grounding me) even when I was shooting movies,” he tells CNN in a recent interview. As swarms of fans chased him down with handmade signs proclaiming their love — in malls, movie theaters and even grocery stores — Lautner struggled to process his newfound fame and hardly took time to bask in his on-screen success.
For Lautner’s parents, dealing with fame was “uncharted territory,” and watching him rise to the top didn’t change the fact that he was still their son. “When I was home, I still had to take out the trash,” he says. “I still had to mow the lawn.” He jokingly adds that his parents would tell him, “We don’t care that you’re on the big screen. You still have to do your chores.”
In addition to making sure he stayed grounded, Lautner’s parents were key in helping him realize his need to separate himself from his overwhelming popularity. “My parents definitely just put it into perspective. I think even for them it was uncharted territory for parents who have a 16-year-old going through that,” he says, adding that the sudden influx of attention from fans – and the pressure that came with it – inspired him to take a break from acting. “It was a learning curve for all of us as a family. And so I think the step back is just a good refresher and just to make sure you’re doing things for the right reasons.”
As filming wrapped on “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2,” the fifth installment in the film franchise, Lautner noticed his fan base quickly began to dwindle. With fans disappearing as quickly as they had arrived, he began to experience impostor syndrome, another factor that led to his much-needed hiatus. “Once that’s taken away from you at all, you start questioning yourself and start thinking, ‘Oh, do people care about me anymore?’” he said. “It kind of goes away. You notice it, and that’s the dangerous part, because it can really mess with your mind.”
After taking a short hiatus from the entertainment industry to reflect on his experiences, Lautner returned to roles as Cam in “Tracers” (2015) and Dale Ashbrick Jr. in the British sitcom “Cuckoo” (2014–2018). He most recently appeared as Troy Lambert in “Home Team,” a sports comedy film about a disgraced NFL player who returns home to coach his son’s middle school football team. In 2018, the star also started dating Taylor Dome, a nurse from California.
On November 13, 2021, he announced their engagement via Instagram. “Can’t wait to spend forever with you @taydome,” he wrote. “You love me unconditionally. You can’t stand my 💩. You calm me down when I’m anxious. You make me laugh way too much. You make every single day with you so special. And most importantly, you make me a better person. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve brought to my life. I love you forever.”