# Morgan Saylor **Morgan Saylor** (Morgan Frances Saylor, born 1994) is an American actress, born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Atlanta, [Georgia](https://www.edgepedia.org/georgia-u-s-state), who is best known for playing Dana Brody in the first three seasons of Showtime's *[Homeland](https://www.edgepedia.org/homeland-tv-series)* and for a run of lead and supporting roles in American independent film, including *[White Girl](https://www.edgepedia.org/white-girl-2016-film)* (2016), *Novitiate* (2017), and *Blow the Man Down* (2019)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor) • [2](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D241770.html). After *Homeland* she moved to New York in 2013 and has alternated between theater and feature films[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2838320/?_ssoLoop=1). | Key fact | Detail | |---|---| | Born | 1994, Chicago, Illinois; grew up in Atlanta, Georgia[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor) | | Signature role | Dana Brody on Showtime's *Homeland* (2011-2013), the teenage daughter of Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor) | | Breakthrough indie film | *White Girl* (2016), Elizabeth Wood's debut, which premiered at Sundance and was nominated for the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize; Saylor plays Leah[4](https://issuemagazine.com/morgan-saylor/) | | Highest-rated films on Rotten Tomatoes | *Blow the Man Down* (2019) 99%, *Novitiate* (2017) 85%, *McFarland, USA* (2015) 79-80%[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor) | | Lowest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes | *Being Charlie* (2015), 23%[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor) | | Stage work | Originated the role of Penny in *When We Were Young and Unafraid* at the Manhattan Theatre Club[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2838320/?_ssoLoop=1) | | Education | Studied mathematics at the University of Chicago; as of 2020 attended Columbia University[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2838320/?_ssoLoop=1) | ## Early life and television debut Saylor grew up in Atlanta, where she attended Montessori schools and began performing in community theaters at a young age before signing with a local talent agency[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor). Her television debut was a voice role on HBO's *The Sopranos* (1999-2007), followed by an appearance on the short-lived Fox police drama *K-Ville* (2007-08)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor). IMDb dates her casting as Dana Brody on *Homeland* to 2009[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2838320/?_ssoLoop=1), and the Unifrance press kit for *We the Coyotes* says she was scouted for the role at 15[5](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/3/4/197635/presse/we-the-coyotes-presskit-english.pdf). *Homeland* films in [Charlotte, North Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlotte-north-carolina), about a four-hour drive from Atlanta, which allowed Saylor to attend a regular public high school while shooting[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2838320/?_ssoLoop=1) • [6](https://twelvny.com/fashion/morgan-saylor-exclusive-interviewfashion-story?page=10). She said in 2012 that she would work Wednesday and drive home Thursday morning to make her [AP Calculus](https://www.edgepedia.org/ap-calculus) class, and that filming schedules left her unable to commit to a traditional school[7](https://www.salon.com/2012/10/28/homelands_morgan_saylor_i_found_myself_in_school_the_other_day_defending_a_terrorist/). ## Dana Brody on Homeland *Homeland* follows [Nicholas Brody](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicholas-brody), a U.S. Marine ([Damian Lewis](https://www.edgepedia.org/damian-lewis)) who returns home after eight years of captivity in Iraq, and CIA officer [Carrie Mathison](https://www.edgepedia.org/carrie-mathison) (Claire Danes), who believes he is plotting an attack on America[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor). Saylor's Dana is the marine's teenage daughter. The character is introduced as a sullen, pot-smoking teenager, and in the first-season finale it is a tearful phone call from Dana that convinces Brody not to detonate his suicide vest[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor) • [7](https://www.salon.com/2012/10/28/homelands_morgan_saylor_i_found_myself_in_school_the_other_day_defending_a_terrorist/). **The role grew** substantially in the second season, taking in a romance with the vice president's son and a fatal hit-and-run accident[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor). Saylor said she shared a house with her onscreen mother, [Morena Baccarin](https://www.edgepedia.org/morena-baccarin), during the shooting season and credits Baccarin and Danes with helping her navigate the business as a young actress[8](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/morgan-saylor). Her castmates on the series included, in her own words, veterans such as Lewis and Danes, with whom she discussed acting and growing up during the *Homeland* years[9](https://www.teenvogue.com/story/homeland-morgan-saylor-interview). ## Independent film career After moving to New York in 2013, Saylor shifted toward independent features[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2838320/?_ssoLoop=1). - ***Jamie Marks Is Dead*** (2014): a high-school romance with a supernatural edge, in which she played Gracie Highsmith[10](https://www.allure.com/story/homeland-morgan-saylor-talks-movies-music-pies). - ***McFarland, USA*** (2015): a Disney sports drama with [Kevin Costner](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-costner), playing [Julie White](https://www.edgepedia.org/julie-white), the coach's daughter[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor) • [6](https://twelvny.com/fashion/morgan-saylor-exclusive-interviewfashion-story?page=10). - ***Being Charlie*** (2015): [Rob Reiner](https://www.edgepedia.org/rob-reiner)'s film, in which she played Eva; it is her lowest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes at 23%[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor). - ***White Girl*** (2016): her first starring role, as Leah, a college student drawn into drugs and attempted rescue of her jailed boyfriend in Queens[4](https://issuemagazine.com/morgan-saylor/). - ***Novitiate*** (2017): Maggie Betts's drama, in which she played Sister Evelyn, a nun in training[4](https://issuemagazine.com/morgan-saylor/) • [11](https://www.metacritic.com/person/morgan-saylor/). - ***We the Coyotes*** (2018), released as *Anywhere With You* in 2019: the debut feature of the real-life couple Hanna Ladoul and Marco La Via, which debuted at Cannes in 2018 and follows Amanda (Saylor) and Jake (McCaul Lombardi) through their first day in Los Angeles[12](https://indie-outlook.com/2019/02/08/morgan-saylor-on-anywhere-with-you-white-girl-and-novitiate/). - ***Blow the Man Down*** (2019): released by Amazon Studios, in which she played Mary Beth Connolly; it is her highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes at 99%[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2838320/?