Background

Taylor, elder of two sons, was born on September 4, 1969, in London to the son of Australian parents, Maggie (née Miller), a journalist and book editor, and Paul Taylor, a copywriter and journalist. He was raised in Melbourne. His parents returned to Australia when he was five, and he grew up in Clifton Hill and St Kilda, suburbs of Melbourne. His parents divorced when he was 14.

Education

Taylor left both school (Swinburne Senior Community school, Hawthorn, Melbourne) and home at 16 with no intention of becoming an actor; a friend, however, suggested that he try the theatre as "something to do at the weekends", and Taylor found the experience so enjoyable that he opted to make it his career.

Then Noah studied at the University High School. He studied acting at the St. Martin’s Youth Theatre in South Yarra, Melbourne.

Career

Noah George Taylor decided to pursue his craft at St. Martin's Youth Theater. Despite his intense studies, the remote, slim-framed actor did not make his professional theater debut until March 1997 with Chekhov's "The Seagull."

His work at St. Martin's led to an auspicious debut playing the painfully shy and sensitive teen Danny Embling in the coming-of-age film The Year My Voice Broke (1987). This affecting performance lost none of its heart-tugging appeal when the sequel Flirting (1991) came out four years later. Noah won awards for both films. Unconventionally typecast as the gawky, gloomy-eyed, somewhat manic depressive, directors started lining up to use the young actor. It all culminated in what is arguably the best known performance of his career--as the young, tortured genius, pianist David Helfgott, in Shine (1996). Working in tandem with Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush, who played Helfgott as an older adult, Noah's scenes with Armin Mueller-Stahl, who played the pianist's egregiously abusive father, were incredibly powerful and helped him to win the Film Critics Circle of Australia and Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival awards. The variety of Noah's performances have been stunning over the years. He played a young Adolf Hitler in the drama Max (2002), a "what-if" spin on Hitler growing up as an angry tortured artist instead of a Fascist dictator following World War I. He played the darkly humorous protagonist in He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (2001) and the titular Jewish outcast in Simon Magus (1999).

Music, songwriting and art have been other strong passions for Noah. In 1994 he became part of a band called "The Honky Tonk Angels. A singer-guitarist, included in this band were Noah's co-stars from previous movies Loene Carmen and Kym Wilson. He has also formed other bands with such names as Cardboard Box Man, Flipper & Humphrey and The Thirteens, a country-western rock group.

American audiences have taken an equal "shine" to Noah recently, particularly as the manager of Stillwater in the popular film Almost Famous (2000); as Bryce in the popular adventure film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and its sequel which both starring Angelina Jolie; a featured role in Vanilla Sky (2001) which starred Tom Cruise; and in the "Willy Wonka" extravaganza Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) as Mr. Bucket.

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 and he also played a young Romeo in the video "Romeos" from Alphaville. Taylor also starred in Simon Rumley's mystery thriller Red White & Blue, which had its world premiere as part of the SXSW Film Festival in March 2010. In 2011, he released his first EP Live Free or Die!!! with his band Noah Taylor & the Sloppy Boys on Z-Man Records.

In 2013, Taylor appeared in both the third and fourth seasons of HBO's epic fantasy series Game of Thrones, 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.

Achievements

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  An English-Australian TV and film actor, Noah Taylor gained his fame for playing the roles of David Helfgott in Shine, Locke in the popular fantasy HBO TV series Game of Thrones and Danny in the Australian film He Died with a Felafel in His Hands, which received a cult status.
  
  

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Maya The Bee

    (In spite of her hive's warnings, freshly hatched bee Maya...)

    2014
  • Paddington 2

    (Paddington (Ben Whishaw), now happily settled with the Br...)

    2017
  • Red Dog

    (This is the story of a legendary, lovable red dog who roa...)

    2011
  • Free Fire

    (When a black market arms deal goes outrageously wrong, Ju...)

    2016
  • The Windmill Massacre

    (Unsuspecting tourists awaken a mysterious evil in the Dut...)

    2014
  • Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow

    (Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) and a Special Forces sold...)

    2014
  • Shine

    (This moving drama focuses on promising pianist David Helf...)

    1996
  • Mindscape

    (A man with the ability to enter people's memories takes o...)

    2013
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

    (Take an unforgettable, uniquely magical journey through d...)

    2005
  • Predestination

    (A riveting adventure through time centered on a secret go...)

    2014
  • Submarine

    (15-year-old Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) has two objective...)

    2010
  • Almost Famous

    (A high-school boy is given the chance to write a story fo...)

