Jessie Nelson wrote, directed and produced Corrina Corrina and I Am Sam, starring Sean Penn. She co-created and executive produced Sara Bareilles' Little Voice for Bad Robot and Apple TV. Among her other directing credits are Curb Your Enthusiasm and Love, The Coopers. Her writing credits also include Step Mom and The Story of Us. Nelson wrote the Broadway musical Waitress with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, which went on to the West End in London. Nelson directed Alice By Heart, which she co-wrote with Steven Sater with music by Duncan Sheik at the National Theater Connections Program in London and at MCC in NYC. She began her career as an actress at the Public Theater, working with the experimental theater, Mabou Mines, and acting with the New York Shakespeare Festival. Nelson is executive producing Nikesh Shukula's Brown Baby and Glennon Doyle's Untamed for television. She wrote the children's book Labracadabra.
Read moreShow less
Biography from TMDB.
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Writer, producer, director and actor
- 18 on MovieCove · 21 credits in all
What are Jessie Nelson's films like?
Across their 12 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 0 · Earnest 11
Light 6 · Serious 5 · Dark 1
Grounded 11 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 7 · Charged 4 · Intense 1
Steady 9 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 1 · Some laughs 8 · Funny 3
Slow burn 8 · Even-paced 4 · Relentless 0
Casual 11 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0
A split, not a type: Easy watch 5 · Affecting 4 · Heavy 3
Resolved 11 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy6
- Bittersweet6
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Jessie Nelson's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 13 of their 18 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Jessie Nelson's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
21 credits, 18 with a MovieCove page.
Oh, Hi!(2025)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
Waitress: The Musical(2023)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
American Assassin Amnesiac (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Little Voice(2020)
Midcredits score: 63rd percentile of all shows
Alice by Heart (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Love the Coopers(2015)
Midcredits score: 31st percentile of all films
Danny Collins(2015)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
Hope Springs(2012)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films
Fred Claus(2007)
Midcredits score: 31st percentile of all films
Because I Said So(2007)
Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films
I Am Sam(2001)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Curb Your Enthusiasm(2000)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all shows
The Story of Us(1999)
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all films
Stepmom(1998)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films
ER(1994)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all shows
Corrina, Corrina(1994)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
Hoggs' Heaven(1994)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films
The Switch(1993)
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films
To The Moon, Alice (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1991)
Daniel and the Towers(1987)
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Career shape
A full career of 20 titles from 1987 to 2025.
Biggest box office
Stepmom (1998)
Highest rated
Waitress: The Musical (2023)
Most popular right now
Danny Collins (2015)
Film career
- 1993Screen debut· So I Married an Axe Murderer
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Jessie Nelson's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 61st percentile, the median of all 15; across their 12 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 63rd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up7
- 50th to 74th6
- 25th to 49th5
Shape of the crowd
7 of their 18 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved3
- Crowd Pleaser7
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed7
Reviewers score the dialogue 48/100 and the plot and story 41/100 in their films, across 10 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Jessie Nelson's work okay for kids?
Across up to 9 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore and frightening / intense run lighter than most films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Jessie Nelson work with?
People who share at least 2 of Jessie Nelson's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Dan Fogelman shares the most, 2.
Writers
- Dan FogelmanShared titles: Danny Collins (2015), Fred Claus (2007)See all 2 shared titles with Dan Fogelman
- Steven RogersShared titles: Love the Coopers (2015), Stepmom (1998)See all 2 shared titles with Steven Rogers
- Karen Leigh HopkinsShared titles: Because I Said So (2007), Stepmom (1998)See all 2 shared titles with Karen Leigh Hopkins
Actors
- Diane KeatonShared titles: Love the Coopers (2015), Because I Said So (2007)See all 2 shared titles with Diane Keaton
- Michelle PfeifferShared titles: I Am Sam (2001), The Story of Us (1999)See all 2 shared titles with Michelle Pfeiffer
Composers and cinematographers
- Elliot DavisShared titles: Love the Coopers (2015), I Am Sam (2001)See all 2 shared titles with Elliot Davis
- Theodore ShapiroShared titles: Danny Collins (2015), Hope Springs (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Theodore Shapiro
Producers
- Steve TischShared titles: Hope Springs (2012), Corrina, Corrina (1994)See all 2 shared titles with Steve Tisch
