In
1998, Taylor-Compton began her acting career with an appearance in the film
A.W.O.L. with David Morse, and later in the short film Thursday Afternoon.
She went on to have small roles in both television and film including Ally
McBeal, ER, Frasier, The Guardian and The Division. She appeared in several
student films, commercials for Fuji Film and the Disney Cruise Line, and
various skits on The Jay Leno Show. November 2000 saw Taylor-Compton make
her stage debut as the title character in a production of Annie Warbucks at
The Grove Theatre in Upland, California, and a stage production of Footloose
at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center. In 2001, she had a recurring role
as Clara Forrester, the younger sister of Dean Forrester (Jared Padalecki)
in the television series Gilmore Girls, appearing in a total of four
episodes until 2004. Taylor-Compton's was nomination for "Best Performance
in a TV Series - Recurring Young Actress" for her portrayal of Clara.[8] She
made a comedic appearance in the film Four Fingers of the Dragon (2003)
playing herself auditioning for a role in a fictional Kung Fu film. Later in
2004, she appeared in the teen comedy Sleepover, which had been her first
large Hollywood film role. The cast of the film was nominated for "Best
Performance in a Feature Film - Young Ensemble Cast" at the Young Artists
Award. Sleepover did mediocre in the box office, totaling a gross of
$9,436,390. Following Sleepover, she appeared in numerous television series
including Hidden Howie, Unfabulous (2 episodes), Cold Case, That's So Raven,
Charmed (7 episodes) and Without a Trace (in which she portrayed a runaway
teenager).
In 2006, Taylor-Compton appeared in the film The
Honeyfields. That year as well, she starred in the drama Tomorrow is Today
and the horror film Wicked Little Things. Tomorrow is Today features
Taylor-Compton as Julie Peterson, a girl who saves the life of and befriends
a hapless drifter. The film won over 6 awards at various festivals which
included the California Independent Film Festival, the Garden State Film
Festival, Method Fest Independent Film Festival, and the Rhode Island
International Film Festival. Taylor-Compton won "Best Actress" for her
performance in the film at the Method Fest Independent Film Festival. Wicked
Little Things was one of the films featured in After Dark's 8 Films to Die
For and saw Taylor-Compton star as Sarah Tunny. Following these films, she
appeared in the television series Standoff and Close to Home.
In
2007, Taylor-Compton appeared in the film An American Crime which told the
true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, whom had kept a
teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.
After losing the lead role in the Pang Brothers film The Messengers to
Kristen Stewart, Taylor-Compton then returned to the horror genre as Laurie
Strode in Rob Zombie's remake of the classic Halloween. She endured a long
audition process, but as director Zombie explains, "Scout was my first
choice. There was just something about her; she had a genuine quality. She
didn't seem actor-y." The film broke box-office records as the highest
grossing film on the Labor Day weekend. It pulled in $31 million dollars
over the holiday weekend, surpassing the record set in 2005 by Transporter 2
of $20.1 million dollars. It surpassed the record set in 1999 by The Sixth
Sense of $29 million dollars (in its fifth weekend), making it the highest
grossing film over the Labor Day weekend. Halloween currently stands as the
highest grossing overall film in the Halloween franchise. However, it
received mostly negative reviews and sports a 27% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Taylor-Compton also stars in the television movie Love's Unfolding Dream
which premiered on November 24, 2007. She will appear in another television
film, The Governor's Wife with Marilu Henner. She stars in the horror film
April Fool's Day, a remake of the 1986 film of the same name which was
filmed in North Carolina with a March 25, 2008 DVD release. Taylor-Compton
explains on the starring in the role of Torrance: "I'll just be playing
another wholesome 'good girl' that screams a lot." She has another horror
film in production, the 2009 film Murder World in which she will have a
cameo as Carrie Lain.
In an interview conducted in July 2007,
Taylor-Compton reported that after completing April Fool's Day, she wants to
stay away from roles in the horror genre for her next film projects.
Although she has received many horror film scripts, she believes that she
"need[s] to move on from horror. Just drift away a little bit and do
something else so I don't get stuck in that" and although she "love[s] doing
horror films" and are her "favorite", she'd "like to do other stuff in
between." She has recently been influenced by the career of Scarlett
Johansson, wanting to chose scripts and roles based on personal interest as
she views Johansson does. Taylor-Compton went onto explain, "That’s
what I kind of want to do. I love just being passionate about something
rather than just caring about the money or who’s in the movie. 2009
will see Taylor-Compton alongside Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci in Love Ranch.
Then, she went on to star in the film Obsessed alongside Beyonce Knowles.
Her most recent film to hit theatres was Halloween II, Rob Zombie's sequel
to the 2007 remake. The film opened the same day as The Final Destination,
another high profile horror film, and had disappointing box office returns
as a result.</p><br>
Taylor-Compton is currently filming The Runaways
where she plays Lita Ford, alongside Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, and
Stella Maeve.
She is currently represented by the The Gersh Agency.
