Vampire Edward Cullen has a love rival in the shape of werewolf Jacob Black, but off screen, R-patz better watch his back too. Here's 10 things you should know about the hot stuff that is 17 year old Taylor Lautner.

SO WHO EXACTLY IS THIS GUY?

Taylor Daniel Lautner was born on 11 February 1992 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
He is mostly Dutch, French and German descent, and claims some Native American (specifically Ottawa and Potawatomi) ancestry through his mother.

1. HE'S A CLEVER BI-LINGUAL TYPE

In New Moon, Jacob speaks Spanish to Bella, and even some Quileute, the language of the American Idian tribe he belongs to. He says,`I did speak a little bit of Quileute, when I was leaning in to kiss Bella in the kitchen, and I'm not gonna tell you what I said. I'll leave that for you to figure out. But it was really cool. There's only, like, four people left in the world who actually speak Quileute, so I was able to talk to one of these ladies. It was really interesting.'

2. HE'S A KARATE KID

He may be a kick-ass werewolf in Twilight, but the boy can handle himself in real life too. At the age of six, he took up karate, and by the time he was eight, he won three gold medals at the World Karate Association. In 2003, at only eleven years old, he was number one in the world for NASKA's Black Belt Open Forms, Musical Weapons, Traditional Weapons, and Traditional Forms. So don't make him angry.

3. HE'S GOT MUSIC IN HIM

Taylor appeared in the music video Caught Up In You for singer Cassi Thomson. It was made before the muscles, but he's still a cutie. Taylor also enjoys making home movies with his friends, who include Sharkboy And Lavagirl co-star Taylor Dooley, who lives near his Los Angeles home.

4. HIS BIG BREAK

In 2005, at the age of 13, Taylor won the role of Shark Boy in the Robert Rodriguez film The Adventures Of Sharkboy And Lavagirl 3-D. Within months, he got the part of Eliot, the son of the Bakers rival, in Cheaper By The Dozen 2. The rest, as they say, is history.

5. BITTEN... THIS TIME BY THE ACTING BUG

When he was seven, his martial arts instructor persuaded him to audition for the part in a Burger King advert in Los Angeles. He didn't get the part, but he told his parents he wanted to pursue a career in acting. By the time he was 10, his family relocated from Michigan to LA, where Taylor would have the advantage of being able to audition on a full time basis. You could say it was a gamble that paid off.

6. R-PATTZ IS SCARED OF HIM

Robert Pattinson has admitted he felt inferior to Taylor when he was asked to strip off during filming. Robert reveals his torso towards the end of New Moon but the 23 year old said his body was no match for Lautner, who added 30lbs of muscle to play werewolf Jacob Black.'it's really embarrassing, especially when Taylor has a 14 pack or something.' Pattinson said

7. GOT SOME TEETH

When he was at school, Taylor won best smile. And when he was on the Tyra Banks Show recently, Tyra (no slouch in the perfect pearlies department herself) said he had the best teeth I have ever seen in my show since 50 cent was on. So there you go.

8. FORGET WOLVES...

Taylor does own a dog, but it's not a husky or wolf type dog. It's a little small enough to pop in your handbag Maltese called Roxy.

9. HE LURVES THE LADIES

He dated actress Miley Cyrus in 2006. He clearly likes his popstrels, as it was rumoured that he was dating Taylor Swift. But when it comes to crushes on older women, Mr Lautner says, 'It used to be Jessica Alba, and i'm kind of transferring to Megan Fox.' Sadly for Taylor, Megan is on Team Robert, having said, 'I'd eat Robert Pattinson to steal some of that pretty.' Yes dear.

10. DANCING BOY

The hunk loves to dance. He made his own youtube music video for the song Apologize (www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCfetMNPF5Q), and participates in hip hop dance groups LA hip kids and hot shots.