Robin Lord Taylor (born June 4, 1978)[1] is an American film and television actor and director, known for his role as Oswald Cobblepot in the Fox TV series Gotham, as well as Accepted (2006), Another Earth (2011), Would You Rather (2012), John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and You (2019).
Robin Lord Taylor | |
|---|---|
 Taylor at the 2014 NY PaleyFest for Gotham | |
| Born | June 4, 1978[1] Shueyville, Iowa, U.S. |
| Other names |
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| Occupation(s) | Actor, director[2] |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Known for |
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| Spouse | Richard DiBella (m. 2011) |
Early life edit
Taylor was born in Shueyville, Iowa, to Robert Harmon Taylor[3] and Mary Susan (née Stamy) Taylor. He attended Solon High School and Northwestern University, earning his Bachelor of Science degree in theatre in 2000. While at Northwestern, his roommate was actor Billy Eichner.[4]
Career edit
Taylor has appeared in several television series, such as The Walking Dead, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Good Wife and Person of Interest. He had a recurring role as "Darrell, the Late Show page with the fake British accent" on Late Show with David Letterman. He played Abernathy Darwin Dunlap in Accepted. He appeared in such independent films as Would You Rather, Cold Comes the Night, and Another Earth, the last of which won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.[5]
Taylor was featured in Spike Lee's segment "Jesus Children of America" of the 2005 anthology film on the theme of childhood and exploitation All the Invisible Children (Venice Film Festival), The House is Burning (produced by Wim Wenders (Cannes Film Festival), Pitch (Cannes Film Festival), Kevin Connolly's Gardener of Eden (Tribeca Film Festival) and Assassination of a High School President (Sundance Film Festival).[5]
Taylor co-created and co-starred in Creation Nation: A Live Talk Show with Billy Eichner, which they performed at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as well as at the HBO Aspen Comedy Festival and throughout New York City and Los Angeles. He has also appeared onstage in Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, The Shooting Stage,[6] Henry IV and No. 11 Blue and White, as well as numerous productions in Stephen Sondheim's Young Playwrights Festival at the Cherry Lane Theater.[7]
In February 2019, it was announced that Taylor had been cast in the recurring role of Will Bettelheim on the second season of the Netflix thriller series You.[8][9]
Gotham edit
Taylor was cast as Oswald Cobblepot in February 2014.[10][11] His performance as Cobblepot has been described by Esquire as a "standout performance of the first episode [...], disarming and multilayered",[12] by The Wall Street Journal as "a passionate performance ... [that] steals the show",[13] and as "spectacularly cast as the Penguin".[14]
Personal life edit
Since 2000, Taylor has lived in Manhattan, New York, where Gotham was filmed.[15]
In a November 2014 Glamour interview, Taylor was asked, "I notice you are wearing a wedding ring on your ring finger. Are you married?" To which he responded, "I am married! I like to keep it private, but I've been married for over three years, and we've been together for 10½ years. No kids. No kids yet!"[16]
In March 2015, Slate noted Taylor in an article discussing "Several actors who are openly gay or who have been cast in multiple straight or bisexual roles and the typecasting of gay roles". Taylor, himself, added: "I feel like the landscape has totally changed. Regardless of sexual preference, it's more that as a character actor, the less I reveal about myself, the better. My favorite actors are the ones I know least about."[17] In April 2015, Taylor openly identified as gay on episode 672 of The Nerdist Podcast with Chris Hardwick.[18][19] In honor of National Coming Out Day in October 2019, Taylor revealed on Instagram that he had been out as gay for 22 years and encouraged followers to donate to the non-profit Rainbow Railroad.[20]
Filmography edit
Film edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Jesus Children of America | Mike |
|
| 2006 | Pitch | Pete |
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| The House is Burning | Phil | credited as Robin Taylor | |
| Accepted | Abernathy Darwin Dunlap | ||
| 2008 | Assassination of a High School President | Alex Schneider | credited as Robin Taylor |
| August | Guy Employee | ||
