Taylor, elder of two boys, was born in London, England, the son of Maggie, a journalist and book editor, and Paul Taylor, a copywriter and journalist. Taylor's Australian parents returned to Australia when he was five, and he grew up in Clifton Hill and St Kilda, Victoria, suburbs of Melbourne.

His parents divorced when he was 14. Taylor left both school and home at 16 with no intention of becoming an actor; a friend, however, suggested that he try the theatre as 'something to do at the weekends', and Taylor found the experience so enjoyable that he opted to make it his career.

After performing in plays at St Martin's Youth Theatre in South Yarra for a year, he gained the attention of director John Duigan, who cast him in the 1987 film The Year My Voice Broke, the first part of a planned trilogy. Taylor also appeared in its sequel, 1991's Flirting; the third installment has not yet been filmed.

One of Taylor's friends, who travelled with him to Sydney where Noah started his acting courses, committed suicide one day when he and Noah were waiting on a train station platform. Noah's friend hadn't made the final cut into acting and, in his depressed stupor, walked right in front of an oncoming train. Noah watched his friend die and the memory scarred him.

Taylor first gained international attention playing the tormented young pianist David Helfgott in the 1996 film Shine. Taylor's résumé includes action movies (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider), comedies (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), psychological thrillers (Vanilla Sky) and historical dramas (Max, in which he played the young Adolf Hitler.)

Taylor once commented in an interview that he was sick of acting out the nostalgic reminiscences of other people. He has done this in a number of films including The Nostradamus Kid which was based, apparently, on the memories of the Australian author Bob Ellis, and Almost Famous, based on the memories of the film's writer and director, Cameron Crowe.