In 2008, Taylor Lautner starred in Twilight. For years afterwards, he was scared to go out.

In 2008, it would have been hard to find a teenage girl who was not in love with Taylor Lautner.

Catapulted to international fame as Jacob Black in the exceedingly successful Twilight franchise, Lautner had reached a level of stardom experienced by few people in this world.

The 2005 vampire sci-fi romance novel by Stephenie Meyer brought its three little-known leads – Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen), Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan) and Taylor Lautner – to a remarkable level of stardom and saleability.

Lautner played the long-haired deadly werewolf, with a soft heart. And he was one half of one of the most famous dichotomies in film history: 'Team Edward' versus 'Team Jacob'.

The respective teams split fans in half, as debates over who should win Bella Swan’s heart remained strife for years after.

In the 14 years since the first Twilight film was released, Lautner's acting career has slowed down. In 2012, the last sequel of the franchise, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, appeared in cinemas.

In a new interview, Lautner explained that stepping out of the spotlight was by choice; because with Twilight, he became too famous at such a young age.

"I was 16, 17, 18 years old, waking up and trying to just go out for a walk or, you know, go on a date and I have 12 cars waiting outside my house to follow me wherever I'm going or, you know, when you show up to an airport or anywhere and you have thousands of fans screaming," Lautner said. 

"In the moment, it got frustrating. Because you just wanted to live a normal life."

Lautner also admitted that after the success of the franchise, he didn't go to a supermarket or movie cinema for a decade.

"I went so many years, either not leaving my house, or, if I did, you know, hat, sunglasses... like, scared," he said.

"It built up something inside of me where, where I didn't know it, but I was scared to go out. I'd get super anxious to go out. So I just didn't."

Since Twilight, the now 29-year-old has played much smaller roles. In 2013, for example, Lautner appeared in Grown Ups 2 alongside Adam Sandler. He played a frat boy who wasn't considered one of the main characters.

In 2015, he starred in Netflix's The Ridiculous 6, once again with Adam Sandler. It is one of the few films to receive a 0 per cent rating on the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

In 2016, Lautner appeared in his last film for years, titled Run The Tide. The indie drama has an 11 per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and received a plethora of negative reviews online.

Now in 2022, the actor is set to star in the sports comedy Home Team, alongside Rob Schneider and Adam Sandler's wife, Jackie Sandler.

When asked by Good Morning America if he sometimes felt "pigeonholed" by the Twilight franchise, the actor admitted, "That's kind of why I want to choose things that are different."

He also told Reuters in 2016 that his career was not his priority.

"For me the biggest thing is just surrounding myself with people that I love, just spending time, it doesn’t matter what I’m doing as long as I’m with my friends and my family," he told the publication.

"You know, I could be sitting in a cardboard box and that’s where I’m happiest."

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As for his personal life, Lautner was previously in a relationship with Billie Lourd, who he met on the set of Scream Queens, a television series he played a minor role in during 2016. Lautner and Lourd were together when her mother and grandmother, actresses Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, suddenly passed away within days of each other in 2016. After a few months of dating, the couple split up.

Most recently, Lautner has found love with a nurse, also called Taylor. The two, who have been together since 2018, announced their engagement in November 2021.

Lautner shared on Instagram to his 6.9 million followers that in just a moment, "all my wishes came true."

Tay wrote on her own account: "My absolute best friend. I CANNOT WAIT TO SPEND FOREVER WITH YOU."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by TAY (@taydome)

They first sent dating rumours flying after they were spotted attending a wedding ceremony together in September 2018, but they wouldn't confirm their relationship status until Halloween of that same year - when they both shared to Instagram their matching costumes.

If an engagement couldn't show just how serious the couple are - in July 2021, the two welcomed another dog into their family, named Remi - who follows behind Lily. 

Tay, who lives a life relatively out of the spotlight compared to her famous partner, recently announced she had become a registered nurse. 

In 2020, she wrote: "I am soo excited to announce that I am OFFICIALLY A REGISTERED NURSE!!! I can not believe all of my hard work has paid off!! I have dreamed of this moment for so long and I still can’t believe it’s here.

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A post shared by TAY (@taydome)

"Thank you to the most patient and supportive boyfriend @taylorlautner You deserve all the praise in the world for what you have put up with over the past couple months and I am SO thankful to have you by my side"

Previously, Lautner dated the likes of Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez and Maika Monroe.

 

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Eskimo Season ❄️⛄️

A post shared by  Taylor Lautner (@taylorlautner) on Dec 6, 2019 at 10:35am PST

 

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#taylorcrushthursday

A post shared by  TAY???? (@taydome) on Jun 6, 2019 at 12:05pm PDT

As for his film career, unlike his Twilight co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, both of whom have experienced resurgences in their acting careers recently, Taylor Lautner's acting skills have failed to shine through post the vampire franchise.

This article was originally written on January 4, 2020, and was updated on January 29, 2022.

Feature Image: Instagram @taydome.

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