He became a black belt at the age of 10, and by the age of 14, he was a four-time world champion. In , he got his big break when he landed the role of Sharkboy in the film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D. Also that year, he starred in Cheaper by the Dozen 2. The late s 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.
Also in the same year, Lautner was named the highest-paid teenage actor in Hollywood. In , Lautner starred in the action film Abduction , in which he did almost all of his stunts. In , he starred in the action film Tracers and the comedy film The Ridiculous 6. The following year, he portrayed Dr. He commented, "I just had to tell myself 'I can't let this get to me. This is what I love to do.
And I'm going to continue doing it. He took his first karate class at the age of six. In junior high, Lautner—who was involved in karate, baseball and hip-hop dance—won the award for "Best Smile" and played in the school's Turkey Bowl American Football game. In his first months after moving to Los Angeles, Lautner appeared in small television roles, small film roles, and ads and commercials.
In , Lautner first appeared in the made-for-television film, Shadow Fury. He then got a voice-over job in a commercial for Rugrats Go Wild. The same year, he earned his first breakout role, starring in the film, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D. In , filmmakers began a search for actors to portray Jacob Black , a Native American friend of lead character Bella Swan in Twilight , the first film in The Twilight Saga film series.
Lautner had not heard of the Twilight series before, but was urged by his agent to audition. It received mixed reviews from critics, having a "Rotten" rating with a weighted average of 5. Initially, director Chris Weitz wanted to recast the role of Jacob Black for Twilight 's sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon , due to the major physical changes that occur in Black between the two novels, and have an actor that would accurately portray "the new, larger Jacob Black.
