Taylor Lautner is best ed for playing Jacob Black in the vampire Edward Cullen, with werewolf Jacob Black in-between.
Twilight was followed by three novels – New Moon, Eclipse, and Bella Swan in Kristen Stewart, and its Jacob Black in Taylor Lautner.
Given the popularity of the novels, many actors were interested in the roles of Edward, Bella, and Jacob, and for the latter, Taylor Lautner had some interesting competition – but not just before Twilight was released, as he was almost recast when New Moon was in pre-production.
Twilight: Michael Copon Almost Replaced Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black
Jacob Black is introduced in Twilight, but he goes through a big transformation in New Moon, as his werewolf nature is finally revealed. With that in mind, New Moon director Chris Weitz considered replacing Taylor Lautner with someone who could portray the “new, larger Jacob Black” more accurately as he wasn’t sure Lautner could bulk up, and Michael Copon was in consideration for the role. Though Copon wasn’t exactly a newcomer, he had only been part of small productions in both film and TV, and New Moon could have been his big break. However, Lautner weight-trained extensively to gain the muscle weight that the character required, and so he kept the role.
Prior to the possible recast, when Twilight was in development, Tyler Posey auditioned for the role of Jacob Black. Posey had appeared in films like Collateral Damage and Maid in Manhattan, and even though he didn’t get the role of Jacob Black, he ended up playing a werewolf in MTV’s Scream Queens and Cuckoo. Lautner proved that he could play a role as physically demanding as Jacob Black, which will hopefully keep opening various doors for him in the future.
