The 10 Best Lily Collins Performances

May 2024 · 8 minute read

Lily Collins was born in Guildford, Surrey, but raised in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of musician Phil Collins and his second wife, Jill Tavelman. Collins made her first on-screen appearance in the American sitcom, Growing Pains at just the age of two.

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In 2009, Collins eventually leaped into making her feature film debut in The Blind Side, where she played the daughter, Collins. Her breakthrough performance in the film started her acting career. She has since starred in many notable films and television series such as To the Bone, Les Misérables (television series), and most recently, Emily in Paris, whose third season has just been released on Netflix.

10 ‘Windfall’ (2022)

An unnamed man (Jason Segel) breaks into a wealthy tech CEO’s (Jesse Plemons) empty vacation home with plans of robbing it, but things take a turn when the CEO and his wife (Lily Collins) unexpectedly arrive at their vacation home for a last-minute getaway.

The robber demands the CEO to pay him $500,000 in cash, but the CEO tells him that he can only get him the money the following day. As the night progresses, the unlikely trio must try and navigate through the tricky situation they are in.

9 ‘Emily in Paris’ (2020-present)

Emily Cooper (Collins) is a young and bright American working at a Chicago marketing firm. When Emily’s boss Madeline (Kate Walsh), turns down a job position in Paris after discovering her pregnancy, she offers the job to Emily instead. Moving to Paris was difficult for Emily at first, especially adjusting to the French, who aren’t so used to the American way of doing things. But being neighbors with the attractive Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) and having friends such as Ashley Park (Mindy Chen) and Camille (Camille Razat) made Paris worthwhile.

At work, Emily’s overly optimistic attitude frequently bothers her new boss, Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu), and colleagues Julien (Samuel Arnold) and Luc (Bruno Gouery), but she quickly becomes an integral part of the team. And while many have praised Emily in Paris’ attractive scenery, fashion, and the characters' charming qualities, the show has also been criticized for its cliché depiction of the French culture whose story lacks depth and the only substance lies in its extravagant clothing.

8 ‘Mank’ (2020)

Mank is a black-and-white biographical film about the screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his process of writing the screenplay for Citizen Kane. Jumping back and forth between 1930 and 1940, Mank provides a timeline of the struggles of an alcoholic writer who was only given 60 days to finish the first draft of Citizen Kane, all while in the midst of the Depression and World War II.

The film also shows the importance of his interpersonal relationships with his secretary Rita Alexander (Collins) and filmmaker Orson Welles (Tom Burke), who helped him through his hardships of alcoholism and writer's block. Despite many complications over the screenplay, Herman and Orson Welles received joined credit as they won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Citizen Kane. The award served as Herman’s first and only Oscar win.

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7 ‘Tolkien’ (2019)

As suggested by its title, Tolkien explores the formative years of the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. As a young child, Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult) and his brother were close to their mother, who filled them with her love and adventurous stories. But as she unexpectedly dies, Father Francis (Colm Meaney) finds a kind woman who takes them in and provides them with housing and a good education. There, Tolkien also meets Edith Bratt (Lily Collins), who would later become his lifelong love and wife and who inspired the characters of Lúthien Tinúviel and Arwen Evenstar.

When his time came as a student at the University of Oxford, Tolkien enrolled in Professor Joseph Wright’s class, where he started to pursue his passion for writing. Years later, Tolkien is happily married to Edith and has four children. He then begins to write his famous books, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

6 ‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile’ (2019)

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile follows the story of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy (Zac Efron) from the lens of his girlfriend, Liz Kendall (Lily Collins). When Liz meets Ted, she believes she has met the man of her dreams. But their seemingly perfect relationship is soon turned upside down when he is arrested on suspicion of being involved in several kidnappings and multiple murders.

For many years leading up to Ted’s execution, Liz refused to believe that the man she had fallen in love with was a man capable of committing such horrific murders.

