Gillian Jacobs
Gillian Jacobs
Gillian MacLaren Jacobs is an American actress. She portrayed Britta Perry on the NBC/Yahoo! Screen comedy series Community and stars as Mickey on the Netflix series Love. Jacobs has also appeared in television shows such as Fringe, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Good Wife, and Girls, and in films such as Gardens of the Night, The Box, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, and Bad Milo!...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Actress
Date of Birth19 October 1982
CityPittsburgh, PA
CountryUnited States of America
I think you just have to take everything that happens on a TV show with a grain of salt. You sign up for a show for six years having zero idea where they're going to go with the character, so you just have to get on the ride of the show and go with wherever they take you.
I went to college and got my degree in acting, but because it was all theater, I really consider my first couple years on 'Mad Men' as amazing training for working in television and for acting on-camera.
In my sort of young, idealistic mind, I was just like, 'Well, it's either theater or film for me, and that will be that!'
Bitterness doesn't serve you any good. And it really tells you more about how you feel about yourself than anything you feel about your friends.
It's sometimes hard to accept that the people you love and feel the closest to may have different dreams and goals from yours, and those are valid. And I've felt that way: accepting people's differences and recognizing them as valid choices even if they're different from your own.
A movie that I've seen probably the most is 'Fanny & Alexander,' the Ingmar Bergman movie. I even dragged my friends to the super long version that had an intermission. I don't know how much they liked me that day.
I think in theater it demands that you say the same words every night and make it feel fresh and new. Improv demands that you be operating at the highest level of your creativity intelligence. So these two skills are both very important but I've seen people who are very skilled at one area struggle with the other. Either improvisers feel constrained by having to say the same thing over and over again or people who are really good at doing scripted work feel intimidated and exposed doing improvisation.
I've gotten super into restaurants in L.A., so I try to go to different restaurants all the time... that's a good way to explore L.A.: you can drive to a restaurant and discover a new neighborhood.
On the set of 'Community,' we quote 'Community' to each other. We're a lost cause. We're like a bunch of little kids running around and yelling things.
Your agents and your managers will always say stuff to you like, "It's really important to make a good first impression on a casting director. And even though you didn't get that job, because you did well that means they'll keep bringing you back in." But when you really just need a job to pay your rent, that stops being very consoling.
I always try to have a bigger picture view of my career. But that didn't mean that I didn't cry about not getting jobs.
If somebody is deemed more talented within the confines of the school it doesn't mean they're going to have the most successful career.
I am very up front about about my inability to pronounce things correctly. I said real-uh-tor instead of realtor until about five years ago. I just admit I have no idea how to say Theyskens! Don't be intimidated. Just be honest!
I'm a very boring person in my real life so I got to act out misbehaving fantasies was really fun.