Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#2322
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Lili Taylor represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 38 years in, and Lili is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Lili Taylor appears in 29 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Lili. The Conjuring is the clearest case: a film rated 7.7 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for science fiction, comedy, drama. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Adam Stein, Francis Lawrence, Michael Chaves and others, Lili Taylor helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
The Conjuring (2013) as Carolyn Perron · To the Bone (2017) as Judy · Short Cuts (1993) as Honey Bush
Career snapshot
Ranked #2322 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
29
1988–2026
Career length
38 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.7
The Conjuring
Average Nutevio score
5.5
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.5
The Conjuring
Most frequent director
Robert Altman
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Robert Altman
Most common genre
Drama
15 titles
Average runtime
1h 53m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.8
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.5
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
1980s
6.6 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. Say Anything..., Born on the Fourth of July, She's Having a Baby — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
6.6
Across 3 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
6.6
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Say Anything..., Born on the Fourth of July, She's Having a Baby.
Most productive era
2010s
9 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.63 films | 7.04 films | 6.92 films | 6.15 films | 0.01 film |
| Action | — | 6.71 film | — | 6.71 film | 0.01 film |
| Thriller | — | 6.32 films | — | 6.74 films | 0.01 film |
| Comedy | 6.42 films | 6.34 films | 6.22 films | — | 0.01 film |
| Crime | — | — | 6.81 film | 6.22 films | — |
| Romance | 6.42 films | 7.11 film | 7.11 film | — | — |
| Horror | — | 6.22 films | — | 6.53 films | 6.22 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Girl at Medical Lab.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2013The Conjuring
7.7 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2026The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
The current state of the argument, as Mags Flanagan.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
29 of 29 films
as Carolyn Perron
Directed by James Wan
as Kathleen Conklin
Directed by Abel Ferrara
as Sherry
Directed by David Anspaugh
as Grace Stalker
Directed by Emir Kusturica
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Carolyn Perron
The Conjuring (2013)
Performance score8.0
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Carolyn Perron gives Lili Taylor a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Judy
To the Bone (2017)
Performance score7.3
To the Bone asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Judy is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Kathleen Conklin
The Addiction (1995)
Performance score7.2
The Addiction asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Kathleen Conklin is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Sherry
Rudy (1993)
Performance score7.2
Rudy asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Sherry is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Carolyn Perron
Start here. The Conjuring is the clearest statement of what Lili Taylor does — accessible, 112 minutes, and rated 7.7 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Lili at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Rudy (1993)
A deliberate change of key after The Conjuring — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Arizona Dream (1993)
Keeps the drama register of Rudy but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Addiction (1995)
Keeps the drama register of Arizona Dream but asks for a colder reading of it.
To the Bone (2017)
Keeps the drama register of The Addiction but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Robert Altman
Director
2 films together
Notably Short Cuts
John Hughes
Director
1 film together
Notably She's Having a Baby
Oliver Stone
Director
1 film together
Notably Born on the Fourth of July
Cameron Crowe
Director
1 film together
Notably Say Anything...
Emir Kusturica
Director
1 film together
Notably Arizona Dream
David Anspaugh
Director
1 film together
Notably Rudy
Abel Ferrara
Director
1 film together
Notably The Addiction
Quentin Tarantino
Director
1 film together
Notably Four Rooms
Ron Howard
Director
1 film together
Notably Ransom
Jan de Bont
Director
1 film together
Notably The Haunting
Stephen Frears
Director
1 film together
Notably High Fidelity
Steven Conrad
Director
1 film together
Notably The Promotion
Michael Mann
Director
1 film together
Notably Public Enemies
Antoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together
Notably Brooklyn's Finest
Paul Weitz
Director
1 film together
Notably Being Flynn
James Wan
Director
1 film together
Notably The Conjuring
Wes Ball
Director
1 film together
Notably Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
Marti Noxon
Director
1 film together
Notably To the Bone
Corin Hardy
Director
1 film together
Notably The Nun
Ciarán Foy
Director
1 film together
Notably Eli
Michael Chaves
Director
1 film together
Notably The Conjuring: Last Rites
Francis Lawrence
Director
1 film together
Notably The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
Adam Stein
Director
1 film together
Notably Freaks Part II
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Robert Altman
Director
2 films together · 6.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Short CutsJames Wan
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The ConjuringMarti Noxon
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
To the BoneStephen Frears
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
High FidelityDavid Anspaugh
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RudyEmir Kusturica
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Arizona DreamMichael Chaves
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Conjuring: Last RitesOliver Stone
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Born on the Fourth of JulyCameron Crowe
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Say Anything...Michael Mann
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Public EnemiesWes Ball
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Maze Runner: The Scorch TrialsRon Howard
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RansomAbel Ferrara
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The AddictionAntoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Brooklyn's FinestPaul Weitz
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Being FlynnCiarán Foy
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
EliCorin Hardy
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The NunQuentin Tarantino
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Four RoomsJohn Hughes
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
She's Having a BabyJan de Bont
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The HauntingSteven Conrad
Director
1 film together · 5.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The PromotionAdam Stein
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Freaks Part IIFrancis Lawrence
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the ReapingSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
The Conjuring
as Carolyn Perron
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
High Fidelity
as Sarah Kendrew
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
The Conjuring
as Carolyn Perron
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Public Enemies
as Sheriff Lillian Holley
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The Conjuring
as Carolyn Perron
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Lili Taylor has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
38 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Drama Legend
Awarded
15 catalogue titles in drama, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
The Conjuring
as Carolyn Perron
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Conjuring
as Carolyn Perron
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
High Fidelity
as Sarah Kendrew
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Haunting
as Nell
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
as Mary Cooper
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
as Mary Cooper
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Arizona Dream
as Grace Stalker
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
The Haunting
as Nell
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Harvey Keitel
Works with the same directors — Quentin Tarantino
Ted Levine
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Robert De Niro
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Al Pacino
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Have your say
Community
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Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
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Reference
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