Negativity has no imprint on Taylor Lautner.
The Twilight alum didn’t hold back when he confronted criticism over his appearance that recently surfaced on Instagram. In fact, Taylor even reposted some of the hurtful remarks, including comments saying that he “did not age well,” as a way to open a dialogue about mental health.
“If this was 10 years ago, five years ago, maybe even two, three years ago, that really would have got under my skin,” he said in a May 22 video. “It would have caused me to want to just go in a hole and not go outside.”
However, as the 31-year-old noted, he’s now “in a different place” and is no longer in an “unhealthy position” where he focuses on the “wrong things.”
“You find value where you put it,” Taylor explained. “And if you put your value in what other people think of you, that’s how you’re going to feel. But if you put your value in you knowing who you are, what’s important to you, what you love, that kind of stuff won’t get to you.”
He added, “My biggest point is just think about and remember where you put your value in life, and also just be nice. It’s not that difficult. Let’s be nice to each other. Let’s spread love and positivity. It’s that simple.”
Other hurtful statements Taylor reposted said he “looks like old broccoli” and “aged like a raisin.”
However, in the comments section of his post, Taylor was met with an outpour of support.
“‘It doesn’t make me question who I am,'” the actor’s wife—who is also named Taylor Lautner—wrote, quoting one of his lines from the clip. “God I love you.”
Meanwhile, Bachelor Nation‘s Clayton Echard—whose been vocal about his body dysmorphia disorder—praised Taylor for his vulnerability. “People need to realize the weight of their words and it doesn’t help that there’s often no accountability when it comes to social media,” he wrote. “You sharing will help others understand the power of their words and maybe next time, they’ll reconsider before they hit send.”
Taylor has been open about his struggles with mental health in the past. On a February episode of his podcast The Squeeze, the star shared how being shirtless in the Twilight film saga led to body image issues.
“When I was in it, when I was 16 through 20 years old, starring in this franchise where my character is known for taking his shirt off every other second,” he said. “I did not know that it was affecting me or going to affect me in the future with body image, but now looking back at it, of course it did, and of course it is going to.”
Explaining how he was “forced to be in a gym multiple times a day, six days a week” during filming, Taylor recalled facing jabs about his less muscular physique when he stopped working out as hard after the franchise ended in 2012.
“I was filming a movie called Run The Tide, and my character in that is not supposed to be a body builder or ripped guy in any way. I thought I looked fine,” he remembered. “They put the side-by-sides of me shirtless in the ocean in a scene from that movie compared to me in Eclipse or whatever and being like, ‘Wow, he’s let it all go.'”
Taylor said those comparisons “messed with me” for years, though he since “sees things differently.”
“Your body can look unbelievable, you can be ripped, shredded, whatever you can lose weight, you can put on muscle,” he added, “and if you’re not healthy mentally, then that’s all for nothing because that can work against you.”
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