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Noah Taylor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Noah Taylor
Taylor in 2016
Born (1969-09-04) 4 September 1969 (age 55)
London, England
NationalityAustralian
Occupation(s)Actor, artist
Years active1987–present
Spouse
Dionne Harris
(m. 2012)

Noah–George Taylor (born 4 September 1969) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage David Helfgott in Shine, Locke in the HBO series Game of Thrones, Darby Sabini in the BBC One series Peaky Blinders, Mr. Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Danny in the Australian cult film He Died with a Felafel in His Hand. Taylor also starred as Adolf Hitler in both the American television series Preacher and the 2002 film Max. In 2023 he starred as Dr. Friedrich "Fritz" Pfeffer in A Small Light.

Early life

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Taylor, elder of two sons, was born in London to Australian parents, Maggie (née Miller), a journalist and book editor, and Paul Taylor, a copywriter and journalist. His parents returned to Australia when he was five, and he grew up in Clifton Hill and St Kilda, suburbs of Melbourne.[1]

After performing in plays at St Martins Youth Arts Centre in South Yarra for a year, he gained the attention of director John Duigan, who cast him in the 1987 film The Year My Voice Broke, the first part of a planned trilogy. Taylor also appeared in its sequel, Flirting (1991), alongside Thandiwe Newton with Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts in supporting roles.

Career

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Film

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Taylor's early screen roles included playing the lead in the critically acclaimed The Year My Voice Broke and Flirting and he gained significant international attention playing the tormented young pianist David Helfgott in the 1996 film Shine. Taylor's résumé includes action movies (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life), comedies (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), psychological thrillers (Vanilla Sky and Predestination) and historical dramas (Max, in which he played the young Adolf Hitler.) He also played the role of Adolf Hitler in AMC's series Preacher.

Taylor once commented in an interview that he was sick of acting out the nostalgic reminiscences of other people. He has done this in a number of films including The Nostradamus Kid, which was based on the early life of the Australian author Bob Ellis, a young David Helfgott in Shine, the protagonist in John Birmingham's memoir He Died with a Felafel in His Hand, and Almost Famous, based on the memories of the film's writer and director, Cameron Crowe.

In 2010, Taylor starred in Simon Rumley's mystery thriller Red White & Blue,[2] which had its world premiere as part of the SXSW Film Festival in March 2010.[3]

Television

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In 2013, Taylor appeared in both the third and fourth seasons of HBO's epic fantasy series Game of Thrones,[4] based on the A Song of Ice and Fire book series by George R. R. Martin. In the adaptation, Taylor plays the character of Locke, an original character of the television series, who serves as a condensed version of several characters of the books, most notably the ruthless and sadistic mercenary leader Vargo Hoat.

Music video appearances

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Taylor has appeared in a small number of music videos. One of his earliest screen performances was in the video for Beargarden's song The Finer Things. This video was directed by Richard Lowenstein, who then cast Taylor in a supporting role in the film Dogs in Space. Much later, he appeared in the video of "Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow", a song by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, along with the video for M.O.R. by British alternative rock group Blur. He also played a young Romeo in the video "Romeos" from Alphaville.

Music

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He has also performed and recorded as a musician. In 2001 he released an album Popular Music for All Peoples under the name 'C.B.M.' (Cardboard Box Man)[5] and in 2011, an EP Live Free or Die!!! as Noah Taylor & the Sloppy Boys on Z-Man Records.[6]

Personal life

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When not acting, Taylor draws and paints, and is also an accomplished musician, playing viola and French horn as a young teenager, and guitar from the age of 16. He plays the piano by ear. He has sung and played guitar in several of his own bands, including Honky Tonk Angels, Cardboard Box Man, Flipper & Humphrey, Access Axis, and The Thirteens, a country-western rock band described by Taylor as, "three manic depressives playing sad angst and western music for sad people". He names Johnny Cash and Lou Reed as two of the artists he admires.

