Date of Birth:
21 February 1989, Long Beach, California, USA

Birth Name:
Desariee Starr Compton

Nickname:
Scoutie

Height:
5′ 3″ (1.60 m)

Scout Taylor-Compton began acting with a featured role in the A.F.I. film A.W.O.L starring David Morse. Since then, her performances in seven independent films, over fifteen student films, and three music videos formed a firm foundation that led to her leading role in MGM’s Sleepover. Joe Nussbaum the director of George Lucas in Love also directed the teenage adventure film, which also stars Alexa Vega and Mika Boorem.

Just prior to Sleepover, Scout completed a role in Jennifer Garner’s film 13 Going on 30. She can also be seen in the Hallmark movie Audrey’s Rain, the film 7 Songs, with Chris Eigeman, and the Power Up Film Chicken Night, in which Scout, displaying another facet of her talent, sings the theme song.

On the small screen, in 2003 Scout landed her first series pilot role in Class Actions the hour-long legal drama for Lifetime Television also starring Diane Venora, who plays Scout’s mother in the series. In 2004 Scout booked a leading role in the new Bravo Series, “Hidden Howie: The Private Life of a Public Nuisance”, starring Howie Mandel.

Currently she is awaiting the Network’s decision on the pick-up of her most recent pilot booking, Disney’s “That’s So Raven Spin-Off,” where she plays the series regular role of Lauren, big sister of Alyson Stoner.

Other television guest credits include recurring roles on “Unfabulous”, “The Guardian”, “Charmed”, and “Gilmore Girls” plus appearances on “Cold Case”, “The Division”, “The Lyon’s Den”, “ER”, “Ally McBeal”, an upcoming episode of “That’s So Raven” and several stints on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”. She was nominated in 2004 for a Young Artist Award for her work on “Gilmore Girls,” and was again nominated in 2005 for her lead role in “Sleepover” and recurring role on CBS’s “The Guardian.”

Scout’s voice-over credits include a recent looping for Disney’s Sky High starring Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston. Other voice over credits include two films with Academy Award winning actors including The Core, starring Hilary Swank, and I Am Sam, starring Sean Penn, as well as work in the film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Scout was also the narrator for Chicken Night. On stage she has played the title roles in the musicals Annie/Annie Warbucks and the drama Anne Frank.

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.

Taylor-Compton also stars in the television movie Love’s Unfolding Dream which premiered on November 24, 2007. She starred 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 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 “needs 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 “loves 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 saw 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.

She continues her training in acting, dance, and voice with top coaches, currently recording her first rock album. She also participates in charity projects for disabled and disadvantaged children as a Celebrity Youth Member of Kids With a Cause. Her hobbies and interests include writing songs, playing drums, surfing, and hanging out with her friends. As if that were not enough to keep her busy, Scout hopes to soon acquire a monkey, and a Chihuahua.