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Tara Mallen

Tara Mallen

Actor · Born September 1, 1964 (62) · Chicago, Illinois, USA

Tara Mallen is an award winning actor, director, and the Producing Artistic Director at Chicago's acclaimed Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. Her screen credits include the 2023 Sundance Breakout Ghostlight, The Last Shift, Steven Soderbergh's Contagion, and the indie feature Fools, as well as TV appearances on Dark Matter (Apple TV), Empire (Fox); BOSS (Starz), Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. (NBC), Sense8 (Netflix) the pilot Doubt (CBS/Sony). She was recently featured in the 2023 Coca Cola commercial "New Guy" directed by Chris Storer.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
September 1, 1964 (62)
From
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Works as
Actor
Titles
8 on MovieCove · 10 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Official site (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 157 days to Oct 28Down 22% in 30 days

What are Tara Mallen's films like?

Across a limited sample of 3 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.

Themes

share of theme weight
Bonds
33%
Self
27%
Survival
12%
Society
12%
Morality
8%
Ideas
8%

What they feel like to watch

their average across 3 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Grounded: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their grounded movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 3 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 0

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 0 · Charged 3 · Intense 0

Shifting: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their shifting movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 1 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 0 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0

Heavy: How much it costs you emotionally; whether you need recovery time. Browse their heavy movies.
Demand · Emotional cost
easyheavy

Easy watch 0 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 3

Resolved: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their resolved movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 2 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Melancholic
2
Warm
2
Cathartic
1
Bittersweet
1
Hopeful
1
Other
1

How their films linger

Bittersweet2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

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 Tara Mallen's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 6 of their 8 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (3).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Tara Mallen'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

10 credits, 8 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.

  • Winter Hymns (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)

    as Bonnie

  • Mouse(2026)

    as Barbara Dunn

    Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films

  • They Rescue Horses, Don’t They? (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)

    Executive Producer

  • Ghostlight(2024)

    as Sharon

    Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films

  • Dark Matter(2024)

    Show 1 episode · as Alesia Cheney

    Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all shows

  • The Last Shift(2020)

    as Angry Customer

    Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films

  • Fools(2016)

    as Vera

    Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all films

  • Empire(2015)

    Show 1 episode · as Dr. Stein

    Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all shows

  • Boss(2011)

    Show 1 episode · as Hospital Administrator

    Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all shows

  • Contagion(2011)

    as Minnesota Health #4

    Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films

Career shape

Star power in the 62nd percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 10 titles from 2011 to 2026; peak year 2024.

Biggest box office

Ghostlight (2024)

$781K worldwide

Highest rated

Ghostlight (2024)

Midcredits 95th

Film career

20112026

Peak 2024 · steadily prominent in film for years. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting9 of 10: 9 only acting, 0 with another role · typical Midcredits score77thProducing1 of 10: 1 only producing, 0 with another role

By decade

2010s4 · acting2020s6 · 5 acting · 1 crew

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 Tara Mallen's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 74th percentile, the median of all 5; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 94th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

94thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Approval · how many liked their films

89thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Reach · how many have seen their films

77thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Midcredits score across 8 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up4
  • 50th to 74th2
  • 25th to 49th2

Shape of the crowd

2 of their 8 titles are Universally Loved.

  • Universally Loved2
  • Cult Classic1
  • Crowd Pleaser2
  • Broadly Agreed1
  • Mixed2

Most divisive · actor

Fools (2016)

78th percentile spread · 31% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · actor

Ghostlight (2024)

Midcredits 95th · 83% liked

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.

Who does Tara Mallen work with?

People who share at least 2 of Tara Mallen's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Katherine Mallen Kupferer shares the most, 3.

Directors

Actors

Cinematographers and editors

Producers