Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (/ˈɡɪliən/; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as Britta Perry on the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015) and Mickey Dobbs on the Netflix romantic comedy series Love (2016–2018). Other television roles include Mimi-Rose Howard on the fourth season of the HBO comedy-drama series Girls (2015) and the voice of Atom Eve on the Amazon animated series Invincible (2021–). She has appeared in films such as Gardens of the Night (2008), Life Partners (2014), Don't Think Twice (2016), Ibiza (2018), I Used to Go Here (2020), and The Fear Street Trilogy (2021).
Gillian Jacobs | |
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![]() Jacobs at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con | |
Born | Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (1982-10-19) October 19, 1982 (age 40) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Education | Juilliard School (BFA) |
Occupation |
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Years active | 2005–present |
Jacobs was born on October 19, 1982, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1] Her mother, Martina Magenau Jacobs, works in alumni relations at Carnegie Mellon University, while her father, William F. Jacobs Jr., was an investment banker.[2][3][4] Her parents divorced when she was two years old, and she was raised by her mother in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania.[4] Her father died in 2013. Her family owned the Erie Brewing Company (not to be confused with the later brewery of the same name), where her grandfather, John Martin Magenau Jr., was president and CEO until it closed in 1978.[5]
She began studying acting at the age of four and attended weekend acting classes at the Pittsburgh Playhouse while growing up.[4] She performed with the Pittsburgh Public Theater, where she was a perennial contender in the Public's Shakespeare Monologue Contest, leading her to be cast as Titania in its production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.[6] After graduating from Mt. Lebanon High School in 2000, she moved to New York City to attend the Juilliard School, where she graduated with a BFA in 2004.[4]
Her first acting role was Adele Congreve on the television series The Book of Daniel. Although she played Kim in the pilot of Traveler,[citation needed] the role was given to Pascale Hutton when ABC acquired the series; the series was canceled after eight episodes. Jacobs subsequently made guest appearances on Fringe and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In 2006, she starred in an Off-Off-Broadway production of Christopher Denham's cagelove. While overall critical reaction to the play was negative, Jacobs earned praise in several reviews.[7][8][9] The New York Times advised readers to "remember the name of Gillian Jacobs, a stunning Juilliard graduate who has the glow of a star in the making".[10]
Jacobs has appeared in theatrical productions such as The Fabulous Life of a Size Zero (2007), A Feminine Ending (2007),[11] and The Little Flower of East Orange (2008).[12] In March 2009, she joined the cast of the NBC single-camera comedy series Community as Britta Perry, a high school dropout who aspires to become a psychologist. Her film work includes Blackbird (2007), Choke (2008), Gardens of the Night (2008), The Box (2009), Revenge for Jolly! (2012), Bad Milo! (2013), Walk of Shame (2014), The Lookalike (2014), Life Partners (2014), Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015), Visions (2015), Don't Think Twice (2016), and Brother Nature (2016).[13] She also provided the voices of the characters Sta'abi in the Nickelodeon series Monsters vs. Aliens, and Atom Eve in Amazon Prime animated action series Invincible (2021). Community was canceled by NBC on May 9, 2014,[14] and later that month, it was reported that Jacobs had landed a recurring role as Mimi-Rose Howard in the fourth season of the HBO series Girls.[15]
In June 2014, Yahoo! Screen picked up Community for a sixth season.[16] It was announced on September 16, 2014, that Jacobs was cast to star as Mickey in the Netflix original comedy series Love, which ran from February 2016 to March 2018.[17]
Jacobs directed the 2015 documentary short The Queen of Code about computer scientist and United States Navy rear admiral Grace Hopper.[18] In 2017, Jacobs co-starred in Janicza Bravo's first full length feature, Lemon, which debuted at Sundance Film Festival.[19] In 2018, she directed Curated, a narrative film short, as a part of a series produced by TNT and Refinery29.[20]
In 2020, Jacobs starred in the comedy-drama film I Used to Go Here, directed by Kris Rey.[21] In 2020, she directed "Higher, Further, Faster," an episode of Marvel's 616, a documentary series about the impact of Marvel Comics on culture.[22]
In February 2021, she and co-host Diona Reasonover premiered a STEM-focused podcast, Periodic Talks, on Stitcher Radio.[23] In July 2021, she had a supporting role in the Netflix horror films The Fear Street Trilogy as Christine "Ziggy" Berman.
