Morgan Saylor | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | American |
Education | University of Chicago Columbia University |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 2006–present |
Morgan Frances Saylor (born October 26, 1994) [1] [2] [3] is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Dana Brody in the Showtime series Homeland , 2019's Blow the Man Down and for her critically acclaimed portrayal of Leah in the 2016 Sundance film White Girl . [4] [5] Along with the rest of the cast of Homeland, Saylor was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2013 and 2014.
Saylor was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her mother is an employee at REI and her father does renovations for Starbucks; they are divorced. Saylor moved to Villa Rica, Georgia, at age two, and Decatur, Georgia, at age ten. [2] Saylor graduated from Decatur High School in May 2013 and subsequently moved to New York to continue acting. [6] [7] She attended the University of Chicago for a few years between roles, and since 2021 has been attending the Columbia University School of General Studies. [8] [9]
Saylor began acting through summer camps and community theater as a child. In fourth grade, she visited Los Angeles for the summer where she booked her first professional job: a voice-over as young Meadow in HBO's hit television series The Sopranos . Saylor played Annie in Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant in 2009 and young Claire in Father of Invention in 2010. [2] [10]
From 2011 to 2013, Saylor played Dana Brody in Homeland . The Showtime political thriller television series garnered nearly universal praise, especially for its first two seasons. [11]
In June 2014, Saylor made her stage debut at the Manhattan Theatre Club as Penny opposite Cherry Jones and Zoe Kazan in When We Were Young and Unafraid, written by Sarah Treem and directed by Pam MacKinnon. [12] Also in 2014, she played Gracie Highsmith in Jamie Marks Is Dead , an adaptation of Christopher Barzak's 2007 novel One for Sorrow , directed by Carter Smith. [13] [14]
Saylor played Kevin Costner's character's daughter Julie in the sports drama McFarland, USA , which was released on February 20, 2015. [15] [16] She played the role of Leah in White Girl , for which she received great critical praise. The film was written and directed by Elizabeth Wood and premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. [17] Saylor acted alongside Nick Robinson and Common in director Rob Reiner's film Being Charlie . [18] The film premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival in September of that year. [19]
In 2017, Morgan was back at Sundance Film Festival to premiere the film Novitiate in which she plays a young nun opposite Melissa Leo, Margaret Qualley and Diana Agron. [20] Later that year she starred in "Anywhere With You," formerly titled "We The Coyotes", directed by Hanna Ladoul and Marco La Via. The film premiered the following year in the ACID section of 2018 Cannes Film Festival. [21]
Saylor's next starring role came in Blow the Man Down , which premiered in 2019 at Tribeca Film Festival and was released by Amazon Studios on March 20, 2020. This film was shot on location in Harpswell, Maine. [22]
The following year, Morgan starred in the independent film You Mean Everything to Me. [23]
Saylor has a small anchor tattooed behind her left ear; her older brother has a similar, larger anchor tattooed on his forearm. As a teenager, Saylor was part of a competitive rock climbing team and was nationally ranked. [2] Saylor lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant with her partner Ben Rosenfield. [24] [25] [10] [26]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant | Annie | |
2010 | Father of Invention | Young Claire | |
2011 | The Greening of Whitney Brown | Annie | |
2014 | Jamie Marks Is Dead | Gracie Highsmith | |
2015 | McFarland, USA | Julie White | |
2015 | Being Charlie | Eva | |
2016 | White Girl | Leah | |
2017 | Novitiate | Sister Evelyn | |
2018 | We the Coyotes | Amanda | |
2019 | Blow the Man Down | Mary Beth Connolly | |
2021 | You Mean Everything to Me | Cassandra | |
2022 | Spoonful of Sugar | Millicent |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | The Sopranos | Young Meadow | 2 episodes ("Join the Club" and "Mayham"), uncredited[ citation needed ] |
2007 | K-Ville | Lana Roberts | 1 episode ("AKA") |
2011–2013 | Homeland | Dana Brody | 36 episodes |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | When We Were Young and Unafraid | Penny | Manhattan Theatre Club |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with cast) | Homeland | Nominated | [27] |
2014 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with cast) | Homeland | Nominated | [28] |
Danielle Riley Keough is an American actress. She made her feature film debut at age 20, appearing in a supporting part in the musical biopic The Runaways (2010), portraying Marie Currie. She subsequently starred in the independent thriller The Good Doctor (2011), before being cast in a minor role in Steven Soderbergh's comedy film Magic Mike (2012). She had her first big-budget release in the action feature Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).
