Jen Taylor
Jen Taylor | |
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![]() Taylor at GalaxyCon Raleigh in 2022 | |
Born | Jennifer Taylor Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1993–present |
Jennifer Taylor is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Cortana in Halo games and the intelligent personal assistant, the voice of Zoey in the Left 4 Dead franchise and formerly as Princess Peach, Toad and other characters in the Mario franchise from 1999 to 2007.
Career
Jen Taylor taught herself how to do voice work by recording the radio and imitating what she heard.[1] She graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in theater.[2] Before starting in voice work, she worked as a radio DJ for KNDD.[3]
Taylor has voiced characters in video games, Princess Peach, Toad, and Toadette in Mario games between 1999 and 2006.[4] She voiced the character Cortana in Halo games since the first game in the series, Halo: Combat Evolved (2001).[5] Two decades following the original game, Taylor reprised the role of Cortana by voice acting and performance capture in the Paramount+ TV series.[6] At GalaxyCon Columbus in December 2023, Taylor stated her favorite line as Cortana is "Welcome home, John" from Halo 4.[7]
Taylor has played Salem in the web series RWBY, since 2013.[8] She voiced an episode of the radio series The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes[9][10]
Taylor has narrated nearly 30 audiobooks, and has received several AudioFile Earphones Awards.[11] Her narration of Tami Hoag's Mismatch was nominated for an Audie Award in 2009.[12]
As a stage actress, Taylor has played Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice[3] and Eliza Doolittle in a Seattle Shakespeare Company production of Pygmalion.[13]
Filmography
Live-action
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | Mad Dog and Glory | Pam Delmer | Uncredited | |
1993 | This Boy's Life | Deputy Commissioner O'Riley | Uncredited | |
1999 | The Big Kahuna | Mrs. Johnson | Uncredited | |
2000 | The Brainiacs.com | Woman at Accident | Uncredited | |
2001 | Don's Plum | Foxie | Uncredited | |
2001 | I Am Sam | Woman Chauffeur | Uncredited | |
2004 | Inheritance | Abbey | [14] | |
2010 | Leverage | Jodie McManus | Ep. "The Future Job" (season 2, episode 13) | [15] |
2018 | Everything Sucks! | Miss Stock | 2 episodes | [16] |
2022–2024 | Halo | Cortana | [17] |
Animation
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013–present | RWBY | Mysterious Narrator / Salem | [8][18] | |
2015 | Halo: The Fall of Reach | Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey | ||
2022 | RWBY: Ice Queendom | Mysterious Narrator / Salem | English dub |
Video games
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Backyard Baseball | Sunny Day | [19] | |
1998 | Thinkin' Things: Sky Island Mysteries | Glove | ||
1998 | Backyard Soccer | Sunny Day | [19] | |
1999 | Backyard Football | Sunny Day | [19] | |
1999–2007 | Mario franchise | Princess Peach, Toad, Birdo, Princess Daisy, Toadette | ||
2000 | Backyard Baseball 2001 | Sunny Day | [19] | |
2000 | Backyard Soccer MLS Edition | Sunny Day | [19] | |
2001 | Backyard Football 2002 | Sunny Day | [19] | |
2001 | Aliens versus Predator 2 | Tomiko / Johnson | [20] | |
2001 | Halo: Combat Evolved | Cortana / Life Pod Pilot | [19] | |
2001 | Super Smash Bros. Melee | Princess Peach | [21] | |
2001 | Luigi's Mansion | Toad | ||
2001 | Backyard Basketball | Sunny Day | [22] | |
2002 | No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way | Cate Archer / Isako / Ninja Girls | [16] | |
2002 | Kakuto Chojin: Back Alley Brutal | Roxy | [23] | |
2004 | Halo 2 | Cortana | [19] | |
2006 | SiN Episodes | Jessica Cannon | ||
2007 | Halo 3 | Cortana | [19] | |
2008 | Left 4 Dead | Zoey | [19] | |
2009 | F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin | Lt. Keira Stokes | [19] | |
2009 | 1 vs. 100 Live | Herself | ||
2010 | Left 4 Dead 2 | Zoey | [19] | |
2010 | Halo: Reach | Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, Cortana (Firefight) | [19] | |
2012 | Guild Wars 2 | Demmi Beetlestone | [24] | |
2012 | Halo 4 | Cortana, Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey | Also motion-capture performance for Halsey | [19] |
2013 | Dota 2 | Lina, Puck, Windranger, Medusa | [25] | |
2014 | Destiny | City Civil Frame, Archive Security A.I., City P.A. | [26] | |
2015 | Infinite Crisis | Atomic Wonder Woman | [27][28] | |
2015 | Halo 5: Guardians | Cortana, Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey | Also motion-capture performance for Dr. Halsey | [29] |
