Taylor Lautner’s Acting Template: Tom Cruise?

Taylor Lautner is currently shooting the final two films in the franchise that made him the most famous teen werewolf since Michael J. Fox put on a basketball uniform.
But despite no shortage of jokes about Lautner’s abs and his lines as Jacob Black, the “Twilight” star has a more ambitious career, one filled with meaty and dramatic roles, on his mind.
To achieve that, he’s looking at someone else who made the jump from teen pin-up to serious actor: Tom Cruise.
In 2011, Lautner will appear in his first major lead role with “Abduction,” a film that, though a commercial thriller, gave the 18-year-old a chance to work with an auteur director, John Singleton of “Boyz N the Hood” fame.
Lautner already had admired Cruise, and Singleton coached him on how to follow in the A-lister’s path (professionally). “I told him to watch the transition from ‘Top Gun’ to ‘Rain Man’ to ‘Born on the Fourth of July,’ “  Singleton told 24 Frames of his sessions with Lautner. “To think about what he did as a young man and what he did later on. And then think about what you want to do.”

Head to LA Times to read the full article.