Tate Taylor is an American filmmaker and actor. A frequent collaborator with his friends and prolific character actresses Allison Janney and Octavia Spencer, Taylor is best known for directing The Help, Get on Up, and The Girl on the Train.
Taylor worked for 15 years in New York City and Los Angeles. Though he debuted as a feature film director in Pretty Ugly People, he was primarily an actor for most of his career, in films such as Romy and Michele's High School Reunion and Winter's Bone, and on television in series such as Charmed, Six Feet Under, and The Drew Carey Show. Taylor achieved mainstream success when he directed the film The Help, based on Stockett's novel The Help. Stockett gave him rights to make the film adaptation in June 2008, before the book was published. In addition to receiving generally positive reviews, the film was a major commercial success, earning more than $200 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Tate Taylor has been nominated for and received industry awards including the 2013 Vail Film Festival Vanguard Award, the 2012 BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, the 2012 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, the 2012 Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, the 2012 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture and for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture, and the 2011 Chicago Film Critics Association nomination. Taylor next directed the James Brown biopic Get on Up, which starred Chadwick Boseman. Though the film was a critical success, it commercially underperformed. His next project The Girl on the Train, an adaption of the book by Paula Hawkins, was released to mixed reviews from critics, but was a box office success. In August 2018, Taylor was announced to be directing Jessica Chastain in action thriller filmAva. Taylor replaced original director Matthew Newton, who stepped down after controversy over allegations of domestic violence and assault. In October 2018, Taylor was also announced to be helming the film Breaking News in Yuba County, starring frequent collaborator Allison Janney. In May 2019, Taylor released psychological horror filmMa, starring frequent collaborator Octavia Spencer. The film, produced by Jason Blum through his Blumhouse Productions banner, was a critical and commercial success. That same month, Fox ordered Taylor's first television project, Filthy Rich, to series. An American adaption of the New Zealand series starring Kim Cattrall, it is set to premiere in spring 2020.