On 14 November 2012, he married Dionne Harris, an Australian fashion designer. Taylor lives in Brighton, East Sussex.[7]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1986 Dogs in Space Bowie Fan
1987 The Year My Voice Broke Danny Embling
1989 The Prisoner of St. Petersburg Jack
Lover Boy Mick Short film
1991 Flirting Danny Embling
Dead to the World Skip
1992 Secrets Randolf
1993 The Nostradamus Kid Ken Elkin
1995 Dad and Dave: On Our Selection Joe Rudd
1996 Shine David Helfgott - Adolescent
1997 True Love and Chaos Dean
1998 Woundings Journalist
There's No Fish Food in Heaven Jeff
1999 Simon Magus Simon Magus
The Escort Gem
2000 The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz Hyde Park Nutter
Almost Famous Dick Roswell
2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Bryce
He Died with a Felafel in His Hand Daniel Kirkhope
Vanilla Sky Edmund Ventura
2002 Max Adolf Hitler
2003 The Sleeping Dictionary Neville Shiperly
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life Bryce
2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Vladimir Wolodarsky
2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Mr. Bucket
The Proposition Brian O'Leary
The New World Selway
2008 Lecture 21 Peters
2009 The New Daughter Professor Evan White
2010 Red White & Blue Nate
Submarine Lloyd Tate
2011 Red Dog Jack Collins
2012 Lawless Gummy Walsh
2013 The Double Harris
Mindscape Peter Lundgren
2014 Predestination Mr. Robertson
Edge of Tomorrow Dr. Carter
Lost in Karastan Xan Butler
Maya the Bee Movie Crawley (voice)
2016 The Windmill Massacre Nicholas Cooper
Free Fire Gordon
The Menkoff Method Max Menkoff
2017 Paddington 2 Phibs
2018 Skyscraper Mr. Pierce

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1987 Frontier Convict George Anderson Miniseries, 3 episodes
1988 Dadah is Death Andrew Barlow Television film
1989 Dolphin Cove Convict Episode: "Stormy Weather"
Bangkok Hilton Billy Engels Miniseries, 3 episodes
1990 A Country Practice Tony Waterson 2 episodes
1991 Boys from the Bush Vince Episode: "Multi Culture"
Inspector Morse Dave Harding Episode: "Promised Land"
The Last Crop Craig Sweeney Television film
1993 G.P. Dr. Martin Lloyd Episode: "Infected"
Joh's Jury Brad Television film
1997 Water Rats Ronny Jefferson Episode: "The Witness"
2010 Rake Stanley Shrimpton Episode: "R vs Lorton"
2012 The Borgias Mortician 2 episodes
Hatfields & McCoys Lark Varney Miniseries, 2 episodes
2013–2014 Game of Thrones Locke 8 episodes
2014 Peaky Blinders Darby Sabini 6 episodes
2015 Powers Johnny Royalle 10 episodes
And Then There Were None Thomas Rogers Miniseries, 2 episodes
2016 Deep Water Nick Manning Miniseries, 4 episodes
2017–2019 Preacher Adolf Hitler Main role (seasons 2–4)
2019 Hanna Dr. Roland Kunek 3 episodes
2023 Foundation Hetman 3 episodes
A Small Light Fritz Pfeffer Miniseries, 6 episodes
TBA So Long, Marianne George Johnston Post-production
2024 Thou Shalt Not Steal 8 Episodes Robert Senior

Music video appearances

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Year Title Artist Role
1989 Romeos Alphaville Romeo
1997 M.O.R. Blur Truck Passenger
2001 Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Dancer

Music

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Year Title Artist Type
2001 Popular Music for All Peoples 'C.B.M.' (Cardboard Box Man) Album
2011 Live Free or Die!!! Noah Taylor & the Sloppy Boys EP on Z-Man Records

References

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  1. ^ Noah Taylor profile, filmreference.com; accessed 5 March 2016.
  2. ^ Miska, Brad (5 February 2010). "SXSW '10: Official Festival One Sheet for 'Red White & Blue'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  3. ^ Miska, Brad (22 February 2010). "SXSW '10: Second Character Teaser for 'Red White & Blue'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  4. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (5 May 2014). "Game of Thrones' Noah Taylor on Locke, Jaime Lannister's Hand, and Being a TV-Less Luddite". Vulture. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  5. ^ C.B.M. – Popular Music For All Peoples (2001, CD), retrieved 29 April 2021
  6. ^ Trevor (1 November 2011). "Noah Taylor & The Sloppy Boys – Live Free Or Die!!!". Mess+Noise. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  7. ^ Shoard, Catherine (30 August 2012). "Noah Taylor: 'I'm more of a cat person'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
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