Jay Taylor

Jay was born in Bromley, Kent in 1983. His father was a BBC assistant director & producer and from an early age, Jay spent a great deal of time on television and film locations around the UK. Upon graduating from secondary school, Jay decided to apply for drama schools to train as an actor. In 2003, he won a place at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and embarked upon a three year intensive classical acting training. Once he had graduated, Jay began to work in television and film, appearing in period drama biopic 'Daphne' for BBC4 and then in violent gangland drama 'Rise Of The Footsoldier'. Stage roles soon followed and Jay appeared on stage at theatres such as Shakespeare's Globe, the Trafalgar Studios and the Royal Court. After a rigorous casting process, Jay travelled to South Africa to shoot the cult thriller 'Donkey Punch' for Warp Films/Film4 and later that year appeared in ITV series 'The Fixer'. Donkey Punch went on to receive global critical acclaim and had it's world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Jay continued to appear on television, in film and on stage over the next few years, appearing in: George Lucas' second world war epic 'Red Tails', featuring Cuba Gooding Junior and Terrence Howard; the Glasgow Citizens Theatre production of 'A Clockwork Orange', playing the eponymous anti-hero Alex; BBC4's Mills & Boon biopic 'Consuming Passion' with Daniel Mays and Olivia Colman; E4's ever popular 'Misfits'; Channel 4 comedy 'Sirens'; BBC comedy 'Teaboys; and then alongside Simon Pegg in the Universal Pictures feature film 'A Fantastic Fear Of Everything'. In 2012, Jay appeared in award winning playwright Joel Horwood's 'I Heart Peterborough' at the Pleasance Courtyard in Edinburgh and then at the Soho Theatre, London. Jay and his co-star Milo Twomey received an Off West End Award nomination for best ensemble. Whilst busily building his acting CV over the past few years, Jay has also started to work more and more on his writing; penning plays, screenplays and short film scripts. In 2012, Jay and his brother Mark decided to begin making films together. Their first collaboration was on a pair of 5 minute short films entitled 'Homecoming' and 'London Bridge'. Both films were very well received amongst the online short film community and featured on FilmShortage.com's Weekend Shortlist and many other forums, blogs and websites. Jay and Mark's latest project is the 15 minute short film 'Laura', the story of a young girl being exploited by London criminals.