Noah Taylor

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Noah Taylor
Taylor in 2016
Born (1969-09-04) 4 September 1969 (age 54)
London, England
NationalityAustralian
Occupation(s)Actor, artist
Years active1987–present
Spouse
Dionne Harris
(m. 2012)

Noah George Taylor (born 4 September 1969) is a British-born 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[edit]

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[edit]

Film[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Dogs in Space Bowie Fan Feature film
1986 Killer Zombies Short film
1987 The Year My Voice Broke Danny Embling Feature film
1988 Dadah is Death (or A Long Way from Home) Andrew Barlow TV film
1989 The Prisoner of St. Petersburg Jack Feature film
1989 Lover Boy Mick Short film
1991 The Last Crop Craig Sweeney TV film
1991 Flirting Danny Embling Feature film
1991 Dead to the World Skip Feature film
1992 Road to Alice Jimmy Short film
1992 Secrets Randolf Feature film
1993 The Nostradamus Kid Ken Elkin Feature film
1993 Joh's Jury Brad TV film
1995 Dad and Dave: On Our Selection Joe Rudd Feature film
1996 Shine David Helfgott - Adolescent Feature film
1997 True Love and Chaos Dean Feature film
1997 Down Rusty Down Rusty Short film
1998 Woundings (or Brand New World) Journalist Feature film
1998 There's No Fish Food in Heaven (or Life in the Fast Lane) Jeff Feature film
1999 Simon Magus Simon Magus Feature film
1999 The Escort Feature film
2000 The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz Hyde Park Nutter Feature film
2000 Almost Famous Dick Roswell Feature film
2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Bryce Feature film
2001 He Died with a Felafel in His Hand Daniel Kirkhope Feature film
2001 Vanilla Sky Edmund Ventura Feature film
2002 Max Adolf Hitler Feature film
2003 The Sleeping Dictionary Neville Shiperly Feature film
2003 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life Bryce Feature film
2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Vladimir Wolodarsky Feature film
2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Mr. Bucket Feature film
2005 The Proposition Brian O'Leary Feature film
2005 The New World Selway Feature film
2008 Lecture 21 Peters Feature film
2009 The New Daughter Professor Evan White Feature film
2010 Red White & Blue Nate Feature film
2010 Submarine Lloyd Tate Feature film
2011 Red Dog Jack Collins Feature film
2012 Lawless Gummy Walsh Feature film
2013 The Double Harris Feature film
2013 Mindscape (or Anna) Peter Lundgren Feature film
2014 Predestination Mr. Robertson Feature film
2014 Edge of Tomorrow Dr. Carter Feature film
2014 Lost in Karastan Xan Butler Feature film
2014 Maya the Bee Movie Crawley (voice) Animated feature film
2016 The Windmill Massacre (or The Windmill) Nicholas Cooper Feature film
2016 Free Fire Gordon Feature film
2017 Paddington 2 Phibs Feature film
2018 Skyscraper Mr. Pierce Feature film
2020 The Menkoff Method Max Menkoff Feature film

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1987 Frontier Convict George Anderson TV miniseries, 3 episodes
1989 Dolphin Cove Convict TV series, 1 episode
1989 Bangkok Hilton Billy Engels TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1990 A Country Practice Tony Waterson TV series, episode: "Glittering Prizes"
1991 Boys from the Bush Vince TV series, episode: "Multi Culture"
1991 Inspector Morse Dave Harding TV series, episode: "Promised Land"
1993 G.P. Dr. Martin Lloyd TV series, episode: "Infected"
1997 Water Rats Ronny Jefferson TV series, episode: "The Witness"
2010 Rake Stanley Shrimpton TV series, episode: "R vs Lorton"
2012 The Borgias Mortician TV series, 2 episodes
2012 Hatfields & McCoys Lark Varney TV miniseries, 2 episodes
2013–14 Game of Thrones Locke TV series, 8 episodes
2014 Peaky Blinders Darby Sabini TV series, 6 episodes
2015 Powers Johnny Royalle TV series, 10 episodes
2015 And Then There Were None Thomas Rogers TV miniseries, 2 episodes
2016 Deep Water TV miniseries, 4 episodes
2017–19 Preacher Adolf Hitler (main role) TV series, seasons 2–4
2019 Hanna Dr. Roland Kunek TV series, 3 episodes
2023 Foundation Hetman TV series
2023 A Small Light Fritz Pfeffer (recurring role) TV miniseries, 6 episodes
TBA So Long, Marianne George Johnston TV series

Music Video Appearances[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

  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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