‘Dogfight’s’ Lili Taylor Is Willing to Battle--or Bulk Up--for a Role

Don’t be deceived by Lili Taylor. Underneath her petite, soft-spoken exterior lurks a fighter of champion proportions.

“I seek out and fight for roles,” says the Chicago native. “I can’t say it has all been handed to me. Producers are resistant to cast me. I don’t fit the bill as a starlet.”

Since making her memorable film debut in “Mystic Pizza” three years ago, Taylor, 24, has become the critics’ darling thanks to her dazzling performances in “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Say Anything” and “Bright Angel.”

Still, Taylor says she was involved in another knockdown bout to get cast in her latest film, “Dogfight.”

“Director Nancy Savoca was pushing for me,” she says. “But for some reason I think Warner Bros. was fighting against me. Maybe they weren’t used to my body of work.”

In the drama set in 1963, Taylor plays a shy, overweight young woman named Rose who is the victim of a cruel game played by a group of Marines.

Unlike most actresses, Taylor had no qualms transforming herself into a frumpy, plump plain Jane. In fact, she decided to go the Robert De Niro route and gained 20 pounds for the role. “I took a week of heavy thinking to (decide to) put this weight on,” she says. “Then I just starting shoving food in my mouth.”