Eliza Taylor

Eliza Jane Morley ( Taylor-Cotter; born 24 October 1989), known professionally as Eliza Taylor, is an Australian actress. She is best known for her roles as Janae Timmins on the Australian soap opera drama ''Neighbours'' (2005–2008), as Clarke Griffin on the dystopian science fiction series ''The 100'' (2014–2020), and as Hannah Carson in the NBC science fiction series ''Quantum Leap'' (2022–2024).

Early life

Taylor was born in Melbourne, Australia and has two sisters and a brother. Her mother is an author and a graphic designer, her stepfather was a stand-up comedian, and her biological father owned cafés around Melbourne. As a child, she wanted to be a marine biologist.

Career

2003–2013: Career beginnings and ''Neighbours''

After a lead role in ''Pirate Islands'', Taylor starred as Rosie Cartwright in ''The Sleepover Club'' in 2003. She transitioned to mature audience programs with a guest role on ''Blue Heelers'' in 2004.

In 2005, Taylor achieved her breakthrough in the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours''. 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. In 2007, Nell Feeney and Sianoa Smit-McPhee, who play Taylor's on-screen mother Janelle Timmins and sister Bree Timmins, were written out of the serial. Later that year, Taylor quit the serial and partially attributed her departure to the exits of Feeney and Smit-McPhee, stating that the show "just didn't feel like the family that I joined when I started three years ago". Taylor finished filming her last studio scenes in 2007 and her final episode was screened on 8 February 2008. In 2007, she was nominated for Best Female at the ''Inside Soap'' Awards.

She portrayed Snow White in a Christmas pantomime of ''Snow White'' from 19 December 2007 to 6 January 2008 in Weymouth Pavilion, England.

Later in 2008, she filmed a short drama-comedy movie called ''The Laundromat''.
The film premiered in 2010 at Dungog Film Festival.

In 2009, she was in an episode of '' All Saints''. In July 2010, Taylor appeared in the pilot of ''Winners & Losers''. In 2011, Taylor filmed a role in the horror movie ''6 Plots''. In 2012, Taylor played a nurse in the Australian supernatural horror film, '' Patrick: Evil Awakens'', a remake of the 1978 film of the same name.

2014–2020: ''The 100''

On 1 March 2013, it was announced that Taylor had been cast as lead character Clarke Griffin in the new post-apocalyptic science fiction drama series ''The 100'' on The CW. The series premiered on Wednesday, 19 March 2014. Explaining how she got the part in the series, Taylor said:

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.

In 2014, Taylor starred as Sarah in the thriller film ''The November Man.''

For her role in ''The 100'', Taylor was nominated for Choice TV Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy at the Teen Choice Awards from 2015 to 2018.

In 2017, Taylor starred as Kat Carter/Meredith in a thriller-drama film '' Thumper''. The same year, she starred as Ellen Langford in the Netflix Christmas romantic comedy-drama film ''Christmas Inheritance''.

2021–present: Recent work

In 2021, Taylor directed two music videos: "Vices" by Sarah and the Sundays, in which she also acted, and "Bad Posture" by Abby Anderson.

In 2022, Taylor appeared in the guest role of Doctor Villka in ''The Orville'' episode "From Unknown Graves".

In 2023, Taylor and Morley starred together as Julie and Marcus Alexander in the sci-fi thriller ''I'll Be Watching'', which Taylor executive produced.
The same year, Taylor served as an executive producer and starred as Ruby Allen in the independent romantic comedy '' It Only Takes a Night''.
Also in 2023, Taylor starred as series regular Hannah Carson in season 2 of ''Quantum Leap''.

In 2025, Taylor and Morley created the short film ''Status: Active''.
Morley wrote and directed the film, while Taylor co-produced and starred in it.

Personal life

On 7 June 2019, Taylor announced on Twitter that she had married Bob Morley, her co-star on ''The 100''. Taylor and Morley were originally set to direct episodes for the seventh and final season of ''The 100''. However, Taylor was unable to direct her episode due to suffering from a miscarriage.

On 20 March 2022, they announced the birth of their son.

In a 2024 interview with Tommy DiDario on his ''I’ve Never Said This Before'' podcast, Taylor discussed her year-long struggle with postpartum depression.

Filmography

Film

Television

Director

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Eliza
1989 births
Living people
Australian soap opera actresses
Australian child actresses
Actresses from Melbourne
21st-century Australian actresses
Australian expatriate actresses in the United States
People with mood disorders