Morgan Frances Saylor (born 1994) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as

Dana Brody This is a list of characters appearing in the Showtime drama television series ''Homeland''. Appearances : = Main cast (credited) : = Recurring cast (3+) : = Guest cast (1-2) Main cast Recurring cast ;Notes Main characters The fo ...

in the Showtime series ''

Homeland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...

''. She has also starred in several feature films, including her critically acclaimed portrayal of Leah in the 2016

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pl ...

film '' White Girl''. Other films include ''

Novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

'' (2017), '' Blow the Man Down'' (2019), and a lead role in the 2021 indie film ''You Mean Everything to Me''. Along with the rest of the cast of ''Homeland'', Saylor was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2013 and 2014.

Early life and education

Morgan Frances Saylor was born in 1994 in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. , her mother was an employee at

REI Recreational Equipment, Inc., doing business as REI, is an American retail and outdoor recreation services corporation. It was formerly governed, and continues to brand itself, as a consumers' co-operative. REI sells camping gear, hiking, clim ...

and her father doing renovations for

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

; they are divorced. Saylor moved to

Villa Rica, Georgia Villa Rica (Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese translation: Rich Village) is a city in Carroll and Douglas counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. Villa Rica is placed in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Additionally, there are unincorporated area ...

, at age two, and

Decatur, Georgia Decatur () is a city and the county seat of DeKalb County, Georgia, DeKalb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, th ...

, at age ten. As a teenager, Saylor was part of a competitive

rock climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...

team and was nationally ranked. She graduated from Decatur High School in May 2013 and subsequently moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to continue acting. She attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

for a few years between roles, before transferring to

Columbia University School of General Studies The School of General Studies (GS) is a liberal arts college and one of the undergraduate colleges of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights, Borough (New York City), New York City. GS is known prima ...

, graduating in 2024 with a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing.

Career

Saylor began acting through summer camps and community theater as a child. In fourth grade, she visited

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

for the summer where she booked her first professional job: a voice-over as young Meadow in

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's hit television series ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

''. Saylor played Annie in '' Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant'' in 2009 and young Claire in '' Father of Invention'' in 2010. From 2011 to 2013, Saylor played

in ''

''. The Showtime political thriller television series garnered nearly universal praise, especially for its first two seasons. In June 2014, Saylor made her stage debut at the

Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Lynne Meadow has been the company’s Artistic Director and visionary since 1972. Barry Grove joined the company in 19 ...

as Penny opposite

Cherry Jones Cherry Jones (born November 21, 1956) is an American actress. She started her career in theater as a founding member of the American Repertory Theater in 1980 before transitioning into film and television. Celebrated for her dynamic roles on st ...

and

Zoe Kazan Zoe Swicord Kazan (; born September 9, 1983) is an American actress and writer. She has acted in films such as '' The Savages'' (2007), '' Revolutionary Road'' (2008), and '' It's Complicated'' (2009). She starred in '' Happythankyoumoreplease'' ...

in ''When We Were Young and Unafraid'', written by Sarah Treem and directed by

Pam MacKinnon Pam MacKinnon (born January 9, 1968) is an American theatre director. She has directed for the stage Off-Broadway, on Broadway theatre, Broadway and in regional theatre. She won the Obie Award for Directing and received a Tony Award nomination, B ...

. Also in 2014, she played Gracie Highsmith in '' Jamie Marks Is Dead'', an adaptation of

Christopher Barzak Christopher Barzak (born July 21, 1975) is an American author. He has published many short stories, beginning with "A Mad Tea Party" in ''Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet'' in 1999. In 2007 he published his debut novel, '' One for Sorrow'', whi ...

's 2007 novel '' One for Sorrow'', directed by

Carter Smith Carter Smith (born September 6, 1971) is an American filmmaker and fashion photographer. He is best known for directing the films '' The Ruins'' (2008), '' Jamie Marks Is Dead'' (2014) and ''Swallowed'' (2022). Life and career A native of Bowdoi ...

. Saylor played

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Costner, various accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Primeti ...

's character's daughter Julie in the sports drama ''

McFarland, USA ''McFarland, USA'' (also known as ''McFarland'') is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Niki Caro, produced by Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray, written by Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois and Grant Thompson with music composed by An ...

'', which was released on February 20, 2015. She played the role of Leah in '' White Girl'', for which she received great critical praise. The film was written and directed by Elizabeth Wood and premiered at the

2016 Sundance Film Festival The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'', directed by Heidi E ...

. Saylor acted alongside Nick Robinson and

Common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

in director

Rob Reiner Robert Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and liberal activist. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael Stivic, Mike "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitc ...

's film ''

Being Charlie ''Being Charlie'' is a 2015 American drama film directed by Rob Reiner and written by Matt Elisofon and Nick Reiner. The film stars Nick Robinson, Common, Cary Elwes, Devon Bostick, Morgan Saylor, Susan Misner and Ricardo Chavira. It was scre ...

''. The film premiered at the

2015 Toronto International Film Festival The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and N ...

in September of that year. In 2017, Saylor was back at Sundance to premiere the film ''

'', in which she plays a young nun opposite

Melissa Leo Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Critics' Choice A ...

Margaret Qualley Sarah Margaret Qualley ( ; born October 23, 1994) is an American actress. A daughter of actress Andie MacDowell, she trained as a ballet dancer in her youth. She made her acting debut in the 2013 drama film ''Palo Alto'' and gained recognitio ...

and Diana Agron. Later that year she starred in "Anywhere With You" (formerly titled "We The Coyotes") directed by Hanna Ladoul and Marco La Via. The film premiered the following year in the ACID section of

2018 Cannes Film Festival The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 8 to 19 May 2018. Australian actress Cate Blanchett served as jury president for the main competition. Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda won the ''Palme d'Or'', the festival's top prize, fo ...

. Saylor's next starring role came in '' Blow the Man Down'', which premiered in 2019 at

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

and was released by

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

on March 20, 2020. This film was shot on location in

Harpswell, Maine Harpswell is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. The population was 5,031 at the 2020 census. Harpswell is composed of land contiguous with the rest of Cumberland County, called Harpswell Ne ...

. Morgan starred opposite

Ben Rosenfield Ben Rosenfield is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Willie Thompson on the fourth and fifth seasons of HBO's period crime drama series ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2013–2014). He starred in leading roles in ''Greetings f ...

in the independent film ''You Mean Everything to Me'', written and directed by Bryan Wizemann, released in cinemas in the US December 2021.

Personal life

Saylor lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant. After meeting actor

when making ''You Mean Everything to Me'' in 2018, they began a relationship, and later moved in together. They were still together .

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saylor, Morgan 1994 births 21st-century American actresses Living people Actresses from Chicago Actresses from Georgia (U.S. state) Actresses from Brooklyn American child actresses American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses University of Chicago alumni Columbia University School of General Studies alumni