Femi Taylor is a Nigerian dancer and actress who was thrust into the limelight after appearing in Star Wars Return of the Jedi as Oola the slave dancer. Taylor is also known for originating the role Tantomile in the 1981 London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical Cats, and also starred in a 1998 television film version of the popular musical playing Exotica, a character created just for her and the movie.

Taylor was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, and was adopted with her twin brother Tim Taylor when she was 2 years old. Taylor knew she wanted to perform from an early age and trained with both New York’s Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the London Contemporary Dance Company. A talented dancer, she got her first big break in 1981 when she landed the mainly dancing role of Tantomile – the female of half of the psychic twins – in the original London Cast of Cats. In 1982, Taylor auditioned for her first film role with director Richard Marguand and was concerned when she was asked to turn up wearing a swimsuit. It wasn’t until after she won the role of Oola that she discovered she had auditioned for the latest Star Wars movie Episode VI Return of the Jedi.

Taylor was later asked to reprise the part of Oola as part of the remastered Special Edition of the original Star Wars trilogy, and featured in several all-new scenes.