Taylor Lautner isn’t holding his fiancée Taylor “Tay” Dome’s childhood crush against her — even if it happened to be his onscreen nemesis, Edward Cullen.
In June, the “Twilight” star’s fiancée revealed that before being in a relationship with the actor — who portrayed werewolf Jacob Black in the vampire franchise, based on the hit novels by Stephanie Meyer — she was Team Edward.
In a video posted to her Instagram in June, Dome, who is a registered nurse, responded to the prompt, “Show your childhood crush and then the person you ended up with.” The clip then flashed to a photo of Edward, the mysterious vampire of Forks, Washington, played by Robert Pattinson, before switching to a photo of Lautner and of their November engagement.
“I forget how she told me about it, but she definitely at some point came clean because I knew she was a big fan of the ‘Twilight’ franchise,” Lautner, 30, told TODAY via Zoom while talking about his involvement in the Clear the Shelters campaign. “She told me that she used to go to all the midnight showings and binge the previous movies before seeing the new ones.”
“And at one point, I think she did just tell me that she was on the other side, but (that was) back then,” the actor said, adding, “I was fine with it as long as I converted her now.”
After posting the viral video, Lautner commented on the clip, writing, “'bout time I won something,” seemingly referencing how his “Twilight” character didn’t end up with Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart).
“Yeah, Team Jacob needed a win, so I was happy to bring that one home,” Lautner reiterated to TODAY. And while Dome is a fan of his work, Lautner is a super-fan of his soon-to-be-wife.
“She may be a fan of mine, but I’m an even bigger fan of hers. She’s a nurse and has a heart of gold and just started her own foundation speaking about mental health,” the actor said. “And I just I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
The couple has been together since 2018. They were introduced by Lautner’s sister, Makena. She called him one day to tell Lautner that she had found his “future wife,” who coincidentally had the same name as he did, and that he needed to meet her.
His sister suggested he throw a game night and invite Dome, which Lautner did. However, it took a while for Dome to realize that Lautner was romantically interested in her.
“The first three, four or five times I hung out with Tay she had no idea I was interested in her and thought I was just being nice to my sister’s friends,” Lautner said. “It took it took a while for her to realize what was actually going on.”
Flash forward to November 2021 and the two Taylors are now engaged. They currently don’t have a wedding date set, but are “soaking up” their engagement period. And yes, they have spoken about what Dome will choose as her last name once they become husband and wife.
“I left it up to her. I was like you, you do whatever you want to do,” Lautner said. “But she wants to take my name. So, it’s going to be very confusing, for sure.”
Before getting engaged, the couple adopted their dog Remi in July 2021, and have since become advocates for pet adoption. Dome also has a dog she adopted named Lily, who Lautner said “instantly became my dog daughter.”
After adopting Remi, Lautner teamed up with Hill’s Pet Nutrition to support Clear The Shelters, NBCUniversal's nationwide pet adoption and donation campaign. The program encourages prospective pet owners to find their new best friend during the country’s largest pet adoption of the year.
“I knew I was passionate about adopting and rescuing these beautiful animals, and also because of what they’ve done to my life,” Lautner said about joining the campaign. “The adopting and the shelter route was something that Tay introduced to me ... so it was a no brainer then when we got Remi that we were gonna go that route again. And she’s just a dream dog.”
Approximately 6.3 million companion animals enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year, according to American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. This year, Shelter Animals Count, shared that over the past five months, more animals are entering shelters than leaving them.
“Now more than ever is the time for people to be adopting and rescuing these animals,” Lautner said. “So I wanted to get involved and just share my experience with our two angels and say to people out there, if you’re ready, if you feel like you can be a pet parent, go out there. Find your local shelter. If you want a kickstarter go to hillscleartheshelters.com and there’s a bunch of tools for you to find your perfect family member.”
Lautner and Dome have the perfect companions and are the ultimate millennial dog parents.
“We have them on Instagram, so I’m proud of that. I, even more so than their mother probably, enjoy dressing them up,” the actor said. “I don’t know how much they enjoy that but I love putting hoodies and dresses and whatever on them, jerseys.”
“They’re just truly a part of our family,” he added, noting that they “will definitely” include the dogs in their wedding. “They’re our kids, so they go everywhere and do everything with us.”