An English-Australian TV and film actor, Noah Taylor is best known for playing the roles of David Helfgott in Shine, Locke in the popular fantasy HBO TV series Game of Thrones and Danny in the Australian film He Died with a Felafel in His Hands, which received a cult status. Born in London, England, Taylor's parents moved to Australia when he was about five years old and Taylor grew up in the suburbs of Melbourne.

Although Taylor had no intentions of pursuing acting, on the suggestion of his friend, he tried theatre as a pastime thing to do during the weekends and he soon found the experience to be so enjoyable that he decided to pursue acting as a full time career. After performing in the theatre for about one year, he gained the attention of the director John Duigan and made his debut on the silver screen with The Year My Voice Broke in 1987. The movie turned out to be a dream debut for Taylor as both his role and the movie received great critical appreciation.

Following his debut movie, Taylor received many offers and he collaborated with several renowned directors during the period. The dawn of the 1990's got Taylor even bigger projects and he delivered many brilliant performances in Secrets (1992), The Nostradamus Kid (1993) and Shine (1996), the last of which won him global recognition for his role as the tormented young pianist. His other notable film credits include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Submarine (2010), Mindscape (2013), The Windmill Massacre (2016), Paddington 2 (2017), and Skyscraper (2018), an American action film, which is written, directed and co-produced by Rawson Marshall Thurber.