Why Twilight Producers 'Fired' Taylor Lautner And How He Changed Their Minds

Taylor Lautner will likely always be remembered for playing teenager-turned-werewolf Jacob Black in the "Twilight" films. But as he revealed not long ago, he was very nearly recast after appearing in the very first movie.

Lautner recently appeared on Alex Cooper's "Call Her Daddy" podcast, where the actor admitted that he almost lost the role. "Yeah, they called me and said, 'Thank you for your participation, but we are recasting you for the rest of the franchise,'" Lautner told Cooper. Apparently, the creative team behind "Twilight" was going to have Lautner play Jacob briefly in "Twilight" and bring back an older actor for "Twilight: New Moon," in which Jacob — a friend and potential love interest for Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and rival of vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) — has a much larger role. 

"Their plan was to just cast a regular 16-year-old, which I was at the time, and then they were going to cast someone in their mid-twenties to be Jacob for the rest of the franchise," Lautner continued. "I had to fight for my role in the franchise and thankfully I had already hit the gym the second we finished filming the first movie."

A huge part of Jacob's storyline in the "Twilight" saga is that when he reappears in "New Moon," he's much more grown up and has put on quite a lot of muscle ... which, it's later revealed, is partly because his body is about to undergo a dramatic transformation. Bella ultimately learns that Jacob comes from a long line of shapeshifters and that he can turn into a large and similarly muscular wolf. 

Lautner was aware of Jacob's storyline, which is why he started working out hard after the first film. "I knew if I was going to continue playing him, I'd need to," he told Alex Cooper. "When my team got the call they said 'Have you seen him recently?' and they said 'No, why?' and my team said 'You might want to take a meeting with him or something.'" Lautner had gotten incredibly ripped to portray Jacob; thanks to his commitment and hard work, he secured the role for the remainder of the series, becoming a pivotal character and forcing fans to choose between Team Jacob and Team Edward.

So what has Taylor Lautner been up to since the "Twilight" franchise made him a star? He's appeared in projects like "Scream Queens" and "Run the Tide," but he also made headlines by being Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriend. The two briefly dated in 2009, and after some time apart following their split, they became friends. In July 2023, Lautner and his wife, Taylor Dome Lautner, attended Swift's massive Eras Tour in Kansas City, Missouri, where the pop superstar premiered the music video for her song "I Can See You," which happens to star Lautner, Presley Cash, and Joey King. 

Swift brought the three onstage to introduce the video to thousands of her fans, at which point Lautner backflipped down the enormous stage and said some extremely kind things about Swift. In a viral video of the moment, Lautner told Swift and her crowd, "I respect you so much. Not for the singer you are, the songwriter, the performer, but truly for the human you are." He added, "You are courageous, humble, you are kind and I'm honored to know you, so thank you for having me be a part of this and being a part of my life."

Lautner also talked about Swift on "Call Her Daddy," saying that both he and Taylor Dome Lautner are thrilled to have the singer-songwriter in their lives. "Honestly I would say one of the greater things to happen in my life over the last year is the rekindling of our friendship," he said fondly.