Through most of his adolescence Grant Taggart was convinced his dream to act was a waste of time.
Yet, he just couldn’t get it out of his head.
Taggart’s vision to be on the big screen began at age four, but his hopes were dashed when he was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome in junior high school.
“I felt ashamed of it because people bullied me for it,” he said. “When I would twitch and do certain movements with my eyes they would mimic me and talk about it. I even had times when I’ve had to leave a class because the twitching was getting bad and people would yell out, ‘I have Tourette’s too, I have to leave class.’”
Tourette syndrome is a nervous system condition that causes people to make sudden movements or sounds they can’t control. Taggart’s symptoms came in the form of frequent blinking, head shaking, hair tossing and arm flinging.
As a result, he figured his dream would never be a reality.
“There were a few times where I almost gave up on the dream of acting,” he said. “I was told throughout my life that I was never going to act. I thought there is no point. I can’t do it.”
Today, Taggart is a fashion model on the path towards becoming an actor.
He made his runway debut last summer with the Hong Kiyoung fashion line at the World MasterCard Fashion Week in Toronto, where he now lives.
“When I’m in front of a camera it turns off,” he said of his Tourette’s.
It was during high school that things started to turn around for Taggart.
After taking drama throughout junior high, Taggart enrolled in the Alberta High School of Fine Arts drama program and some of the students who shunned him in junior high were suddenly becoming his friends.
“It went from ‘Tourette’s is going go hurt me’ to ‘maybe Tourette’s won’t affect me’ to ‘let’s see how far I can take it,’” he said.
In Grade 11, Taggart worked up the courage to audition for the school production Back to the ’80s and got a part.
During that time, he was learning to control his Tourette’s while on stage and in character.
“I practiced it,” he said. “I’d been able to almost fool my mind when I’m playing this character that he doesn’t have it so it’s not there.”
Taggart also joined the Dewdney Players Group Theatre and landed roles in Present Laughter, Love Letters, Black Comedy and Robin Hood.
“People see you and they enjoy you and I’d think that’s why I’ve always wanted to be an actor,” he said.
Taggart graduated from the fine arts program in 2014 and in early 2015 moved to Toronto to pursue modeling so he could get his foot into the door of the acting world.
He signed on with the prestigious Ciotti Models agency soon after.
Taggart’s sister Loryn, a model, actress and singer, was living in Toronto at the time and helped him find a place to live, a job and an agent.
As Taggart builds up his modeling portfolio, his shoots have been in fashion modeling – which has a sense of irony.
“I don’t think fashion has ever been my thing,” he said. “I was that guy that went to high school in a t-shirt and jeans. Even now going into modeling (fashion) is not a huge part of me.”
You won’t see Taggart strutting around Toronto streets in the latest fashion, but those who haven’t seen him since high school will notice a difference in his appearance.
“When I first moved to Toronto I weighed about 150 pounds,” he said, who is now up to 170 pounds. “I was skinny. Since then I’ve been eating better and building muscle. I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been.”
Taggart hasn’t made enough money to make a career out of modeling yet, but his future looks bright.
“I’m now discussing with my agent about heading somewhere like New York or Japan,” he said. “I’m willing to go anywhere. If I really had to choose it would be New York.”
Taggart said New York would be the ideal place to start his acting career.
“I’m still young, still new,” she said. “I’m just seeing where it takes me.”
The teenager who was teased for his tics five years ago has come a long way.
“It’s important for people to know that there is nothing that is going to hold you back.”
