1998–2006: Early roles 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. In November 2000, Taylor-Compton made 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 was nominated for "Best Performance in a TV Series – Recurring Young Actress" for her portrayal of Clara. 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. In 2004, she appeared in the teen comedy,
Sleepover, 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. In 2005, she was briefly considered a missing person when her family had been unable to contact her for approximately two weeks. She was discovered to be alive and healthy on August 25, 2005, and had reportedly been in the company of an acquaintance during her absence. Following
Sleepover, she appeared in numerous television series including
Hidden Howie,
Unfabulous (2 episodes),
Cold Case, ''
That's So Raven, Charmed (appearing in 8 episodes between 2000 and 2006 as various Fairies), and Without a Trace'' (in which she portrayed a runaway teenager).
2007–2010: Halloween and breakthrough In 2007, Taylor-Compton joined the cast of
ABC's
Friday Night Live. The same year, 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 six 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. She 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
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, who had kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her
Indianapolis home in 1965. 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." She starred in the television movie ''
Love's Unfolding Dream, which premiered on November 24, 2007, and in the horror film April Fool's Day'', a remake of
the 1986 film, filmed in
North Carolina, that had a DVD release of March 25, 2008. Taylor-Compton explained at the time on the starring in the role of Torrance: "I'll just be playing another wholesome 'good girl' that screams a lot." 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." Next, she co-starred opposite
Jonathan Silverman and
Jennifer Finnigan in the science fiction romantic comedy
Andover (2017), portraying a graduate student working under a genetics professor who
clones his deceased wife. In 2021, Taylor-Compton starred in the thriller film
An Intrusion, followed by the Western
Apache Junction, for which she and co-star
Stuart Townsend. Joe Leydon of
Variety praised her and Townsend's performances, noting the two "are well-cast as archetypical Western characters while
Trace Adkins again demonstrates commanding on-screen presence." The same year, she appeared in the science fiction film
Chariot, co-starring
John Malkovich,
Shane West, and
Thomas Mann. The same year, she appeared in the independent horror film
Allegoria. On April 2, 2024, it was announced by
Deadline Hollywood that Taylor-Compton's directorial debut
Bring the Law had wrapped production, with its script written by Josh Ridgway from a story treatment by Daniel Figueirido. The film is produced by Daemon Hillin and Carolina Brasil, and its cast includes
Mickey Rourke,
Peter Facinelli,
Nicky Wheelan,
Brendan Fehr,
Leah Pipes, and Taylor-Compton's
Halloween co-star
Danielle Harris. Also in 2024, Taylor-Compton starred opposite
Taryn Manning and
Kane Hodder in the horror film
They Turned Us Into Killers. In 2025, she starred opposite
Richard Dreyfuss in the thriller
Into the Deep, playing an oceanographer who becomes stranded in the ocean among sharks. ==Other ventures==