Gillian Jacobsis an American actress who often works on a wide range of movies and TV shows. She has always been passionate about acting, beginning tostudy it at a young ageand signing up for community theaters as soon as she could to begin acting. She then went on to study at Julliard, one of the most prestigious performing arts schools in the world. Because of her passion for acting, you can always be sure she’s put her all into any and every role she plays, even if it’s just voice acting in an animated show.
Jacobs' career doesn’t look to be in trouble any time soon, as she continues to show up in movies and series that consistently do well. Her most recent work was a character inMinx, and the show did so well that it has already beenrenewed for a season 2. Another show that released around the same time,HBO’sWinning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,was also received well and renewed. She is also starring and co-directingThe Seven Faces of Jane, whichwill premiere this month. If you’ve already caught up on these shows, however, take a look at this list for more of Jacobs’ great performances.
8Black or White
InBlack or White, experience a custody battle firsthand as a grandfather tries to keep custody of his granddaughter in the aftermath of his wife’s death. Elliot is struggling in the wake of his wife’s death, but when his granddaughter’s other grandmother wants to take her in instead, he refuses, as she is the only thing he has left. When the grandmother gets her drug addict father Reggie involved to gain custody, the person Elliot blames for his daughter’s death, they are forced to go to court, and all that’s left is to hope the case goes in the right direction. You can see Jacobs as Fay, Reggie’s current girlfriend. Though she isn’t one of the main characters, she still portrays this minor character excellently, showing the concern everyone shares for the granddaughter but also knowing what side of the case she is supposed to be on and showing her support for it.
7Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Seeking a Friend for the End of the Worldis a romantic comedyin an apocalyptic setting. The main character, Dodge Petensen is with his wife when they hear the news: the attempt to stop an asteroid hurtling towards Earth failed, and when it impacts in three weeks, it will kill everyone on Earth. Dodge is indifferent, and his wife is upset by this and runs off. Now that the apocalypse has started, everyone either wants to die before the asteroid takes their life, or wants to do the things they never could before.
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During this time Dodge meets his neighbor Penny, who is upset she missed the last chance to get to England and see her family. He knows someone who could fly her and agrees to help, and in their travels together they begin to fall in love. Jacobs plays waitress Katie in a diner the couple comes across in their travels. She helps play into the comedic aspect the diner is there for well, as nothing is as it seems inside, especially considering the end of the world is coming. Without her there the moment wouldn’t be the same.
Called “a comedy about tragedy,”Deanis a film directed by and starring the comedian Demetri Martin and follows the titular character in a rough time period of his life. Dean’s mother has just died, and his father is having a hard time adjusting. He seems indifferent to his father’s struggles however, as he goes to a wedding with a bunch of his friends and then takes a trip all the way out to LA after his father announces he is going to sell the house.
He visits a friend, goes to a party, and meets Nicky, who he is quickly infatuated with. However, everyone has their own secrets and the forces of nature seem intent on keeping them apart. Jacobs plays Nicky in this movie, the perfect balance to the gloom of the situation as she brings love back into Dean’s world. Even though their relationship seems like it isn’t meant to be, Jacobs still brings her all and perfectly shows her interest in Dean while also balancing the secrets she is keeping.
5Life Partners
Life Partnersis about a pair of friends in their early 20s who decide together to try online dating out. While Paige has a pretty successful date with Tim, Sasha’s date is less than pleasant, and she continues to have no luck as Paige continues to see Tim. A rift forms in their friendship as Sasha feels left out, and it threatens to be torn apart completely when Sasha admits to not really liking Tim, and Paige admitting she doesn’t like Sasha’s lack of direction in life.
Jacobs stars in the movie as Paige, really turning her into a well-rounded character. One of Paige’s fatal flaws is how controlling she can get, and that trait hides itself well when she doesn’t use it, but is very obvious as time goes on, helping further enforce the rift that grows between the friends. Jacobs was also praised for this aspect of her acting by critics.
4Don’t Think Twice
An improv group known as The Commune are the main characters ofDon’t Think Twice. The friends are all vastly different from one another, but they work well when they are performing and are doing well for themselves until staff from a popular sketch comedy show come to one of their performances. Not only does Jack do something that makes the rest of the group upset, but it lands him an audition and a role on the show, inflating his ego and not bringing anything good for The Commune.
The friend group begins to drift and fall apart because of the job, and it seems like The Commune will have to come to an end. Jacobs plays Sam in this movie, Jack’s insecure girlfriend. It’s one thing to play an insecure character, but it’s another entirely to play an insecure character who regularly performs improv. Jacobs finds the perfect balance between the two and really plays the character well throughout the entire movie, managing to stand out amongst talented comedians like Chris Gethard, Keegan Michael-Key, Mike Birbiglia, and Kate Micucci.
3The Regular Show
The Regular Showwas ananimated TV showon Cartoon Network that lasted eight seasons. The main characters, Mordecai and Rigby, work as groundskeepers at a park but try to avoid working as much as they can, instead entertaining themselves in various ways. Of course, some of their coworkers and managers don’t like it when they don’t work, but the others find themselves entertained as well when the pair decides to goof off.
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Jacobs is the voice of Blu-Ray, and appears in the last few episodes of the last season. She is proud and boastful, and helps those working in the park fight against Streaming. Jacobs proves that she can bring just as much personality to a character with just her voice as she can with her normal acting, which only makes Blu-Ray a more enjoyable character.
The Netflix originalLoveexplores different perspectives on romantic relationships through the two main characters, Mickey and Gus. The pair is untrustworthy and have problems of their own they need to work through, but the show is their attempt to build a trusting relationship between them. As they do, Mickey struggles with her alcoholism, addiction to sex, and her tendencies to be dishonest, while Gus is dealing with codependency issues, struggles to read many social cues, and doesn’t like when things don’t go his way.
Jacobs stars as Mickey in the show, bringing this complicated, multi-faceted character to life in exactly the way it’s needed. You need a lot of skill to show the bad aspects of a character in an attractive way and also show how they are trying to grow and change, and that is just what Jacobs brings to the table here.
1Community
InCommunity, Jeff Winger is fired once his employers find out he lied about possessing a bachelor’s degree. In order to earn a legitimate degree, he enrolls in a community college in Colorado and soon finds himself attracted to one of his classmates, Britta Perry. He invites her to join him and make a study group in order to try and spend more time with her, but when she invites another person, he subsequently invites a lot more people to the study group and, despite all of their differences, they become friends. The show follows said study group and the shenanigans they often get themselves into around campus.
Jacobs plays the initialwill-they-or-won’t-theylove interest Britta here, and brings a lot to the table with her acting. Britta tends to be seen as pretentious and hypocritical because she thinks she is more intelligent and mature than she really is. Despite this, she genuinely wants to help others as much as she can, often to her detriment. She’s an excellent character, beautiful but insecure, funny but deeply awkward. There is never a dull moment with her around, and keeping all of these facets of her personality active at the same time is something Jacobs is a master at.
