Taylor Hickson

Last updated

Taylor Hickson
Hickson GS 2.jpeg
Hickson in 2015
Born
Taylor Delaney Hickson

(1997-12-11) 11 December 1997 (age 26) [1]
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
OccupationActress
Years active2015–present

Taylor Delaney Hickson (born 11 December 1997) [1] is a Canadian actress raised in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Contents

Following a minor part in the movie Blackway , Hickson won a role in the 2016 feature Deadpool . In addition to several subsequent parts in films, she later starred in the television series Aftermath. Between 2020 and 2022, she starred as Raelle Collar in the Freeform series Motherland: Fort Salem .

Early life

Taylor Hickson was born in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, the oldest of four siblings. At age 11, she began singing folk tunes alongside her father at talent shows and soon developed an affection for guitar and piano. In a 2016 interview, Hickson discussed her fondness for performing music, noting, "you go to another place and you just can't find that adrenaline anywhere else." [2] [3]

Career

In late 2014, Hickson caught the attention of a casting agent who was a friend of her aunt. Initially uninterested in acting, she was later convinced to meet the agent, who signed her the same day. Over the following weeks, Hickson drove several hours to and from her auditions for roles. [3] In 2015, she won a silent part in the film Blackway as a troubled teenager. [4]

Hickson's breakthrough role came in the 2016 action-comedy Deadpool , her first speaking part. She played Meghan Orlovsky, a girl whom the titular character assists. [5] In an interview, Hickson noted that the scale of this movie, along with her speaking role, greatly increased her passion for acting. "I didn't really know how badly I wanted to work as an actor until Deadpool," she said. She further stated that prior to Deadpool, "I thought [acting] might just be a fun thing I did on the side. That was the thing that changed my life." [4]

Hickson was then cast as Brianna Copeland, a headstrong teenager in the 2016 post-apocalyptic show Aftermath . She labelled Brianna "a dream role", citing similarities between herself and the character. [3] "She's very outspoken, sarcastic, social. She's the combative version of me," she said. "We definitely share her impatience, her stubbornness and her temper. She might have a hardened exterior, but she loves with all she is. She loves hard and unconditionally, much like myself." [3] She summed the character up as emotionally driven, impulsive, and fun. [6]

While reviewing her work in the role, Contrast magazine called Hickson a "beautiful jewel of an actress". [7] Pop Culture Now predicted that she would have a bright future in acting. [8] TV Grapevine declared "Taylor Hickson may be young, but she has a talent well beyond her years." [9]

Hickson also revealed that she bonded with co-stars Levi Meaden and Julia Sarah Stone, who played her siblings on Aftermath, which facilitated their work. "[Levi] really was my older brother and Julia really was my sister. We totally have a sibling dynamic on- and off-screen. It made everything so easy and smooth", she noted. [4]

She won roles in subsequent films throughout 2016, including G.L.O.; Everything, Everything (2017); and Incident in a Ghost Land. Hickson played the lead role in the independent dramatic film Hunting Pignut , based on a true story about a girl searching for a man. She also stars in the 2017 feature Residue, in which she plays the daughter of a private investigator. [2] [4] Her work in the film Giant Little Ones earned her a nomination for Best Female Lead at the 2019 Leo Awards. [10]

Hickson was cast as Petra, a goth hailing from a death cult, in the 2018 series Deadly Class . [11] Hickson highlighted the positive working environment of the show. [12] She was then cast as Raelle Collar, a lead character who is a conscripted witch in the 2020 supernatural drama show Motherland: Fort Salem . [13] [14] The show's second season premiered in 2021. [15] [16] On the role as Raelle, Hickson said that

I haven't been able to spend this much time with one character, one headspace. ... In film, it's one little facet of what the character is going through and one moment in life. It's pretty profound to spend this much time with one person, and she certainly feels like an extension of myself. [17]

When reviewing Motherland: Fort Salem, The A.V. Club highlighted that "the true standout is Hickson, whose Raelle is flinty and raw and convincingly conflicted about her power and how she wants to use it". [18] The Advocate commented that:

Motherland establishes its queer credentials early in the pilot episode when Raelle meets the mysterious and compelling Scylla [...]. The show's overt queerness and what appears to be an unbreakable bond between Raelle and Scylla made them one of the most shipped couples of the year in a series that is stylistically gorgeous and politically timely. [19]