| 2009 | Last Day of Summer | Jason | credited as Robin Taylor |
| 2010 | Step Up 3D | Punk Kid | |
| 2011 | Return | Vonnie | credited as Robin Taylor |
| Another Earth | Jeff Williams | ||
| The Melancholy Fantastic | Dukken | credited as Robin Taylor | |
| 2012 | Would You Rather | Julian | |
| 2013 | Cold Comes the Night | Quincy | |
| 2016 | Full Dress | Noah | |
| 2019 | John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum | Administrator | |
| 2019 | The Long Home | Lipscomb | |
| 2019 | The Mandela Effect | Matt | |
| 2020 | Lost & Found | Randy | Short film |
| 2021 | Skeletons | Christopher | Short film |
Television edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Law & Order | Jared Weston |
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| 2008 | Life on Mars | Jimmy | Episode: "My Maharishi Is Bigger Than Your Maharishi" (S 1:Ep 3) |
| Law & Order | Dale |
| |
| 2010 | Law & Order | Cedric Stuber | Episode: "Innocence" (S 20:Ep 16) |
| 2012 | Person of Interest | Ajax | Episode: "Blue Code" (S 1:Ep 15) |
| The Good Wife | Brock Dalyndro | Episode: "Battle of the Proxies" (S 4:Ep 10) | |
| 2013 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dylan Fuller | Episode: "Traumatic Wound" (S 14:Ep 21) |
| The Walking Dead | Sam | * Episode: "Indifference" (S 4:Ep 4)
| |
| 2014 | Taxi Brooklyn | Sami | Episode: "Precious Cargo" (S 1:Ep 4) |
| 2014–2019 | Gotham | Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin | Main role |
| 2019 | You | Will Bettelheim | Recurring role (season 2)[8] |
| 2021 | Kevin Can F**k Himself | Nick | Recurring role |
| 2022 | Law & Order: Organized Crime | Sebastian McClane | Recurring role |
Video game edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Dishonored 2 | The Outsider | |
| 2017 | Dishonored: Death of the Outsider |
References edit
- ^ a b Aged 36 as of interview dated February 16, 2015, usatoday.com; accessed February 17, 2015.
- ^ "Robin Lord Taylor". Facebook. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
- ^ "Robert Taylor". Cedar Memorial. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ Wagner, Curt (October 5, 2014). "Robin Lord Taylor walks the walk as Penguin in 'Gotham'". RedEye. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
- ^ a b "Robin Lord Taylor Bio". IMDb.com. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
- ^ "Rising Stars: Hunter Gilmore, Noah Peters, and Robin Lord Taylor shine in The Shooting Stage". theatermania.com. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
- ^ Portantiere, Michael (2005-03-07). "Rising Stars". TheaterMania. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
- ^ a b Cordero, Rosy (February 15, 2019). "'You': 'Gotham's Robin Lord Taylor To Recur In Series' Second Season On Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- ^ Lambe, Stacy (December 6, 2019). "Robin Lord Taylor on Leaving 'Gotham' Behind for 'Mandela Effect' and 'You' Season 2 (Exclusive)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ Goldberg, Lesley (February 11, 2014). "Fox's Batman Prequel 'Gotham' Casts Penguin, Alfred". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
- ^ AJ Marechal (February 11, 2014). "Fox's 'Gotham' Casts Classic 'Batman' Characters the Penguin, Alfred Pennyworth". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
- ^ "Talking to the new Penguin: Gotham's Robin Lord Taylor on how to inhabit the vile villain". esquire.com. 23 September 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ "Meet Robin Lord Taylor, the 'Gotham' Penguin". blogs.wsj.com. September 22, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ "Gotham Takes Chance on Origins Story". stuff.co.nz. 26 September 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ "Robin Lord Taylor profile". Hooplanow. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
- ^ "What It's Like to Spend the Afternoon With Robin Lord Taylor A.K.A. Gotham's Penguin". Glamour. 3 November 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
- ^ Thomas, June (9 March 2015). "The "Straight Coach" in The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt isn't so far-fetched". Slate. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
- ^ "Episode from April 39, 2015".
- ^ Preston, Dominic (October 20, 2013). "Robin Lord Taylor: Growing up gay overweight and prepared me to play The Penguin". Pink News. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
- ^ Robin Lord Taylor [@robinlordtaylor] (2019-10-11). "Happy #NationalComingOutDay! Please go to @rainbowrailroad and donate! 🏳️🌈❤️" – via Instagram.
External links edit
