Biographie
Douglas Taurel recently portrayed Joe Petito in the upcoming Lifetime movie, The Gabby Petito Story, acting alongside Thora Birch, who also directed the film. He lent his voice to the popular video game Red Redemption and has appeared in numerous television shows and independent films, including The Cobbler (starring Adam Sandler and Dustin Hoffman) and The Kindergarten Teacher (starring Maggie Gyllenhaal), which premiered at Sundance. He has developed a seasoned career playing characters living on the edge of life. The Los Angeles Times praised his work on Nurse Jackie, calling it "Nurse Jackie gets her most fascinating character yet to date."
He recently completed directing and starring in the TV series Landing Home, which he wrote. The series won Best Drama at the GI Film Festival, where he was also nominated for Best Actor and Best First-Time Director. Landing Home also received Best Drama honors from the Wings of Honor Festival. It is currently streaming on Amazon, Apple, Google Play, Tubi, Vudu, and Vimeo On Demand.
Douglas is well known for his solo show, The American Soldier, nominated for the Amnesty International Award. The play, which he wrote to honor veterans and their families, is based on actual letters from veterans and their loved ones spanning from the Revolutionary War through recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has toured over 34 cities nationwide, including prestigious venues such as The Kennedy Center (2016 and 2019), The Library of Congress, and Off-Broadway at 59E59th Street. The production earned four out of five stars at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and The Huffington Post described it as "flawless and powerful." It has been featured in The Washington Post, Washington Times, DC Metro, US Veteran Magazine, Austin Chronicle, Broadway World, The Military Times, Playbill, Time Out, among others.
As a writer, Douglas was commissioned by the Library of Congress to create and perform his second solo show, An American Soldier's Journey Home. This work commemorates the end of World War I and tells the story of Irving Greenwald, a soldier in the 308th Regiment and member of the Lost Battalion. He has performed the play twice at the Library of Congress and at the Hoboken Museum.
Additionally, he has been nominated for the Innovative Theatre Award. Douglas has appeared in numerous Off-Broadway productions at some of New York’s most respected theaters. The New York Times praised his portrayal of George in Of Mice and Men, stating, "Douglas Taurel is a fine actor." His Off-Broadway credits also include Hard Rain (Cherry Lane Theatre), An Enemy of the People (Barrow Group Theatre), The Shakespeare Project, Gloria (Playwrights Horizons), The Deputy (Theatre for a New Audience), and King Lear (Houston Shakespeare Festival). At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he performed both roles of Lee and Austin in True West, with Three Weeks Daily calling his portrayal of Austin "a moving and stunning work by an actor."
Douglas grew up in Houston, Texas, as the son of Latin American parents—his mother from Colombia and his father from Argentina—and is fluent in Spanish. He consistently challenges himself both mentally and physically: he boxed in college, ran the New York and Philadelphia marathons, climbed all 10 Scottish Munros, ran with the bulls in Spain during his honeymoon, and summited Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2012. He currently lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, enjoys a good bourbon, and is an Ole Miss alumnus.