Personal life

In a 2016 interview, Hickson noted that she had issues with self-esteem during her upbringing. "I think it's sad that I have to constantly remind myself that I'm beautiful. Everything around us influences our brains to forget. The poster at the bus stop, that Instagram selfie, the ad on TV," she said. "Self-love takes practice." [7] She also revealed that performing had helped her gain more confidence in general. [7] She grew up admiring director Tim Burton and novelist Nicholas Sparks. [20]

In December 2016, while filming Ghostland , Hickson was told by director Pascal Laugier to bang her fists against a glass window and that it was safe to do so. The window then shattered and she fell on the glass, severely cutting the left side of her face. The wound required 70 stitches, which left her with permanent scarring. [21] In 2018, Hickson sued the film's production company, Incident Productions, [21] [22] "seeking damages for lost income and future loss of income". [23] In 2019, Incident Productions "pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the safety and welfare of a worker under the Workplace Safety and Health Act" and was fined $40,000 by the province of Manitoba for the incident. [24] Hickson stated that the experience left her with "trust issues"; however, when working on the show Deadly Class, the show's "executive producer Adam Kane met with her before filming to assuage her concerns, telling her that they'd halt production immediately if she ever felt uncomfortable". [12] On that show's working environment, Hickson said, "It just made me understand that people gave a shit. People actually do care. You have to find the right people to work with you, and you'll know when that is". [12]

In a May 2020 interview conducted by fashion magazine Vanity Teen , Hickson discussed the influence of Tim Burton on her career. [25]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2015The Mary Alice Brandon FileTownsfolk #1Short film
2015 Blackway Meth-head girl
2016 Deadpool Meghan Orlovsky
2016 Hunting Pignut Bernice "Story" Kilfoy
2017ResidueAngelina Harding
2017 Everything, Everything Kayra Bright
2018A Picnic Table, At DuskIvyShort film
2018 Ghostland Young VeraAlso known as Incident in a Ghostland
2018 Giant Little Ones Natasha Kohl

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2016 Aftermath Brianna CopelandMain role
2018–2019 Deadly Class PetraRecurring role [11]
2020–2022 Motherland: Fort Salem Raelle CollarMain role [13]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResultRef.
2016 Whistler Film Festival AwardRising Star Hunting Pignut Won [26]
2017 Leo Awards Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Motion PictureHunting PignutNominated [27]
2019Leo AwardsBest Lead Performance by a Female in a Motion Picture Giant Little Ones Nominated [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morena Baccarin</span> American actress (born 1979)

Morena Silva de Vaz Setta Baccarin is an American actress. She is known for portraying Inara Serra in the sci-fi television series Firefly and its follow-up film Serenity, Vanessa in the superhero comedy films Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and Deadpool & Wolverine, Jessica Brody in the series Homeland, Dr. Leslie "Lee" Thompkins in the series Gotham, and Elena Federova in the series The Endgame. For Homeland, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Reynolds</span> Canadian and American actor (born 1976)

Ryan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian and American actor, producer, and businessman. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen soap opera Hillside (1991–1993) and had minor roles before landing the lead role on the sitcom Two Guys and a Girl between 1998 and 2001. Reynolds then starred in a range of films, including comedies such as National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002), Waiting... (2005), and The Proposal (2009). He also performed in dramatic roles in Buried (2010), Woman in Gold (2015), and Life (2017). He has starred in action films such as Blade: Trinity (2004), Green Lantern (2011), 6 Underground (2019), Free Guy (2021), and The Adam Project (2022) and provided voice acting in the animated features The Croods film series (2013–2020), Turbo (2013), and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliza Taylor</span> Australian actress (born 1989)

Eliza Jane Morley, 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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Uggams</span> American actress and singer (born 1943)

Leslie Marian Uggams is an American actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child in the early 1950s, Uggams is recognized for portraying Kizzy Reynolds in the television miniseries Roots (1977), earning Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations for her performance. She had earlier been highly acclaimed for the Broadway musical Hallelujah, Baby!, winning a Theatre World Award in 1967 and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1968. Later in her career, Uggams received renewed notice with appearances as Blind Al in the superhero films Deadpool (2016) and its 2018 sequel ; as Leah Walker on the Fox musical drama series Empire (2016–2020); as Agnes Ellison in the comedy-drama film American Fiction (2023); and as Betty Pearson in the Amazon Original post-apocalyptic drama series Fallout (2024), based on the video game of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blake Lively</span> American actress (born 1987)

