Actor Taylor Lautner has opened up about tasting instant fame as a teen idol with The Twilight Saga film franchise, revealing he was unable to step outside his house for about 10 years.
The now 29-year-old actor, who rose to prominence post his role as the shapeshifter Jacob Black in movies based on Stephenie Meyer’s fantasy novels, was just 16 when he landed the job.
He co-starred with Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in the five-film series that was released between 2008 and 2012.
“I went so many years either not leaving my house, or if I did, hat, sunglasses, and just like, scared,” Lautner said, after it was revealed that he didn’t go to a grocery store, movie theatre, or mall for a decade.
“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,” he said in an appearance on the Today show.
Lautner said he was hounded by fans and the media round the clock.
“… 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,” he recalled.
The actor, who will next be seen in the Netflix film Home Team, said the attention soon became “frustrating” as he wanted to live a normal life.
“Not many things in life can come and happen overnight. Fame can. It also can disappear overnight.
“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 really mess with your mind,” he explained.
Lautner said he decided to step away from the spotlight a bit at that point and found “freedom” by returning to everyday tasks.
“It was needed for me personally. I, Taylor, feel so much better today than I have in the last four to five years,” he added.