Despite portraying a drinker on Community and Love, Jacobs is a teetotaler in real life. She said that she made a choice when young to never drink alcohol or take drugs, after "watching people in my family grapple with addiction".[24][25][26][27] She revealed that her father struggled with addiction and that she became fearful of ruining her life the same way—a feeling reinforced in her youth by reading Go Ask Alice, a cautionary tale about a 15-year-old addicted to drugs.[26]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2005 | Building Girl | Katie | |
2007 | Blackbird | Froggy | |
2008 | Choke | Cherry Daiquiri/Beth | |
Gardens of the Night | Leslie Whitehead | ||
2009 | The Box | Dana | |
Solitary Man | Tall girl | ||
2010 | Helena from the Wedding | Helena | |
Nonames | CJ | ||
Coach | Zoe | ||
2011 | Let Go | Darla DeMint | |
2012 | Watching TV with the Red Chinese | Suzanne | |
Revenge for Jolly! | Tina | ||
Adventures in the Sin Bin | Lauren | ||
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World | Katie | ||
2013 | The Incredible Burt Wonderstone | Miranda | |
It's Not You, It's Me | Babe | Short film | |
Bad Milo! | Sarah | ||
The Big Ask | Emily | ||
Made in Cleveland | Martha | ||
Crush | Shira | Short film | |
2014 | Life Partners | Paige Kearns | |
Walk of Shame | Rose | ||
The Lookalike | Lacey/Sadie | ||
Black or White | Fay | ||
2015 | The Queen of Code | — | Documentary short; director |
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 | Jill | ||
No Way Jose | Penny | ||
Visions | Sadie | ||
2016 | Don't Think Twice | Samantha | |
Dean | Nicky | ||
Brother Nature | Gwen Turley | ||
2017 | Lemon | Tracy | |
2018 | Life of the Party | Helen | |
Ibiza | Harper | ||
Curated | — | Short film; director | |
2020 | I Used to Go Here | Kate Conklin | |
Magic Camp | Kristina Darkwood | ||
Come Play | Sarah | ||
2021 | North Hollywood | Abigaile | |
Mark, Mary & Some Other People | Dr. Jacobs | ||
Fear Street Part One: 1994 | C. Berman / Adult Christine "Ziggy" Berman | ||
Fear Street Part Two: 1978 | |||
Fear Street Part Three: 1666 | |||
Injustice | Harley Quinn (voice)[28] | ||
2022 | More Than Robots | — | Documentary; director |
The Contractor | Brianne Harper | ||
The Seven Faces of Jane | Jane | Also segment director | |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | The Book of Daniel | Adele Congreve | 3 episodes |
2007 | Traveler | Kimberly | Episode: "Pilot" |
2008 | Fringe | Joanne Ostler | Episode: "The Equation" |
2009 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Sue Smith | Episode: "Rock Star" |
Royal Pains | Tess Frimoli | Episode: "There Will Be Food" | |
The Good Wife | Sonia | Episode: "Pilot" | |
2009–2015 | Community | Britta Perry | Main cast |
2010 | Aqua Teen Hunger Force | Carl's wife (voice) | Episode: "Larry Miller Hair System" |
2012 | Robot Chicken | Various voices | Episode: "Punctured Jugular" |
2012–2016 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Post-apocalypse woman / Herself | 3 episodes |
2013 | The Venture Bros. | Marsha Backwood (voice) | Episode: "Venture Libre" |
2013–2014 | Monsters vs. Aliens | Sta'abi (voice) | 12 episodes |
2013 | Talking Dead | Herself | Episode: "Indifference" |
2014 | Rupaul's Drag Race | Guest Judge | Episode: "Snatch Game" |
The Greatest Event in Television History | Sonny | Episode: "Bosom Buddies" | |
