Jen Taylor

Jen Taylor
Taylor at GalaxyCon Raleigh in 2022
Born
Jennifer Lee Taylor

Seattle, Washington, U.S.
OccupationsActress, Voice Actress
Years active1993–present

Jennifer Lee Taylor is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Cortana in the Halo games and the Cortana personal assistant, the voice of Zoey in the Left 4 Dead franchise and formerly as Princess Peach, Toad and other characters in the Mario franchise from 1999 to 2008.

Career

Jen Taylor taught herself how to do voice work by recording the radio and imitating what she heard. She graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in theater. Before starting in voice work, she worked as a radio DJ for KNDD.

Taylor has voiced characters in video games, including Princess Peach and Toad in Mario games between 1999 and 2008. She voiced the character Cortana in Halo games since the first game in the series, Halo: Combat Evolved (2001). Two decades following the original game, Taylor reprised the role of Cortana by voice acting and performance capture in the Paramount+ TV series. At GalaxyCon Columbus in December 2023, Taylor stated her favorite line as Cortana is "Welcome home, John" from Halo 4.

Taylor has played Salem in the web series RWBY, since 2013. She voiced an episode of the radio series The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Taylor has narrated nearly 30 audiobooks, and has received several AudioFile Earphones Awards. Her narration of Tami Hoag's Mismatch was nominated for an Audie Award in 2009.

As a stage actress, Taylor has played Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and Eliza Doolittle in a Seattle Shakespeare Company production of Pygmalion.

Filmography

Live-action

List of acting performances in television and film
Year Title Role Notes Source
2004InheritanceAbbey
2018Everything Sucks!Miss Stock2 episodes
2022–2024 Halo Cortana

Animation

List of voice performances in animation
Year Title Role Notes Source
2013–presentRWBYMysterious Narrator / Salem
2015Halo: The Fall of ReachDr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey
2022RWBY: Ice QueendomMysterious Narrator / SalemEnglish dub

Video games

List of voice performances in video games
Year Title Role Notes Source
1997Backyard BaseballSunny Day
1998Thinkin' Things: Sky Island MysteriesGlove
Backyard SoccerSunny Day
1999Backyard Football
1999–2007Mario franchisePrincess Peach, Toad, Toadette
Princess Daisy (2000–2003), Birdo (2001)
2000Backyard Baseball 2001Sunny Day
Backyard Soccer MLS Edition
2001Backyard Football 2002
Aliens versus Predator 2Tomiko / Johnson
Halo: Combat EvolvedCortana / Life Pod Pilot
Super Smash Bros. MeleePrincess Peach
Backyard BasketballSunny Day
2002No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s WayCate Archer / Isako / Ninja Girls
Kakuto Chojin: Back Alley BrutalRoxy
2004Halo 2Cortana
2006Sin Episodes: EmergenceJessica Cannon
2007Halo 3Cortana
2008Left 4 DeadZoey
2009F.E.A.R. 2: Project OriginLt. Keira Stokes
1 vs. 100 LiveHerself
2010Left 4 Dead 2Zoey
Halo: ReachDr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, Cortana (Firefight)
2012Guild Wars 2Demmi Beetlestone
Halo 4Cortana, Dr. Catherine Elizabeth HalseyAlso motion-capture performance for Halsey
2013Dota 2Lina, Puck, Windranger, Medusa
2014DestinyCity Civil Frame, Archive Security A.I., City P.A.
2015Infinite CrisisAtomic Wonder Woman
Halo 5: GuardiansCortana, Dr. Catherine Elizabeth HalseyAlso motion-capture performance for Dr. Halsey
2018Forza Horizon 4Cortana
2021Halo InfiniteCortana, Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, "The Weapon"
2026 Halo: Campaign Evolved Cortana, Lt. Taylor

Other works

YearTitleRoleNotesSource
2014–2017Windows Phone 8.1Cortana
2015–2023Windows 10
2021–2023Windows 11

