Taylor Lautner Says 'Mainly the Twi-Moms' Would Recognize Him Before Twilight Netflix Resurgence
Jacob Black is back for a new audience.
In this week's issue of PEOPLE, Taylor Lautner opens up about the new generation of fans who are being exposed to Twilight for the first time, as a result of the vampire fantasy film series now streaming on Netflix.
"Before that, to be honest, it was mainly the 'Twi-moms' that would still stop me in the streets," Lautner, 29, says with a laugh.
And now? "It's like teenagers again," the actor shares.
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Lautner portrayed werewolf Jacob Black in all five Twilight Saga movies, completing the series' primary love triangle opposite Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen.
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After the final Twilight film premiered in 2012, Lautner went on to star in a few films and two television shows — Cuckoo and Scream Queens — but took a break from acting in 2016.
"I don't think it was a conscious decision, but it made sense for me at that time in my life," says Lautner, whose breakout role was in 2005's The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. "I started acting from when I was a child, and it was kind of nonstop until I was in my early to mid twenties."
"I'm super thankful for what I did experience, but I did miss out on a lot of just normal-life things, like going to college," he adds. "I wanted to take a step back and enjoy life and spend some time with my family and friends. And I met my fiancée out of it, so it all worked out."
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Lautner is making his film return in the Adam Sandler-produced Netflix sports comedy Home Team. The actor will star alongside Kevin James, who plays New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton in a story that touches on the team's Bountygate scandal following their 2010 Super Bowl win.
Two years after winning the Super Bowl, Payton, 58, was given a yearlong suspension from the NFL back in 2012. In the heartwarming film, he soon returns to his hometown, where he reconnects with his 12-year-old son by coaching his Pop Warner youth football team.
Lautner tells PEOPLE that coaching tweens in the movie feels "full circle," explaining, "I did my first feature, Sharkboy and Lavagirl, when I was 12, and all the kids in this movie were about 12."
"I remember everyone taking me in and supporting me on my first movie sets, and I wanted to do my best to provide that to these kids and just be their big brother," he says.
Home Team hits Netflix on Friday.
For more from Taylor Lautner, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
With reporting by People (The TV Show!) correspondent Segun Oduolowu.
