Eliza Taylor

Eliza Taylor
Taylor at the 2016 WonderCon
Born	Eliza Jane Taylor-Cotter (1989-10-24) 24 October 1989 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Other names	Eliza Taylor-Cotter
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2002–present
Notable work	The 100 Neighbours

Eliza Jane Taylor-Cotter^[1] (born 24 October 1989), often credited as Eliza Taylor, is an Australian actress, best known for her role as Janae Timmins in the Australian soap opera Neighbours (2005–08), and for her lead role as Clarke Griffin in The CW series The 100 (2014–present).

Early life

Taylor was born in Melbourne and has three siblings, two sisters and a brother. Her mother is an author and a graphic designer and her step father was a stand up comedian. Her biological father used to own cafés around Melbourne. Taylor attended Calder High School and while growing up, she wanted to be a marine biologist.^[2]

Career

2003–13: Career beginnings and Neighbours

After a lead role in Pirate Islands, she starred as Rosie Cartwright in The Sleepover Club in 2003. She transitioned to mature audience programs with a guest role on Blue Heelers in 2003.

Taylor, as many Australian actors, got her big breakthrough in the Australian soap opera Neighbours in 2005. She secured the role of Janae Timmins after previously appearing in a guest role in 2003. Taylor had originally auditioned for the role of Lana Crawford, however, it was actress Bridget Neval who was eventually cast.^[3] In 2007, Nell Feeney and Sianoa Smit-McPhee, who play Taylor's onscreen mother Janelle Timmins and sister Bree Timmins, were axed by executive producer Ric Pellizzeri, but it was confirmed that they wanted Taylor-Cotter to remain in the serial as Janae.^[4] Later that year, Taylor-Cotter decided to quit the serial to pursue other projects such as pantomime and a further career in America.^[5] One of the contributing factors that helped Taylor-Cotter reach this decision was that all of her on-screen family had been written out and new cast members gave the serial the feel of a different place. She also added: "It just didn't feel like the family that I joined when I started three years ago.^[6] Taylor-Cotter was one of many cast members that quit the serial at the same time. Taylor-Cotter finished filming her final studio scenes in 2007 and her final episode was screened on 8 February 2008. In 2007, Taylor was nominated for Best Female in Inside Soap Awards.

Taylor travelled to the United Kingdom in late November 2007, and on 1 December 2007 she turned on the Weymouth Christmas lights. On 19 December, Taylor starred as Snow White in a Christmas pantomime, again in Weymouth.^[1][7] In 2009, she was in an episode of All Saints and filmed a short drama/comedy movie called The Laundromat.^[8] Taylor filmed a role in the horror movie 6plots.^[9] She later filmed a pilot Winners and Losers.^[10]

2014–present: The 100

Taylor at the San Diego Comic-Con International in the press-conference for The 100, July 2013.

On 1 March 2013, it was announced that Taylor was cast as lead character of Clarke in the new CW post-apocalyptic drama series The 100.^[11][12] "I didn't actually audition. I'd been living in LA for about a month and my credit card was stolen and all my money was taken – spent at Home Depot, which was great – and I was ready to pack my bags and go back to Australia because I didn't know how I was going to survive in LA any longer and then I got a call from my manager to say that an audition I'd done months ago for a film had been looked at by the producers of this TV show called The 100 and they wanted me to go in for a reading the next day. So I read the script that night and loved it and went in for the meeting the next day and got the role. Before I knew it I was on a plane to Vancouver to shoot the pilot and my whole life changed." - Taylor explained about how she got the part.^[13] The series premiered on Wednesday, 19 March 2014.^[14]

For her role in The 100, Taylor is nominated for Choice TV Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy at the Teen Choice Awards.

In April 2016, it was announced that Taylor will star in the independent police drama Thumper alongside Daniel Webber.^[15] Taylor's character is described as an undercover police officer out to bust a drug ring at a local high school by pretending to be a tough new girl. Her character becomes emotionally involved with the underprivileged students that she's investigating.^[15]

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eliza Taylor.

• Eliza Taylor at the Internet Movie Database
• Eliza Taylor on Twitter