Mary Elle Fanning is an American actress. She made her film debut as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film I Am Sam (2001). As a child actress, she appeared in several films, including Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Phoebe in Wonderland. In 2010 she starred in Sofia Coppola's Somewhere (2010) earning her a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer nomination. In 2011 she received attention for her starring role in J. J. Abrams' science-fiction film Super 8, earning a Spotlight Award at the Hollywood Film Festival. She subsequently had leading roles in the comedy-drama film We Bought a Zoo (2011), the drama film Ginger & Rosa (2012), and as Princess Aurora in the fantasy films Maleficent (2014) and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019).
Kristen Jaymes Stewart is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2012, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Vera Ann Farmiga is an American actress who is best known for portraying paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren in the Conjuring Universe films The Conjuring (2013), The Conjuring 2 (2016), Annabelle Comes Home (2019) and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021).
Judith Therese Evans, known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress, who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She first rose to prominence in a variety of supporting roles in the films Jawbreaker (1999), What Women Want (2000), 13 Going on 30 (2004), Elizabethtown (2005), 27 Dresses (2008), and Love & Other Drugs (2010).
Chloë Grace Moretz is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including four MTV Movie & TV Awards, two People's Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and two Young Artist Awards.
Felicity Rose Hadley Jones is a British actress. She started her professional acting career as a child, appearing in The Treasure Seekers (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the television series The Worst Witch and its sequel Weirdsister College. On radio, she has played the role of Emma Grundy in the BBC's The Archers. In 2008, she appeared in the Donmar Warehouse production of The Chalk Garden.
Patricia Rooney Mara is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. Born into the Rooney and Mara families, Mara began her career acting in television and independent films, such as the coming-of-age drama Tanner Hall (2009). She first gained recognition for her supporting role in David Fincher's drama film The Social Network (2010).
Aubrey Christina Plaza is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She starred as April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation from 2009–2015, and featured in the FX drama series Legion (2017–2019). In 2022, she starred in the second season of the HBO anthology series The White Lotus, for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a nomination for a Golden Globe Award.
Alison Brie Schermerhorn is an American actress. Her breakthrough came with the role of Trudy Campbell in the drama series Mad Men (2007–2015), which won her a Screen Actors Guild Award. She gained recognition for her role as Annie Edison in the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015) and voicing Diane Nguyen in the animated comedy series BoJack Horseman (2014–2020). For playing Ruth Wilder in the comedy-drama series GLOW (2017–2019), she received nominations for two Golden Globes and two Critics' Choice Awards.
Brit Heyworth Marling is an American actress and screenwriter. She rose to prominence after starring in several films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, including Sound of My Voice (2011), Another Earth (2011), and The East (2013), each of which she co-wrote in addition to playing the lead role. She co-created, wrote, and starred in the Netflix series The OA, which debuted in 2016.
Homeland is an American espionage thriller television series developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa based on the Israeli series Prisoners of War which was created by Gideon Raff, who serves as an executive producer on Homeland. The series stars Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA officer with bipolar disorder, and Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a Marine Corps Scout Sniper. Brody was held captive by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, and Mathison becomes convinced that he was "turned" by the enemy and poses a threat to the United States. The series storyline grows from this premise, together with Mathison's ongoing covert work.
Alicia Amanda Vikander is a Swedish actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics' Choice Movie Award, as well as receiving nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and three British Academy Film Awards.
Taissa Farmiga is an American actress. Born in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, she is the younger sister of actress Vera Farmiga. Her numerous appearances in horror films have established her as a scream queen.
The third season of the American television drama series Homeland premiered on September 29, 2013 on Showtime, and concluded on December 15, 2013, consisting of 12 episodes. The series is loosely based on the Israeli television series Hatufim created by Gideon Raff and is developed for American television by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa.
Olivia Kate Cooke is an English actress. In television, she has starred as Emma Decody in the thriller Bates Motel (2013–2017), Becky Sharp in the period drama Vanity Fair (2018), and Alicent Hightower in the fantasy drama House of the Dragon (2022–present).
White Girl is a 2016 American drama film written and directed by Elizabeth Wood in her directorial debut. It stars Morgan Saylor, Brian Marc, India Menuez, Adrian Martinez, Anthony Ramos, Ralph Rodriguez, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Chris Noth and Justin Bartha.
Quinn Shephard is an American actress, film director, producer, screenwriter and film editor. She played the roles of Donna Malone in the Christmas comedy Unaccompanied Minors and Morgan Sanders in the television series Hostages. In 2017, her feature film directorial debut, Blame, screened at several film festivals and earned critical attention.
Novitiate is a 2017 American drama film written and directed by Maggie Betts in her feature directorial debut. Starring Margaret Qualley, Melissa Leo, Morgan Saylor, Dianna Agron, Julianne Nicholson, Liana Liberato, Denis O'Hare, and Maddie Hasson, the film follows a young woman (Qualley) who starts to question her faith as she trains to become a nun.
Margaret Betts is an American filmmaker. Her debut feature Novitiate was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and received a Jury Award for her direction.