2018 | Forza Horizon 4 | Cortana | [30] | |
2021 | Halo Infinite | Cortana, Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, "The Weapon" |
Other works
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014–2017 | Windows Phone 8.1 | Cortana | [31][32] | |
2015–2023 | Windows 10 | Cortana | [33] | |
2021–2023 | Windows 11 | Cortana | [34] |
References
- ^ Kindel, Ryan (October 2015). "The Voice Behind Cortana, Halo's Dr. Halsey". Seattle Magazine. Tiger Oak Media. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
- ^ "Jennifer Taylor". Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
- ^ a b Brodeur, Nicole (December 12, 2014). "The voice of Halo's Cortana is a Jane Austen type at heart". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
- ^ "Jen Taylor - South Texas Gamers Expo". South Texas Gamers Expo. August 19, 2016. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
- ^ Benedetti, Winda (October 29, 2012). "The heart of Halo: Actress talks a decade spent playing Cortana". NBC News. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
- ^ Owen, Rob (April 12, 2022). "Seattle actor Jen Taylor reprises role of the AI Cortana on Paramount+ 'Halo' series". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- ^ Master Chief and Cortana's Favorite Lines From Halo, retrieved December 5, 2023
- ^ a b RWBY. Season 1. Event occurs at Closing credits.
- ^ "Video Games and Audio Dramas Meet at Imagination Theater". Imagination Theatre. January 23, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
- ^ Wright, Stewart (April 30, 2019). "The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Broadcast Log" (PDF). Old-Time Radio. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ^ "Jen Taylor". Cedar House Audio Productions. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
- ^ "2009 Audie Awards". Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
- ^ "Seattle Actor Profile – Jennifer Lee Taylor". Seattle Shakespeare Company. February 11, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
- ^ "Inheritance - Press: Interview with Jen Taylor". June 13, 2003. Archived from the original on June 13, 2003. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
- ^ ""Leverage" the Future Job (TV Episode 2010) - IMDb". IMDb.
- ^ a b "Hyper Chat: Jen Taylor". Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
- ^ Skrebels, Joe (November 11, 2020). "Halo TV Series Recasts Cortana With Original Voice Actress". IGN. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
- ^ RWBY. Season 3. Episode 12. Event occurs at Closing credits.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Jen Taylor (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 14, 2017. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ Monolith Productions (October 22, 2001). Aliens Versus Predator 2 (Windows). Sierra Entertainment. Scene: Credits.
- ^ HAL Laboratory. Super Smash Bros. Melee. Nintendo. Scene: Ending credits, 0:26.
- ^ Humongous Entertainment. Backyard Basketball. Infogrames. Scene: Ending credits, 1:33 in, Featuring Voices of.
- ^ Dream Publishing. Kakuto Chojin: Back Alley Brutal. Microsoft Game Studios. Scene: Ending credits, 16:28 in, Voice Talent.
- ^ Jen Taylor - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)
- ^ Voice actors – Dota 2 Wiki
- ^ Destiny – End Credits – IGN Video. IGN Video. September 11, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
- ^ Turbine, Inc. Infinite Crisis. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Scene: Credits, Voice Over Talent.
- ^ "Infinite Crisis Credits". Archived from the original on October 11, 2014.
- ^ 343 Industries. Halo 5: Guardians. Microsoft Studios. Scene: Closing credits, 7 minutes in, Main Voice and Performance Cast.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Skrebels, Joe (August 21, 2018). "Forza Horizon 4's Halo In-Game Event Is Real, Amazing - Gamescom 2018". IGN. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- ^ tomwarren (April 2, 2014). "The story of Cortana, Microsoft's Siri killer". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
- ^ Blair, Nancy (April 3, 2014). "Who is Cortana? It's Halo's Jen Taylor". USA Today. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
- ^ Aparri, Judith (May 17, 2015). "Microsoft Corporation Lets Cortana Open Apps in Windows 10". Guardian Liberty Voice. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
- ^ Johnson, Peter (September 4, 2021). "How to Install Cortana in Windows 11". ITechBrand. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
External links
- Jen Taylor at IMDb
- Jen Taylor on X
- Bungie's 2002 interview with Jen Taylor