Blake Ellender Lively is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles, Lively is the daughter of actor Ernie Lively, and made her professional debut in his directorial project Sandman (1998). She had her breakthrough playing Bridget Vreeland in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) and its 2008 sequel, to commercial success. After starring in the comedy Accepted (2006), Lively achieved international recognition for her portrayal of Serena van der Woodsen in the CW teen drama television series Gossip Girl (2007–2012). During this period, she also starred in the romantic comedies New York, I Love You (2008) and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009), the thrillers The Town (2010) and Savages (2012), and the superhero film Green Lantern (2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Cassidy</span> American actress

Katherine Evelyn Anita Cassidy is an American actress. Following several minor television roles, she came to attention as a scream queen after starring in the horror films When a Stranger Calls (2006), as Kelli Presley in Black Christmas (2006) and as Ruby in the third season of the horror series Supernatural (2007–2008). Following a supporting role in the action film Taken (2008), Cassidy played leading roles in the slasher series Harper's Island (2009) and the remake of the drama series Melrose Place (2009–2010). She starred as Kris Fowles in the slasher film remake A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) and had a recurring role as Juliet Sharp during the fourth season of the teen drama Gossip Girl (2010–2012).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Dern</span> American actress (born 1967)

Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Hale</span> American actress and singer (born 1989)

Karen Lucille Hale is an American actress and singer. She has received various accolades, including seven Teen Choice Awards, a Gracie Award, a People's Choice Award and two Young Hollywood Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pascal Laugier</span> French screenwriter and film director (born 1971)

Pascal Laugier is a French screenwriter and film director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hailee Steinfeld</span> American actress and singer (born 1996)

Hailee Steinfeld is an American actress and singer. She had her breakthrough with the western film True Grit (2010), which earned her various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demetria McKinney</span> American actress and singer (born 1979)

Demetria Dyan McKinney is an American actress, model, and singer. From 2006 to 2012, during its original run, she starred in the TBS sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne, a BET revival of the show was announced in 2020. Her other series regular roles include TV One sitcom The Rickey Smiley Show, Bounce TV prime time soap opera Saints & Sinners and Syfy horror drama Superstition, as well as Motherland: Fort Salem on Freeform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lana Condor</span> American actress

Lana Therese Condor is an American actress and YouTuber. She made her acting debut starring as Jubilee in the superhero film X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), and gained international recognition for portraying Lara Jean Covey in the romantic comedy To All the Boys film series (2018–2021). She has also portrayed Saya Kuroki in the television series Deadly Class (2019) and Koyomi in the film Alita: Battle Angel (2019). More recently, Condor voiced the titular character in the animated teen comedy film Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brianna Hildebrand</span> American actress (born 1996)

Brianna Caitlin Hildebrand is an American actress. She is best known for appearing as Negasonic Teenage Warhead in the films Deadpool (2016), Deadpool 2 (2018), and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). She is also known for appearing in the web series Annie Undocumented, and as the character Aurora in the Netflix show Lucifer. She also portrayed Elodie Davis in the show Trinkets.

<i>Deadpool 2</i> 2018 film by David Leitch

Deadpool 2 is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, it is the sequel to Deadpool (2016) and the eleventh installment in the X-Men film series. The film was directed by David Leitch and written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Ryan Reynolds, who stars in the title role alongside Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T. J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, and Jack Kesy. In the film, Deadpool forms the X-Force to protect a young mutant from the time-traveling soldier Cable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millie Bobby Brown</span> British actress (born 2004)

Millie Bobby Brown is a British actress. She gained recognition for playing Eleven in the Netflix science fiction series Stranger Things (2016–present), for which she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards. Brown has starred in the monster film Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and its sequel Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). She also starred in and produced the Netflix films Enola Holmes (2020), its 2022 sequel, and Damsel (2024).

