Taylor Lautner

Lautner was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Deborah, who works for a software development company, and Daniel Lautner, a commercial airline pilot. He is of mostly Dutch, French, and German descent, and claims some Native American ancestry through his mother. He has a younger sister, Makena.

Lautner is an accomplished martial artist, having studied karate from the age of six to thirteen. When he was eleven, he was ranked number one in the world for NASKA's Black Belt Open Forms, Musical Weapons, Traditional Weapons and Traditional Forms and, at the age of twelve, he won the Junior World Championships.

Lautner began acting in 2001, appearing in the made-for-television film Shadow Fury. He subsequently had roles on the series Summerland, The Bernie Mac Show, and My Wife and Kids.

His big break came in 2005 when, at the age of thirteen, Lautner won the role of Shark Boy in the Robert Rodriguez film, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, a film that showcased his martial arts skills. He spent three months on location in Austin, Texas filming. Within months, he successfully auditioned to play Elliot, the son of the Bakers' rivals, in Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

In October 2008, Lautner played Christian Slater's son in the television series My Own Worst Enemy, until the show was cancelled after only 9 episodes. Lautner then played Native American character Jacob Black in Twilight, the movie adaptation of the novel by Stephenie Meyer. Due to major physical changes that occur in the character of Jacob Black throughout the series, the director of Twilight's sequel, New Moon, considered replacing Lautner with a different actor in the second film. In an attempt to keep the role, Lautner weight-trained extensively and gained approximately 30 pounds. Lautner will be reprising his role as Jacob in New Moon. Lautner has also been cast in the film Valentine's Day as Tyler Harrinton.

Lautner was a junior at Valencia High School for the 2008-09 school year, but tested out of high school and is taking college classes.