Taylor John Smith (born May 13, 1995) is an American actor. He is known for his role as John Keene in the series Sharp Objects. Notable films in which he has appeared are Wolves (2016), You Get Me (2017), Hunter Killer (2018), The Outpost (2020), Shadow in the Cloud (2020), and Where the Crawdads Sing (2022).
Biography
Smith was born in Los Angeles, California. He began his acting career as a teenager, when he made his screen debut with a tiny role in the film The Hunger Games, appearing briefly in a clip from a propaganda film. Following his TV debut on a 2013 episode of the crime drama series Perception, in which he played the role as Braden Sullivan.
In 2014, Smith appeared in the teen drama mystery-thriller series Twisted, he played the guest role as a Student 2. He landed his first big film role as part of the cast of Marlon Wayans' found footage horror comedy film A Haunted House 2 as Joey. He appeared in the crime drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, where he played the role of Rob "Turk" Turkla. He played the role of Dwight in the romantic comedy film Some Kind of Beautiful. The same year, he worked in the television film, Divide & Conquer as Ted and More Time with Family as a High school kid.
In 2015, Smith has appeared in the TV shows such as: Hart of Dixie as Chet, Hawaii Five-0 as young Steve McGarrett, Grey's Anatomy as Nick, Resident Advisors as Marcus, Chicago P.D. as Nick Sutter and Guidance as Chip. He has appeared in the 2015 supernatural horror film Insidious: Chapter 3, where he played a Teenage boy and also played as a Son in the horror film Martyrs.
In 2016, Smith appeared on the second season of the anthology crime drama series American Crime, he played the recurring role of Luke. He starred in the sports drama film Wolves opposite Michael Shannon and Carla Gugino, in which he played the character of Anthony Keller. He played the guest role of Preston in the romantic comedy series Faking It. Smith plays Brad in the comedy-drama film Almost Friends starring Freddie Highmore and Odeya Rush, which was premiered on October 14, 2016 at the Austin Film Festival and was released in North America on November 17, 2017, by Gravitas Ventures and Orion Pictures. He appeared in a pilot for the TV remake of the 90s smutty teen classic Cruel Intentions as Bash Casey, his character about the son of Sebastian and Annette who was previously unaware of his father's wild history.
In 2017, Smith starred in the thriller film You Get Me opposite Bella Thorne, Halston Sage and Nash Grier, which was released on Netflix on June 23, 2017, playing Tyler Hanson. He also played the role of Billy Sreaves in the 2017 film Lost Child alongside Leven Rambin, Jim Parrack and Landon Edwards, which was released on 14 September 2018.
In 2018, Smith was cast to play the main role in the psychological thriller miniseries Sharp Objects starring Amy Adams, in which he played the main role of John Keene. He played the role of Belford in the action thriller film Hunter Killer stars Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman, based on the 2012 novel Firing Point by Don Keith and George Wallace.
In 2020, Smith plays 1st Lieutenant Andrew Bundermann in the war film, The Outpost, directed by Rod Lurie, based on the 2012 non-fiction book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor by Jake Tapper, about the Battle of Kamdesh in the War in Afghanistan. The Outpost premiere at Thessaloniki International Film Festival on November 2, 2019 and was scheduled to premiere at the 2020 South by Southwest Film Festival, but the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also played the role of Walter Quaid in the action horror film Shadow in the Cloud starring Chloë Grace Moretz, directed by Roseanne Liang, which was premiered on September 12, 2020 at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival and was released on January 1, 2021, by Vertical Entertainment and Redbox Entertainment.
In 2022, Smith starred the role of Dusty Crane in the action thriller film Blacklight stars Liam Neeson, directed and co-written by Mark Williams, which was released in the United States on February 11, 2022 by Briarcliff Entertainment. Smith starred opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones and Harris Dickinson in the mystery drama film Where the Crawdads Sing where he played the role of Tate Walker, a film adaptation of Delia Owens' novel of the same name, which was released in July 2022.