American Dad! | Christy (voice) | Episode: "Introducing the Naughty Stewardesses" | |
Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories | Young patient | Episode: "Toes" | |
2015 | Girls | Mimi-Rose Howard | 5 episodes |
Adventure Time | M.A.R.G.L.E.S. (voice) | Episode: "You Forgot Your Floaties" | |
Long Live the Royals | Rosalind/additional voices | 4 episodes | |
2016 | Great Minds with Dan Harmon | Ada Lovelace | Episode: "Ada Lovelace" |
2016–2018 | Love | Mickey Dobbs | Main cast |
2017 | Dr. Ken | Erin | Episode: "Ken's New Intern" |
Regular Show | Blu-ray (voice) | 3 episodes | |
Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ | Jenny Tanner | Episode: "Chelsea Leight-Leigh Lately" | |
Justice League Action | Roxy Rocket (voice) | Episode: "The Fatal Fare" | |
Rick and Morty | Supernova (voice) | Episode: "Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender" | |
HarmonQuest | Chip | Episode: "The Quest Continues" | |
2018 | Random Acts of Flyness | Herself | Episode: "They Got Some S**t That'll Blow Out Our Back" |
Angie Tribeca | Becky Bunnker | Episode: "Joystick Luck Club" | |
2019 | Weird City | Mulia | Episode: "Chonathan & Mulia & Barsley & Phephanie" |
At Home with Amy Sedaris | Herself | Episode: "Anniversary" | |
Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show | Mary Poppins | Episode: "Full House But Black" | |
2020 | The Twilight Zone | Annie Mitchell | Episode: "Meet in the Middle" |
Star Trek: Lower Decks | Lieutenant Barbara Brinson (voice) | Episode: "Cupid's Errant Arrow" | |
Earth to Ned | Herself | Episode: "Late Night Ned" | |
Marvel's 616 | — | Episode: "Higher, Further, Faster"; director | |
2021 | Invincible | Samantha Eve Wilkins / Atom Eve (voice) | 7 episodes |
Ten Year Old Tom | Dakota (voice) | 10 episodes | |
Aquaman: King of Atlantis | Mera (voice) | 3 episodes | |
2022 | Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty | Chris Riley | 3 episodes |
Minx | Maggie | 2 episodes | |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Don Cheadle Is Captain Planet | Linka | Funny or Die segment |
2012 | The Book Club | Penelope | 2 episodes |
2013 | Tiny Commando | Mitzi McNeil | 8 episodes |
2017 | STRANGER THINGS: A Bad Lip Reading | Nancy Wheeler (voice) | |
2021 | Christmas Delivery | Beth Briny (voice) | |
2022 | Vindicators 2: Last Stand Between Earth and Doom | Supernova (voice) | 10 episodes |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2006 | cagelove | Katie | Rattlestick Playwrights Theater |
2007 | The Fabulous Life of a Size Zero | Girl | DR2 Theatre |
A Feminine Ending | Amanda Blue | Playwrights Horizons | |
2008 | The Little Flower of East Orange | Nadine/Cathleen | The Public Theater |
2018 | Kings | Kate | The Public Theater |
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
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2010 | Method Fest Award[29] | Best Actress | Nonames | Nominated |
2012 | Critics' Choice Television Award[30] | Best Comedy Supporting Actress | Community | Nominated |
2012 | TV Guide Fan Favorites Award[31] | Favorite Ensemble | Community | Won |
Martin was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and the Siebel Institute of Brewing, and served as President and CEO of the Erie Brewing Company until its closing in 1978.Note: This is not the same Erie Brewing Company founded in 1994.
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