Taylor Daniel Lautner was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan to parents, Deborah and Daniel Lautner. He, and younger sister Makena, were raised in a well-mannered, Roman Catholic household in Hudsonville, Michigan. At the age of six, Taylor began studying martial arts at Fabiano's Karate School and he, along with his family, quickly noticed his unique and natural talent for the sport. He was soon invited to train with seven-time world karate champion Michael Chaturantabut (aka Mike Chat) and, at the age of eight, he was asked to represent his country in the twelve years and under division in the World Karate Association where he became the Junior World Forms and Weapons champion, winning three gold medals. In 2003, Taylor continued to flourish in the martial arts circuit where he 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 became the three time Junior World Champion. Lautner got his big break when he was cast as Jacob Black in The Twilight Saga film series, beginning with the first film, Twilight (2008). Lautner returned for the following two movies, The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), and is set to appear in the last two films for the series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. Lautner has been nominated for several awards for his work in the Twilight series, including honors at the MTV Movie Awards, People’s Choice Awards, and Scream Awards.The late 2000s saw Lautner become a teen idol and rise as a sex symbol, after extensively changing his physique to keep the role of Jacob Black in further Twilight installments, and thereafter generating media attention for his good 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, among other honors. As of 2010, Lautner was considered the highest-paid teenage actor in Hollywood.
