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Taylor Lautner says Twilight fame made him too "scared" to leave the house

31 January 2022, 17:15

Taylor Lautner recreates the 'Where the hell have you been Loca?' meme with Jimmy Fallon

By Jazmin Duribe

"I was scared to go out. I'd get super anxious to go out. So I just didn't."

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Taylor Lautner has opened up about struggling with fame and being too "scared" to leave the house after the success of Twilight.

As you know, Taylor played Edward Cullen's (Robert Pattinson) love rival and werewolf Jacob Black in all five Twilight movies, which saw him become a household name overnight. Taylor was only 16 years old when the first movie was released in 2008.

Now, in an interview with Today, the actor has admitted that fame was hard to deal with at such a young age. "Not many things in life can come and happen overnight. Fame can. It also can disappear overnight," he explained

Taylor Lautner says Twilight fame made him too "scared" to leave the house. Picture: Greg Doherty/WireImage, Entertainment Pictures

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

Taylor said that he spent 10 years avoiding going out in public, especially without a disguise, because he feared being recognised. He added: "I went so many years either not leaving my house, or if I did, hat, sunglasses, and just like, scared. It built up something inside of me 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."

Taylor Lautner played Jacob Black. Picture: Entertainment Pictures

In 2016, Taylor took a break from acting which gave him time to reflect on his career. During that time met his fiancé, Taylor Dome, who he got engaged to in November 2021. He is now set to return to acting in Netflix's Home Team.

He continued: "In the moment, it got frustrating because you just wanted to live a normal life. But then when that's taken away from you at all, you start to question yourself and start to be like 'oh, do people not care about me anymore?' When it goes away a little bit, you notice it, and that's the dangerous part because that can mess with your mind."

More recently (May 24 2023), Taylor took to Instagram to share another powerful message about how cruel internet comments can affect someone's mental health – including his own. In the video, Taylor addressed a handful of hurtful remarks made about him and how he's "aged," and shared an important message in the process.

"You find value where you put it, and if you put your value in what other people think of you, that's how you're gonna feel", he said. "But if you put your value in you, knowing who you are, what's important to you, what you love, that kind of stuff won't get to you. And I'm just so thankful that I am in the place I am today where I can see that."