In the spring of 1988, I fell in love (or something) with Julia Roberts, and I wanted to become best friends with Lili Taylor. I was a freshman in college — just inching a toe or two out of the closet — and very happy to be attending a university where we got to see all sorts of cool, free stuff, such as screenings of Mystic Pizza months before its theatrical release.

Taylor's character was the most appealing of the three leads. Julia Roberts was pretty, but a mess. Annabeth Gish was smart, but having an affair with the married father of the kid she babysat. Ugh. But Lili Taylor was just a good friend to her friends while she struggled with commitment issues. How could anyone not think she was great?

Since then, I've been loosely following her career as "queen of the independents." She's played a whole lot of lesbians (I Shot Andy Warhol, The Addiction, Pret-a-Porter, Julie Johnson) and told The Advocate in 1996, "I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up with a woman."

She certainly looked comfortable with Courtney Love in Julie Johnson.

And now she's playing therapist with a wee bit of drama in her personal life on Lifetime's State of Mind. … continue reading