<i>Motherland: Fort Salem</i> 2020 American supernatural drama television series

Motherland: Fort Salem is an American supernatural drama television series created by Eliot Laurence that premiered on Freeform on March 18, 2020. The series stars Taylor Hickson as Raelle Collar, Jessica Sutton as Tally Craven, and Ashley Nicole Williams as Abigail Bellweather, three witches conscripted into the U.S. Army. In August 2021, the series was renewed for a third and final season which premiered on June 21, 2022, and concluded on August 23, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wade Wilson (film character)</span> Film character played by Ryan Reynolds

Wade Winston Wilson, also known as Deadpool, is a character portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series and later the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise produced by Marvel Studios. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, he was loosely adapted for his first appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), in which he is depicted as a member of Major William Stryker's Team X who is transformed into a genetically altered mutant killer known as Weapon XI, before being defeated by his former teammate Wolverine.

Jessica Laura Sutton is a South African actress. She is best known as Tally Craven from the Freeform series Motherland: Fort Salem and Mia in The Kissing Booth.

The portrayals of pansexuality in the media reflect existing societal attitudes towards pansexuality and current media portrayals. Although pansexual characters are not often characters in mass media, they have appeared in various films, TV series, literature, video games, graphic art, and webcomics, sometimes embodying certain tropes in cinema and fantasy. Musicians, actors, and other public personalities have also, in recent years, come out as pansexual, and are focused on with this page.

References

  1. 1 2 "Taylor Hickson". amazon.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Taylor Hickson". Syfy . Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Scuor, Crystal (16 October 2016). "Get Acquainted With Aftermath's Taylor Hickson". 604now. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Knox-Smith, Michael (18 November 2016). "Taylor Hickson Talks Aftermath, Ryan Reynolds and More". mikesfilmtalk.com. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  5. Granger, Katie (18 February 2016). "This One Deadpool Movie Scene Pays Direct Homage To The Comic Books". moviepilot.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  6. Burke, Mel (26 September 2016). "Taylor Hickson: Aftermath and Dry Shampoo as Key to Apocalypse Survival". geekchicelite.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Adams, Dillain (11 November 2016). "Taylor Hickson Dishes on Ryan Reynolds, SyFy's Aftermath and Original Music". Contrast. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  8. Brown, Jameson (27 September 2016). "Taylor Hickson Talks Aftermath And The End Of The World". Pop Culture Now. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  9. "Celebrity Spotlight: Taylor Hickson". TV Grapevine. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  10. 1 2 "2019 Leo Nominations Highlight WFF Films". 23 April 2019. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  11. 1 2 Petski, Denise (9 November 2017). "Deadly Class: Syfy Sets Full Cast For Comic-Based Drama Pilot". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  12. 1 2 3 Dodson, P. Claire (25 March 2020). "Motherland: Fort Salem Star Taylor Hickson Is Ready for Women to Lead". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  13. 1 2 Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (5 March 2019). "Motherland: Fort Salem Witches-Themed Drama Gets Freeform Series Order". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  14. Dodson, P. Claire (19 March 2020). "Meet the Motherland: Fort Salem Cast — Here's Who Plays Raelle, Abigail, Tally, Scylla, and More". Teen Vogue . Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  15. "Witches go from hunted to hunters in Motherland: Fort Salem season 2 first trailer". EW.com. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  16. "Sisterhood is massive part of Motherland: Fort Salem". KGET 17. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  17. "Taylor Hickson on What She Loves Most About Freeform's Motherland: Fort Salem". Backstage. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  18. "Motherland: Fort Salem squanders its early potential". The A.V. Club. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  19. "The 15 Best LGBTQ+ TV Shows of 2020". The Advocate . 16 December 2020. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  20. "Pop-Culturalist Chats with Taylor Hickson". Pop-Culturalist.com. 13 January 2017. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  21. 1 2 Robb, David (6 March 2018). "Actress Taylor Hickson Sues Producers Over Disfiguring Injury". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  22. Andrews, Travis M. (9 March 2018). "Taylor Hickson, an up-and-coming actress, was disfigured on a movie set. Now she's suing". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  23. "Actress Taylor Hickson sues producers of Winnipeg-shot movie after face badly cut during filming". CBC News . 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  24. "Winnipeg film company fined $40K for incident that left actress with cuts to neck, face". CBC News . 27 November 2019. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  25. Teen, Vanity (15 May 2020). "Vanity Teen Exclusive: Taylor Hickson By Aaron Desilva Vanity Teen 虚荣青年 Lifestyle & New Faces Magazine". www.vanityteen.com. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  26. "Whistler Film Festival 2016". www.a71entertainment.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  27. "Leo Awards, 2017 Winners & Nominees by Name". www.leoawards.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2017.