Elizabeth Gillies

Elizabeth Egan Gillies[1] (born July 26, 1993[2][3]) is an American actress and singer. Gillies made her Broadway debut at age 15 in the musical 13, playing the character of Lucy.[4] She made her first television appearance in The Black Donnellys (2007), later starring as Jade West in the Nickelodeon series Victorious (2010–2013). From 2011 to 2014, she provided the voice of Daphne in Nickelodeon's Winx Club, and she had a main role in the FX comedy series Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2015–2016). Since 2017, Gillies has starred as billionaire heiress and energy executive Fallon Carrington in The CW's series Dynasty, a reboot of the 1980s series of the same name.[5] She has also appeared in various feature and television films, including the horror film Animal (2014), the television film Killing Daddy (2014), the comedy film Vacation (2015), and the black comedy thriller film Arizona (2018).

Elizabeth Gillies
Gillies in July 2015
Born
Elizabeth Egan Gillies

(1993-07-26) July 26, 1993
Haworth, New Jersey, U.S.
Other namesLiz Gillies
Occupation
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active2005–present
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2020)​
Musical career
InstrumentsVocals
Associated acts

Gillies made her debut as a singer on Victorious with the song "Give It Up" in 2011, singing alongside Ariana Grande. She released other songs while on the show, including "You Don't Know Me" and "Take a Hint", singing alongside Victoria Justice, both songs being part of the Victorious soundtrack albums.

Life and career

1993–2009: Early life and career beginnings

Elizabeth Egan Gillies was born in Haworth, New Jersey, on July 26, 1993, to Dave and Lorrie Gillies. She has one younger brother, born 1996.[6] Gillies has stated that she has Irish ancestry, and an Italian grandmother and great-grandmother.[3][7]

Gillies' acting career began at age 12, when she started going to local open casting calls. She quickly began appearing in commercials for companies such as Virgin Mobile.[8] She left high school in her freshman year to pursue acting and participated in an online high school program.[9] Her first television role was as a recurring character in The Black Donnellys. She has stated that she was not allowed to watch the finished show in its entirety because her parents felt it was not appropriate for her at the time. She appeared in three episodes.

In 2008, she played small roles in The Clique, Harold, and Locker 514. That year she was also cast as Lucy in a Goodspeed production of Jason Robert Brown's new musical 13, alongside her future Victorious co-star, Ariana Grande. Later that year, 13 moved to Broadway, which made it the first Broadway production to have a cast and band entirely made up of teenagers.[10] Gillies remained with the production until its closure on January 4, 2009.[11]

2010–2014: Victorious and breakthrough

In 2010, Gillies was cast as bad girl and occasional antagonist Jade West in the Nickelodeon television show Victorious, a sitcom revolving around teenagers at a performing arts high school in Hollywood. This marked her second time working alongside 13 co-star Ariana Grande. Regarding her Victorious character, Gillies said "It's wonderful. I love playing Jade. I always say she's not so much the 'mean' girl, but the 'bad' girl in so many ways. She has a lot of human qualities to her – she's not just completely sociopathic. She's sweet with her boyfriend. It's nice to play a character with some depth."[12] The show premiered on March 27, 2010. During her time on Victorious, Gillies was featured in several songs on the soundtracks Victorious and Victorious 2.0, including "Give It Up" (duet with Ariana Grande), and "Take a Hint" (duet with Victoria Justice). She also wrote and recorded the song "You Don't Know Me" for an episode of Victorious,[13] and it was later featured in Victorious 3.0.[14][15]

Gillies at the 2012 Primetime Creative Arts Emmys

She lent her talents to other Nick shows, voicing the character of Daphne on the Nickelodeon revival of Winx Club[16] and recording Winx Club's official song, "We Are Believix."[17] She also appeared in an episode of Big Time Rush and as a contestant on BrainSurge and Figure It Out. Beginning in 2012, Gillies began playing small guest roles outside Nickelodeon. Notable appearances include White Collar and The Exes. In July 2012, it was reported that Gillies was working on an alternative rock album.[18][19] Victorious ended on February 2, 2013, after four seasons. Following the cancellation of the series, Gillies took some time off from acting.

