Taylor Daniel Lautner (born February 11, 1992)[1] is an American actor, model and martial artist. Lautner is best known for playing Jacob Black in The Twilight Saga film series based on the novels of the same name by Stephenie Meyer.
As a child, Lautner took up martial arts in Holland, Michigan and was ranked number one in his category by the American Sports Karate Association. Lautner later 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. He also starred in the 2011 action film Abduction.
The late 2000s saw Lautner become a teen idol and sex symbol, after extensively changing his physique to keep the role of Jacob Black in further Twilight installments, and generating media attention for his looks. In 2010, he was ranked second on Glamour's "The 50 Sexiest Men of 2010" list, and fourth on People's "Most Amazing Bodies" list. Also in the same year, Lautner was named the highest-paid teenage actor in Hollywood.