References

  1. 1 2 "Seattle Actor Profile – Jennifer Lee Taylor". Seattle Shakespeare Company. February 11, 2012. Archived from the original on April 24, 2025. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Owen, Rob (April 12, 2022). "Seattle actor Jen Taylor reprises role of the AI Cortana on Paramount+ 'Halo' series". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  3. ↑ Kindel, Ryan (October 2015). "The Voice Behind Cortana, Halo's Dr. Halsey". Seattle Magazine. Tiger Oak Media. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Jennifer Taylor". Macmillan Publishers. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Brodeur, Nicole (December 12, 2014). "The voice of Halo's Cortana is a Jane Austen type at heart". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Jen Taylor - South Texas Gamers Expo". South Texas Gamers Expo. August 19, 2016. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  7. ↑ Benedetti, Winda (October 29, 2012). "The heart of Halo: Actress talks a decade spent playing Cortana". NBC News. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  8. ↑ Master Chief and Cortana's Favorite Lines From Halo, retrieved December 5, 2023
  9. 1 2 RWBY. Season 1. Event occurs at Closing credits.
  10. ↑ "Video Games and Audio Dramas Meet at Imagination Theater". Imagination Theatre. January 23, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  11. ↑ Wright, Stewart (April 30, 2019). "The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Broadcast Log" (PDF). Old-Time Radio. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Jen Taylor". Cedar House Audio Productions. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  13. ↑ "2009 Audie Awards". Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Inheritance - Press: Interview with Jen Taylor". June 13, 2003. Archived from the original on June 13, 2003. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  15. 1 2 "Hyper Chat: Jen Taylor". Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  16. ↑ Skrebels, Joe (November 11, 2020). "Halo TV Series Recasts Cortana With Original Voice Actress". IGN. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  17. ↑ RWBY. Season 3. Episode 12. Event occurs at Closing credits.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Jen Taylor (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors (A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information). Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  19. ↑ Monolith Productions (October 22, 2001). Aliens Versus Predator 2 (Windows). Sierra Entertainment. Scene: Credits.
  20. ↑ HAL Laboratory. Super Smash Bros. Melee. Nintendo. Scene: Ending credits, 0:26.
  21. ↑ Humongous Entertainment. Backyard Basketball. Infogrames. Scene: Ending credits, 1:33 in, Featuring Voices of.
  22. ↑ Dream Publishing. Kakuto Chojin: Back Alley Brutal. Microsoft Game Studios. Scene: Ending credits, 16:28 in, Voice Talent.
  23. ↑ "Jen Taylor - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)". wiki.guildwars2.com. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  24. ↑ Destiny – End Credits – IGN Video. IGN Video. September 11, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  25. ↑ Turbine, Inc. Infinite Crisis. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Scene: Credits, Voice Over Talent.
  26. ↑ "Infinite Crisis Credits". Archived from the original on October 11, 2014.
  27. ↑ 343 Industries. Halo 5: Guardians. Microsoft Studios. Scene: Closing credits, 7 minutes in, Main Voice and Performance Cast.
  28. ↑ Skrebels, Joe (August 21, 2018). "Forza Horizon 4's Halo In-Game Event Is Real, Amazing - Gamescom 2018". IGN. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  29. ↑ McCaffrey, Ryan (October 24, 2025). "Halo: Campaign Evolved Is a Pretty Remake Coming to PS5, but Not an Exact One". IGN. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
  30. ↑ tomwarren (April 2, 2014). "The story of Cortana, Microsoft's Siri killer". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  31. ↑ Blair, Nancy (April 3, 2014). "Who is Cortana? It's Halo's Jen Taylor". USA Today. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  32. ↑ Aparri, Judith (May 17, 2015). "Microsoft Corporation Lets Cortana Open Apps in Windows 10". Guardian Liberty Voice. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  33. ↑ Johnson, Peter (September 4, 2021). "How to Install Cortana in Windows 11". ITechBrand. Retrieved April 9, 2022.