Jen Taylor is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Cortana in ''Halo'' games and the

intelligent personal assistant A virtual assistant (VA) is a software agent that can perform a range of tasks or services for a user based on user input such as commands or questions, including verbal ones. Such technologies often incorporate chatbot capabilities to strea ...

, the voice of Zoey in the ''Left 4 Dead'' franchise and formerly as

Princess Peach is a character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. She was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and introduced in the 1985 original ''Super Mario Bros.'' game as Princess Toadstool. She is the Queen regnant, princess regnant and hea ...

Toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

and other characters in the ''Mario'' franchise from 1999 to 2008.

Career

Jen Taylor taught herself how to do voice work by recording the radio and imitating what she heard. She graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

with a degree in theater. Before starting in voice work, she worked as a radio DJ for

KNDD KNDD (107.7 FM broadcasting, FM, "107.7 The End") is a commercial broadcasting, commercial radio station in Seattle, Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs an alternative rock radio format. Its studios are located on Fifth Av ...

. Taylor has voiced characters in video games, including

and

in ''Mario'' games between 1999 and 2008. She voiced the character Cortana in ''Halo'' games since the first game in the series, '' Halo: Combat Evolved'' (2001). Two decades following the original game, Taylor reprised the role of Cortana by voice acting and performance capture in the Paramount+ TV series. At GalaxyCon Columbus in December 2023, Taylor stated her favorite line as Cortana is "Welcome home, John" from Halo 4. Taylor has played Salem in the web series ''

RWBY ''RWBY'' (pronounced "Ruby") is an American Anime-influenced animation, animated web series created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth. It is set in the fictional world of Remnant, where young people train to become warriors ("Huntsmen" and "Huntres ...

,'' since 2013. She voiced an episode of the radio series '' The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' Taylor has narrated nearly 30

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

s, and has received several AudioFile Earphones Awards. Her narration of Tami Hoag's ''Mismatch'' was nominated for an Audie Award in 2009. As a stage actress, Taylor has played

Elizabeth Bennet Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist in the 1813 novel '' Pride and Prejudice'' by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family. Elizabeth is the second child in a family of five daughters. Though the circ ...

in ''Pride and Prejudice'' and

Eliza Doolittle Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play '' Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''. Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower seller, who comes to Prof ...

in a Seattle Shakespeare Company production of ''Pygmalion''.

Filmography

Live-action

Animation

Video games

Other works

References

External links

* *
Bungie's 2002 interview with Jen Taylor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Jen Living people American film actresses American television actresses American video game actresses American voice actresses American web series actresses Actresses from Seattle Nintendo people Northwestern University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses