Who is Taylor John Smith? Where the Crawdads Sing star was in hit HBO series Sharp Objects

Starring Taylor John Smith of The Outpost fame, Where the Crawdads Sing is finally in theaters. Adapted from Delia Owens' 2018 novel of the same name, the movie is set in North Carolina in 1950s and 1960s and follows the coming-of-age story of Kya, a young girl branded as 'Marsh Girl' by locals. Kya was abandoned by her family as a child and she grew up fending for herself and acquainting herself with the ecosystems in the marshlands.

Kya leads a lonely existence as an outcast in the local town. So when she finds herself drawn to two young men in town and decides to get herself involved with them, trouble starts. When one of them turns up dead, she becomes the prime suspect.

Kya is played by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Taylor John Smith stars as Kya's childhood friend, supporter, and primary romantic interest, Tate Walker.

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Who is Taylor John Smith? All about his "reunion" with Reese Witherspoon

Born on May 13, 1995, Taylor John Smith is a 27-year-old American actor who shot to prominence with his role as John Keene in the series Sharp Objects. His other notable roles include in films like Wolves (2016), You Get Me (2017), Hunter Killer (2018), The Outpost (2020), Shadow in the Cloud (2020), and Blacklight (2022).

Smith also played Reese Witherspoon's iconic character Annette's lovechild in an unaired pilot for a TV sequel to the classic 1999 movie, Cruel Intentions.

The pilot for the series was filmed in 2016, where Sarah Michelle Gellar reprised her famous role as Kathryn Merteuil, the seductive and scheming stepsister of Sebastian. Smith also acted in the pilot where he played Bash Casey, the child of Sebastian and Annette.

Reese Witherspoon's production company has produced Smith's latest feature Where the Crawdads Sing. So, for Smith and Witherspoon, it was a family reunion of sorts.

Witherspoon was unaware of Smith being her "lovechild" and he recalled the mind-blowing moment on the podcast On the List With Brett Gursky, when he revealed the same to Witherspoon:

"I didn't tell [Witherspoon] actually till two weeks ago when we were doing press all together. We were doing this live interview thing, it was like a 30-minute-long thing, and at the very beginning she kind of like was staring at me a little bit and she was like, 'You remind me of a guy I dated in high school.' I was like, 'You know I played the love child of you and Ryan [Phillippe]?' And she goes, 'Oh my God, no way,' and we have this quick little conversation about it. But I held onto that, that was in my ammo cache."

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All about Smith's famous role in Sharp Objects

Taylor John Smith rose to fame with his role in the American drama series Sharp Objects, starring Amy Adams. Recalling his audition and reminiscing about the times he felt stupid for turning up for the audition looking nothing like the cast of Sharp Objects, Smith has said:

"Everybody else is in dark clothes and I’m wearing a blue button-down with a big smile on my face like a total idiot."

But the director Jean-Marc Vallée was taken by his talent and cast him as John Keene, the primary suspect in the murder of his younger sister Natalie and her friend Anne Nash.

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Taylor John Smith currently appears as Tate Walker, the primary love interest and close friend of Kya in Where the Crawdads Sing. The film dropped in theaters on Friday, July 15, 2022.