Robin Lord Taylor (born June 4, 1978)[1] is an American actor and director. He is known for playing Oswald Cobblepot in the Fox series Gotham (2014–2019) and Will Bettelheim in the Netflix series You (2019). He also voices The Outsider in the video games Dishonored 2 (2016) and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (2017). His film roles include the comedy Accepted (2006), the sci-fi drama Another Earth (2011), the horror Would You Rather (2012), and the thriller John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019).
Robin Lord Taylor | |
|---|---|
 Taylor in 2022 | |
| Born | June 4, 1978[1] Shueyville, Iowa, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, director[2][non-primary source needed] |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Spouse |
Richard DiBella (m. 2011) |
Early life
editTaylor 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
editTaylor 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.
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]
Taylor 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 cast as Oswald Cobblepot in February 2014.[8][9] His performance as Cobblepot has been described by Esquire as a "standout performance of the first episode [...], disarming and multilayered",[10] by The Wall Street Journal as "a passionate performance ... [that] steals the show",[11] and as "spectacularly cast as the Penguin".[12]
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.[13][14]
From 2021 to 2022, Taylor also appeared in Kevin Can F**k Himself in the recurring role of Nick, a restaurant worker, across both seasons of the show.[15]
Personal life
editAs of 2000, Taylor lives in Manhattan.[16]
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!"[17]
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."[18] In April 2015, Taylor openly identified as gay on episode 672 of The Nerdist Podcast with Chris Hardwick.[19][20] 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.[21]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Jesus Children of America | Mike | Short film; credited as Robin Taylor |
| 2006 | Pitch | Pete | |
| 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 | |
| The Long Home | Lipscomb | ||
| The Mandela Effect | Matt | ||
| 2020 | Lost & Found | Randy | Short film |
| 2021 | Skeletons | Christopher |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Law & Order | Jared Weston | Episode: "Sects"; credited as Robin L. Taylor |
| 2008 | Life on Mars | Jimmy | Episode: "My Maharishi Is Bigger Than Your Maharishi" |
| Law & Order | Dale | Episode: "Personae Non Grata"; credited as Robin L. Taylor | |
| 2010 | Law & Order | Cedric Stuber | Episode: "Innocence" |
| 2012 | Person of Interest | Ajax | Episode: "Blue Code" |
| The Good Wife | Brock Dalyndro | Episode: "Battle of the Proxies" | |
| 2013 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dylan Fuller | Episode: "Traumatic Wound" |
| The Walking Dead | Sam | Episodes: "Indifference", "No Sanctuary" | |
| 2014 | Taxi Brooklyn | Sami | Episode: "Precious Cargo" |
| 2014–2019 | Gotham | Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin | Main role |
| 2019 | You | Will Bettelheim | Recurring role (season 2) |
| 2021 | Kevin Can F**k Himself | Nick | Recurring role |
| 2022 | Law & Order: Organized Crime | Sebastian McClane |
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, USA Today. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
- ^ "Robin Lord Taylor". Retrieved December 28, 2014 – via Facebook.
- ^ "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. 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 (March 7, 2005). "Rising Stars". TheaterMania. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
- ^ Goldberg, Lesley (February 11, 2014). "Fox's Batman Prequel 'Gotham' Casts Penguin, Alfred". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
- ^ AJ Marechal (February 11, 2014). "Fox's 'Gotham' Casts Classic 'Batman' Characters the Penguin, Alfred Pennyworth". Variety. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
- ^ "Talking to the new Penguin: Gotham's Robin Lord Taylor on how to inhabit the vile villain". Esquire (magazine). September 23, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ "Meet Robin Lord Taylor, the 'Gotham' Penguin". The Wall Street Journal. September 22, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ "Gotham Takes Chance on Origins Story". Stuff. September 26, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Kevin Can F**k Himself (TV Series 2021–2022) - IMDb. IMDb. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
- ^ "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. November 3, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
- ^ Thomas, June (March 9, 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] (October 11, 2019). "Happy #NationalComingOutDay! Please go to @rainbowrailroad and donate! 🏳️🌈❤️" – via Instagram.