5 ‘Les Misérables’ (2018)

Les Misérables is a mini television series based on the 1862 classic novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. Jean Valjean (Dominic West) has just been released after serving 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread. He tries to adjust to a world where he is an outcast due to his criminal status. Elsewhere, seamstress Fantine (Lily Collins) falls in love with Felix Tholomyès (Johnny Flynn), but he soon abandons her and her baby Cosette as he returns to his family.

When police inspector Javert (David Oyelowo) hears of Jean Valjean forging a new identity, he is determined to find and capture him. On the other end, Fantine is forced to give up her baby, Cosette, due to poverty. Later, as Jean and Fantine cross paths in Paris, they realize their journeys ahead will be arduous.

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4 ‘Okja’ (2017)

For ten years, the lives of a young Mija (An Seo Hyun) and her companion, a massive mutant “super pig,” who happens to be her best friend, Okja, in South Korea, were untouched and filled with happiness. But suddenly, the multinational conglomerate Mirando Corporation and zoologist Johnny Wilcox (Jake Gyllenhaal) threaten to take Okja away from Mija to New York City. CEO Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) invites Mija to come to New York to reunite with Okja, only to break her trust by exploiting the super pig for her own benefit.

With the help of Jay (Paul Dano), Red (Lily Collins), and other ALF (Animal Liberation Front) members, Mija does everything she can to rescue Okja and bring her best friend back to the mountains of South Korea, where they belong.

3 ‘To the Bone’ (2017)

Ellen, or Eli (Lily Collins), is a 20-year-old college dropout who suffers from anorexia. After failing to make any progress in the patient program and having to return home, Ellen’s stepmother, Susan (Carrie Preston), sets her up with Dr. William Beckham (Keanu Reeves), an unorthodox doctor, who invites Ellen to join his patient program in a group home. Although initially reluctant, Ellen’s sister Kelly (Liana Liberato) eventually convinces her to join the program.

Ellen changes her name to Eli and makes friends with other patients who struggle with different eating disorders. Even though the road ahead won't be easy, Eli slowly realizes the harms of her eating disorder and the necessary changes she has to make before it’s too late. In an interview with Collider, Writer/director Marti Noxon shares his struggles with the writing process and the taboo surrounding eating disorders, such as anorexia.

2 ‘Rules Don’t Apply’ (2016)

In late 1950s Los Angeles, driver Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich), who works for the magnate Howard Hughes (Warren Beatty), picks up a small-town beauty queen, Marla Mabrey (Lily Collins), and her strict mother, Lucy (Annette Bening), at the airport. Mabrey is a devout Baptist who is under contract with Hughes’ film studio RKO Pictures and is spending two weeks in Los Angeles for a screen test for the Stella Starlight film. A colleague of Howard Hughes, Levar Mathis (Matthew Broderick), repeatedly reminds Hughes that their female stars cannot have close contact with men.

As Lucy decides to return to Virginia, Frank and Marla become closer. They learn that they both come from conservative religious backgrounds but don’t deny their attraction to each other. Not only does their relationship put their religious beliefs to the test, but it also disobeys Hughes’ rule that no employees are allowed to be in a relationship with the studio’s starlets.

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1 ‘The Blind Side’ (2009)

The Tuohy family consists of Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock); her husband, Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw); daughter Collins (Lily Collins); and son Sean “S.J.” Jr. (Jae Head). Enter Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a homeless teenager who grew up with no father and whose mother was a drug addict. Oher never received a proper education and the necessary skills to help him learn. Soon, Leigh and Sean become Michael’s legal guardians, and they guide him through every step of the way to ensure a bright future for him.

Michael expresses an interest in football and is very protective of those around him. Given his massive build, he is the perfect fit for the offensive tackle position and is unstoppable on the gridiron. Oher's future never looked brighter since he discovered his talent and passion for football. The Blind Side is loosely based on the story of the life of American footballer Michael Oher.

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