    2000
  • The New Daughter

    (Kevin Costner stars as a single father who moves his two ...)

    2009
  • The Sleeping Dictionary

    (Jessica Alba speaks the language of seduction in this tan...)

    2003
  • The Proposition

    (In this gritty Western written by acclaimed songwriter Ni...)

    2005
  • Menkoff Method

    (In this satirical office comedy introverted bank worker, ...)

    2016
  • The New World

    (This romantic epic brings to life the tale of Pocahontas ...)

    2005
  • The Year My Voice Broke

    (In rural 1960s Australia, a boy watches helplessly as his...)

    1987
  • Simon Magus

    (Simon is an outcast from his Jewish community, because he...)

    1999
  • Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

    (Video game adventurer Lara Croft comes to life in a movie...)

    2001
  • Vanilla Sky

    (Rich Manhattan womanizer survives car crash with best fri...)

    2001
  • Dad and Dave: On Our Selection

    (Tired of local corruption and the harshness of his life a...)

    1995
  • MAX

    (A promising young artist, Max Rothman (John Cusak) lost h...)

    2002
  • Flirting

    (Two freethinking teenagers - a boy and a girl - confront ...)

    1991
  • Watch Skyscraper

    (Dwayne Johnson attempts a death-defying rescue when his f...)

    2018
  • Lawless

    (Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, and Jessica Chastain star in thi...)

    2012
  • Lost In Karastan

    (A filmmaker from England is hired to direct an epic produ...)

    2014
  • He Died with a Felafel in His Hand

    (A nightmare chase through hell in a never-ending, unrequi...)

    2001
  • Watch Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

    (Lara Croft is on a quest to save the world once again, th...)

    2003
  • The Double

    (Simon is a timid man, scratching out an isolated existenc...)

    2013
  • The Nostradamus Kid

    (Ken Elkin is a randy young man who is told that the world...)

    1993
  • The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

    (An oceanographer sets out after the shark that killed his...)

    2004
  • Red, White and Blue

    (Erica is a damaged runaway who sleeps with strangers to g...)

    2010
  • Loverboy

    (Randy is still unfocused after 2 years in college. His da...)

    1989

• TV series

  • Hanna

    (In equal parts high-concept thriller and coming-of-age dr...)

    2019
  • Deep Water

    (This "addictive" (Daily Review, Australia) Aussie drama i...)

    2016
  • Powers

    (Christian Walker, a homicide detective whose powers were ...)

    2015
  • Preacher

    (When Texas preacher Jesse Custer is inhabited by the rene...)

    2016
  • Game of Thrones

    (Nine noble families wage war against each other in order ...)

    2013
  • Peaky Blinders

    (A dangerous Tommy Shelby leads Peaky Blinders, a criminal...)

    2014

Religion

Noah Taylor once said:

"I think spirituality is a good thing but I dislike any sort of dogmatic organization."

Views

Quotations: "Italy is definitely where I feel most at home, or alternatively, living in total wilderness, in the bush in Australia."

"But, I'm a big Johnny Cash and a big Lou Reed fan and a Fellini fan."

"I've always held to the belief, though, that people who do too much acting training always look like they're acting, you know?"

"To me that's what art is about - when you don't really have any control over your desires to do it."

"It seems essential to try to find some meaning to life and I guess Jungian philosophy is the one that's helped me understand myself and the world more than anything else."

Personality

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.

Noah never much cared to learn to use a computer any more than being able to send and receive emails.

He is a smoker.

During his early years, he would indulge in boxing and karate.

Noah would enjoy reading the British science fiction-oriented comic magazine called 2000 AD.

Physical Characteristics: Build: slim

Height: 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)

Weight: 64 kg (141 lbs)

Hair color: dark brown

Eye color: green

Distinctive features: thin lips

Interests

• Favorite super villain – Judge Dredd

• Writers

  2000 AD Magazine

• Sport & Clubs

  Boxing, karate

• Music & Bands

  Johnny Cash and Lou Reed

Connections

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

Father:

Paul Taylor

Mother:

Maggie Miller

Spouse:

Dionne Harris

Brother:

Jack Taylor

Daughter:

Martha Taylor

colleague:

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is a Danish actor, screenwriter, and producer. He is widely known for playing Ser Jaime Lannister in HBO’s hit series ‘Game of Thrones’. He is also known for appearing in a number of movies, such as ‘Nightwatch’, ‘A Thousand Times Good Night’ and ‘Headhunters’, to name a few.

colleague:

Gwendoline Christie

(born 28 October 1978)

She is an English actress.

References

• Noah Taylor - Twitter