_ssoLoop=1) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor). Later credits include Millicent in *Spoonful of Sugar* (2022), [Cassandra](https://www.edgepedia.org/cassandra) in *You Mean Everything to Me* (2021), and Charlie in *Funny Birds* (2024), alongside [Catherine Deneuve](https://www.edgepedia.org/catherine-deneuve) and [Andrea Riseborough](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrea-riseborough)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2838320/?_ssoLoop=1). On Metacritic, *Novitiate* holds her highest film score at 73 and *The Greening of Whitney Brown* (2011) her lowest at 33, with a career average of 54 across 13 movies[11](https://www.metacritic.com/person/morgan-saylor/). ## White Girl and her working method *White Girl* was a defining project. Written and directed by Elizabeth Wood and based partly on Wood's own move from Oklahoma to New York, the film follows 19-year-old Leah, a magazine intern who parties recklessly while trying to free her boyfriend Blue (Brian 'Sene' Marc) from jail; the hand-held camera stays almost entirely on Saylor throughout[4](https://issuemagazine.com/morgan-saylor/). Saylor called it her first proper "big lead" role and said that if she could build the whole character, it would tell her a lot about her career[13](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/news/a17779/morgan-saylor-white-girl-interview/). The Los Angeles Times review singled out her "intensely physical performance" as Leah, a pleasure-seeking figure the critic described as refusing the audience's sympathy[14](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-white-girl-review-20160902-snap-story.html). **Her preparation is methodical.** Because *White Girl* was shot out of order, Saylor created a color-coded graph to track Leah's shifting states of mind, from confident and naive to manic and reckless to low and confused[4](https://issuemagazine.com/morgan-saylor/). She has described the approach as a way into a character's highest highs and lowest lows, and said she applied a version of the same graph on *Anywhere With You*[12](https://indie-outlook.com/2019/02/08/morgan-saylor-on-anywhere-with-you-white-girl-and-novitiate/). She connects the habit to her mathematics background: "I think of that mathematically in a bigger sense too, there's the arc of the entire story and perhaps the derivative of that is the character's arc," while adding that she drops the math once on set[4](https://issuemagazine.com/morgan-saylor/). ## Theater and education Saylor originated the role of Penny in Sarah Treem's play *When We Were Young and Unafraid* at the Manhattan Theatre Club, her first New York stage work[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2838320/?_ssoLoop=1). She has said she prefers making movies to television and theater, but that stage training teaches an actor to carry a scene from beginning to end[6](https://twelvny.com/fashion/morgan-saylor-exclusive-interviewfashion-story?page=10) • [12](https://indie-outlook.com/2019/02/08/morgan-saylor-on-anywhere-with-you-white-girl-and-novitiate/). She enrolled at the University of Chicago as a mathematics student, deferring entry after high school and taking time for projects including *White Girl*[4](https://issuemagazine.com/morgan-saylor/). As of 2020, IMDb listed her as attending Columbia University[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2838320/?_ssoLoop=1). She has said she does not intend to become a mathematician; asked what job one does with a math degree, she answered, "Act!"[4](https://issuemagazine.com/morgan-saylor/). ## References 1. [Morgan Saylor, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/morgan_saylor) 2. [Morgan Saylor, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D241770.html) 3. [Morgan Saylor, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2838320/?_ssoLoop=1) 4. [Morgan Saylor, Issue Magazine (interview by Elizabeth Wood)](https://issuemagazine.com/morgan-saylor/) 5. [We the Coyotes press kit, Unifrance](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/3/4/197635/presse/we-the-coyotes-presskit-english.pdf) 6. [Morgan Saylor Exclusive Interview, TWELV Magazine](https://twelvny.com/fashion/morgan-saylor-exclusive-interviewfashion-story?page=10) 7. ["Homeland's" Morgan Saylor interview, Salon (October 28, 2012)](https://www.salon.com/2012/10/28/homelands_morgan_saylor_i_found_myself_in_school_the_other_day_defending_a_terrorist/) 8. [Morgan Saylor, Interview Magazine (October 3, 2013)](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/morgan-saylor) 9. ['Homeland' Star Morgan Saylor Talks About Her Winning Night at the Golden Globes, Teen Vogue](https://www.teenvogue.com/story/homeland-morgan-saylor-interview) 10. [Homeland's Morgan Saylor Talks Movies, Music, and Pies, Allure (August 21, 2014)](https://www.allure.com/story/homeland-morgan-saylor-talks-movies-music-pies) 11. [Morgan Saylor, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/morgan-saylor/) 12. [Morgan Saylor on "Anywhere With You," "White Girl" and "Novitiate," Indie Outlook (February 8, 2019)](https://indie-outlook.com/2019/02/08/morgan-saylor-on-anywhere-with-you-white-girl-and-novitiate/) 13. [Morgan Saylor Talks Sex, Drugs and her Scandalizing New 'White Girl' Role, Harper's Bazaar](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/news/a17779/morgan-saylor-white-girl-interview/) 14. [Review: Morgan Saylor chases the thrill of the moment in electrifying 'White Girl', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-white-girl-review-20160902-snap-story.html) --- *Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames S to Se* *Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026* *Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.* License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license