Noah Taylor

This article is about the actor. For the Desperate Housewives character, see Noah Taylor (Desperate Housewives).
Noah Taylor

Taylor in 2016
Born Noah George Taylor
(1969-09-04) 4 September 1969
London, England
Residence Brighton, East Sussex, England
Nationality Australian
Occupation Actor and artist
Years active 1987–present
Spouse(s) Dionne Harris (m. 2012)

Noah George Taylor (born 4 September 1969) is an English-Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Locke in HBO series Game of Thrones, Mr. Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Danny in the iconic Australian film He Died with a Felafel in His Hand.

Early life

Taylor, elder of two sons, was born in London, England, the son of Australian parents, Maggie (née Miller), a journalist and book editor, and Paul Taylor, a copywriter and journalist.[1] 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. Taylor left both school 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.

After performing in plays at St. Martin's Youth Theatre 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), which starred Nicole Kidman.

Career

Taylor's early roles included acting 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), 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.)

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, apparently, on the memories 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.

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. Taylor also 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] In 2011, he released his first EP Live Free or Die!!! with his band Noah Taylor & the Sloppy Boys on Z-Man Records.[4]

In 2013, Taylor appeared in both the third and fourth seasons of HBO's epic fantasy series Game of Thrones,[5] 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.

Personal life

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.[6]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Dogs in Space Bowie Fan
1987 The Year My Voice Broke Danny Embling
1988 Dadah Is Death Andrew Barlow
1989 The Prisoner of St. Petersburg Jack
Lover Boy Mick
Songlines Segment: "Romeos" Video by Alphaville
1990 The Last Crop Craig Sweeney
1991 Dead to the World Skip
Flirting Danny Embling
1992 Road to Alice Jimmy Short film
Secrets Randolf
1993 Joh's Jury Brad
The Nostradamus Kid Ken Elkin
1995 Dad and Dave: On Our Selection Joe
1996 Shine Adolescent David Helfgott
1997 Frontier Convict George Anderson
True Love and Chaos Dean
Down Rusty Down Rusty Short film
1998 Woundings Journalist
Life in the Fast Lane Jeff
1999 Simon Magus Simon
Mauvaise Passe Gem
The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz Hyde Park Nutter
2000 Almost Famous Dick Roswell
2001 Vanilla Sky Edmund Ventura
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Bryce Turing
He Died with a Felafel in His Hand Danny
2002 Max Adolf Hitler
2003 Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life Bryce Turing
The Sleeping Dictionary Neville Shipperly
2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Vladimir Wolodarsky
2005 The New World Selway
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Mr. Bucket
The Proposition Brian O'Leary
2008 Lecture 21 Peters
2009 The New Daughter Professor Evan White
2010 Red, White & Blue Nate
Submarine Lloyd Tate
2011 Red Dog Jack
2012 Lawless Gummy Walsh
2013 The Double Harris
Mindscape Peter Lundgren
2014 Edge of Tomorrow Dr. Carter
Predestination Mr. Robertson
Maya the Bee Crawley (voice)
2016 The Windmill Nicholas
2016 Free Fire Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1989 Dolphin Cove Convict Episode: "Stormy Weather"
Bangkok Hilton Billy Engels 3 part mini-series
1990 A Country Practice Tony Waterson Episodes: "Glittering Prizes Part 1 & Part 2"
1991 Boys from the Bush Vince Episode: "Multi Culture"
Inspector Morse Dave Harding Episode: "Promised Land"
1993 G.P. Dr. Martin Lloyd Episode: "Infected"
1997 Water Rats Ronny Jefferson Episode: "The Witness"
2010 Rake Stanley Shrimpton Episode: "R vs Lorton"
2012 The Borgias Mortician Episodes:
"The Beautiful Deception"
"Paolo"
Hatfields & McCoys Lark Varney Episodes: #1.1 & #1.2
2013–14 Game of Thrones Locke Recurring; 8 episodes
2014 Peaky Blinders Darby Sabini 6 episodes
2015 Powers Johnny Royalle Series regular
And Then There Were None Thomas Rogers mini series

References

External links

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