Taylor Lautner just invented a new category of acrobatic move: The nervous backflip, which he has performed, specifically, at more than one Taylor Swift event.
In July, the Twilight star came out onto the stage during a Kansas City stop of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and did a backflip down it. He came onto the stage to celebrate starring in Swift’s recently released “I Can See You” music video — alongside Joey King and Presly Cash, who did not do backflips on stage when they came out.
And on Tuesday’s episode of the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he finally opened up about the reason why:
I do this weird thing and it doesn’t make sense, so forgive me. But when I freak out and I’m really nervous and I black out, I just go straight to backflip. So I stepped out of this door and I saw this, like, this walkway. And it was like 60 yards down the field. And I’m like, “I have to walk down this whole thing? This is going to be so uncomfortable.” I was like, “Just backflip, and I’ll take up the space and it will be over.”
This is would not be the last time Lautner backflipped at a Taylor Swift event. He once again did a backflip at a screening of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert movie. In October, he and wife Taylor Lautner (yes, they’re both named Taylor Lautner) hosted a screening of the concert film — at which he did another backflip, this time with the Spider-Man landing.
Where will the man backflip next? If the Taylors continue to work together, and if he’s on an even bigger stage, maybe we’ll get a full tumbling pass or cheerleading routine? One can only hope.