In a packed auditorium at Lecanto High School, the current generation of Panthers students welcome Taylor home.
Taylor returned to his alma mater for a student assembly to celebrate the naming of the school’s theater after him.
Taylor said, “I think it’s nice to know that I’m still popular with young people.”
Taylor walked out to applause on the same stage on which he once performed as a student at Lecanto High School. And now, 20 years later, it is named in his honor.
Taylor, who graduated in 2005, said, “I was in the dressing room tonight and I was thinking of all these memories. I mean, this is where I got to perform. So, you think the actors probably come from certain drama high schools that have performing arts schools that have put a lot of money into the program. We just did it based on passion.”
It is this passion that led Taylor towards acting. Starred in his high school’s production of “Footloose”, where he played Willard Hewitt.
This was a role he would play on the silver screen as well. To recognize Taylor and his accomplishments, Lecanto High School announced the dedication of the Miles Teller Theater in the Curtis Peterson Auditorium.
“From now on, anyone who performs on this stage can start living their dreams and become the next Hollywood superstar,” said Citrus County Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Hebert.
and that’s not all. Taylor and his wife – Kelly Taylor – donated $50,000 to the Citrus County Education Foundation during the assembly.
“There are high school kids here who are literally homeless and living in the woods who have been abandoned by their parents,” Taylor said. “It’s a terrible situation, it’s very difficult to deal with. And so while I think you can help underprivileged people, everyone should have the right to education and clean clothes and food.”
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