# Eliza Taylor

Eliza Jane Morley (née Taylor-Cotter; born 24 October 1989), known professionally as Eliza Taylor, is an Australian actress. She is best known for her roles as Janae Timmins on the Australian soap opera drama Neighbours (2005–2008), as Clarke Griffin on the dystopian science fiction series The 100 (2014–2020), and as Hannah Carson in the NBC science fiction series Quantum Leap (2022–2024).

## Early life

Taylor was born in Melbourne, Australia and has two sisters and a brother. Her mother is an author and a graphic designer, her stepfather was a stand-up comedian, and her biological father owned cafés around Melbourne. As a child, she wanted to be a marine biologist.

## Career
### 2003–2013: Career beginnings and Neighbours

After a lead role in Pirate Islands, Taylor starred as Rosie Cartwright in The Sleepover Club in 2003. She transitioned to mature audience programs with a guest role on Blue Heelers in 2004.
In 2005, Taylor achieved her breakthrough in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. She secured the role of Janae Timmins after previously appearing in a guest role in 2003. Taylor had originally auditioned for the role of Lana Crawford. In 2007, Nell Feeney and Sianoa Smit-McPhee, who play Taylor's on-screen mother Janelle Timmins and sister Bree Timmins, were written out of the serial. Later that year, Taylor quit the serial and partially attributed her departure to the exits of Feeney and Smit-McPhee, stating that the show "just didn't feel like the family that I joined when I started three years ago". Taylor finished filming her last studio scenes in 2007 and her final episode was screened on 8 February 2008. In 2007, she was nominated for Best Female at the Inside Soap Awards.
She portrayed Snow White in a Christmas pantomime of Snow White from 19 December 2007 to 6 January 2008 in Weymouth Pavilion, England. In 2009, she was in an episode of All Saints and filmed a short drama-comedy movie called The Laundromat. In July 2010, Taylor appeared in the pilot of Winners & Losers. In 2011, Taylor filmed a role in the horror movie 6 Plots. In 2012, Taylor played a nurse in the Australian supernatural horror film, Patrick: Evil Awakens, a remake of the 1978 film of the same name.

### 2014–2020: The 100

On 1 March 2013, it was announced that Taylor had been cast as lead character Clarke Griffin in the new post-apocalyptic science fiction drama series The 100 on The CW. The series premiered on Wednesday, 19 March 2014. Explaining how she got the part in the series, Taylor said:
   I didn't actually audition. I'd been living in LA for about a month and my credit card was stolen and all my money was taken – spent at Home Depot, which was great – and I was ready to pack my bags and go back to Australia because I didn't know how I was going to survive in LA any longer and then I got a call from my manager to say that an audition I'd done months ago for a film had been looked at by the producers of this TV show called The 100 and they wanted me to go in for a reading the next day. So I read the script that night and loved it and went in for the meeting the next day and got the role. Before I knew it I was on a plane to Vancouver to shoot the pilot and my whole life changed.
In 2014, Taylor starred as Sarah in the thriller film The November Man.
For her role in The 100, Taylor was nominated for Choice TV Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy at the Teen Choice Awards from 2015 to 2018.
In 2017, Taylor starred as Kat Carter/Meredith in a thriller-drama film Thumper. The same year, she starred as Ellen Langford in the Netflix Christmas romantic comedy-drama film Christmas Inheritance.

### 2021–present: Recent work

In 2021, Taylor directed two music videos: "Vices" by Sarah and the Sundays, in which she also acted, and "Bad Posture" by Abby Anderson.
In 2022, Taylor appeared in the guest role of Doctor Villka in The Orville episode "From Unknown Graves".
In 2023, Taylor and Morley starred together as Julie and Marcus Alexander in the sci-fi thriller I'll Be Watching, which Taylor executive produced. The same year, Taylor served as an executive producer and starred as Ruby Allen in the independent romantic comedy It Only Takes a Night. Also in 2023, Taylor starred as series regular Hannah Carson in season 2 of Quantum Leap.
In 2025, Taylor and Morley created the short film Status: Active. Morley wrote and directed the film, while Taylor co-produced and starred in it.

## Personal life

On 7 June 2019, Taylor announced on Twitter that she had married Bob Morley, her co-star on The 100. Taylor and Morley were originally set to direct episodes for the seventh and final season of The 100. However, Taylor was unable to direct her episode due to suffering from a miscarriage. On 20 March 2022, they announced the birth of their son.
In a 2024 interview with Tommy DiDario on his I’ve Never Said This Before podcast, Taylor discussed her year-long struggle with postpartum depression.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2012 | 6 Plots | Amy Challis | |
| 2013 | Patrick: Evil Awakens | Nurse Panicale | |
| 2014 | The November Man | Sarah | |
| 2017 | Thumper | Kat Carter/Meredith | |
| 2017 | Christmas Inheritance | Ellen Langford | |
| 2023 | I'll Be Watching | Julie Alexander | Executive producer |
| 2023 | It Only Takes a Night | Ruby Allen | Executive producer |
| 2025 | Status: Active | Kaitlyn | Short film Co-producer Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2003 | Pirate Islands | Sarah Redding | Main role |
| 2003 | Neighbours | Jacinta Martin | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | The Sleepover Club | Rosie Cartwright | Main role, season 1 |
| 2004 | Blue Heelers | Tatum O'Hara | Episode: "Cast the First Stone" |
| 2005–2008 | Neighbours | Janae Timmins | Main role |
| 2006 | Blue Water High | Heidi Lee (uncredited) | Episode 35 |
| 2008 | Rush | Madison Taylor Hume | Episode: "Get Lucky" |
| 2009 | Packed to the Rafters | Kerry | Episode: "Losing the Touch" |
| 2009 | All Saints | Carly Spalding | Episode: "The Two of Us" |
| 2010 | City Homicide | Melissa Standish | Episode: "Last Seen" |
| 2011 | Winners & Losers | Bridget Gross | Pilot episode |
| 2012 | Howzat! Kerry Packer's War | Rhonda | 1 episode |
| 2013 | Mr & Mrs Murder | Sarah | Episode: "Little Boxes" |
| 2014–2020 | The 100 | Clarke Griffin | Main role, 98 episodes |
| 2019 | The 100 | Josephine Lightbourne VIII | Main role, 7 episodes |
| 2022 | The Orville | Doctor Villka | Episode: "From Unknown Graves" |
| 2023–2024 | Quantum Leap | Hannah Carson | Main role, 6 episodes |

### Director

| Year | Title | Artist | Notes | Ref. |
| 2021 | Vices | Sarah & the Sundays | Music video | |
| 2021 | Bad Posture | Abby Anderson | Music video | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2007 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Actress | Neighbours | Nominated |
| 2008 | Inside Soap Awards | Sexiest Female | Neighbours | Nominated |
| 2015 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy | The 100 | Nominated |
| 2015 | MTV Fandom Awards | Ship of the Year (shared with Alycia Debnam-Carey) | The 100 | Nominated |
| 2016 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy | The 100 | Nominated |
| 2016 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV: Chemistry (shared with Bob Morley) | The 100 | Nominated |
| 2016 | MTV Fandom Awards | Ship of the Year (shared with Alycia Debnam-Carey) | The 100 | Nominated |
| 2017 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress | The 100 | Nominated |
| 2018 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress | The 100 | Nominated |