In 2013, she was cast as Courtney in the musical adaptation of Jawbreaker and participated in a reading of the show in Manhattan.[20] The musical did not end up being taken to Broadway. On December 10, 2013, Gillies recorded a duet of "Santa Baby" with Ariana Grande for the latter's Christmas Kisses EP.[21] In 2014, Gillies appeared in the horror film Animal as Mandy and the Lifetime movie Killing Daddy, playing Callie Ross. Animal was filmed in the summer of 2013 in Manchester, Connecticut, and was produced by Drew Barrymore. The film also features Gillies' former Winx Club co-star Keke Palmer and was released on iTunes June 17, 2014.[22]

2015–present: Further acting

In 2015, Gillies was cast as Heather in the remake of Vacation. The film received a wide release on July 29, 2015. She was then cast in the comedy series Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll as Gigi, an aspiring singer and daughter of a former rock star named Johnny Rock (portrayed by the show's creator Denis Leary).[23] The show premiered July 16, 2015 to mixed reviews, but Gillies' performance as Gigi was well received. The show ran for two seasons, with the second-season finale airing on September 1, 2016. On September 9, 2016, FX declined to renew the show for a third season, effectively canceling the series.[24]

In 2017, Gillies was cast as Fallon Carrington in The CW television series Dynasty, a reboot of the 1980s series of the same name.[5][25][26] After Nicollette Sheridan left the role of Fallon's mother Alexis Carrington near the end of the second season, Gillies began playing the character temporarily, as well as continuing to portray Fallon.[27][28] In 2018, Gillies starred in the dark-comedy thriller film Arizona as Kelsey.[29] It was first premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and after attained a theatrical release, as well as being released direct-to-video.[30][31] In 2019, Gillies, alongside Matt Bennett, made a surprise appearance during the November 19th show of her Victorious co-star Ariana Grande's Sweetener World Tour in Atlanta, Georgia in which Grande and Bennett performed "I Think You're Swell", while Grande and Gillies performed "Give It Up", both songs from Victorious.[32]

Personal life

On August 8, 2020, Gillies married music producer Michael Corcoran at a private ceremony in New Jersey.[33] They reside in Atlanta, Georgia.[33]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Harold Evelyn Taylor
2008 The Clique Shelby Wexler Direct-to-video film
2011 The Death and Return of Superman Eradicator folks Short film
2012 Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom Daphne Voice role (English dub)
2014 Animal Mandy
2015 Vacation Heather
2018 Arizona Kelsey [29]

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2007 The Black Donnellys Young Jenny 3 episodes
2009 The Battery's Down Bat Mitzvah guest Episode: "Bad Bad News"
2010–2013 Victorious Jade West Main role
2011 iCarly Jade West Crossover special: "iParty with Victorious"
2011 Big Time Rush Heather Fox Episode: "Big Time Secret"
2011–2014 Winx Club Daphne Voice role; 24 episodes
2012 White Collar Chloe Woods Episode: "Upper West Side Story"
2013 The Exes Tracy Cooper Episode: "Prelude to a Kiss"
2014 Sam & Cat Jade West Episode: "#TheKillerTunaJump: #Freddie #Jade #Robbie"
2014 Killing Daddy Callie Ross Television film
2015–2016 Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll Gigi Main role
2015 The Penguins of Madagascar Singer Voice role; episode: "The Penguin Who Loved Me"
2015 American Dad! Lena Horne Voice role; episode: "A Star Is Reborn"
2017–present Dynasty Fallon Carrington / Alexis Carrington (2019) Main role
2018 Robot Chicken Sun Baby, Marie "Slim" Browning Voice role; episode: "Gimme That Chocolate Milk"
2019 Welcome to the Wayne Parana Sycamore Voice role; episode: "That's Squidjit Bowling"
2020 Make It Work! Herself Television special

Video games
Year Title Role
2012 Victorious: Time to Shine Jade West (voice)
2012 Victorious: Taking the Lead Jade West (voice)

Music videos
Year Title Artist
2010"Freak the Freak Out"Victoria Justice
2011"Beggin' on Your Knees"Victoria Justice
2011"All I Want Is Everything"Victoria Justice
2011"Take a Hint"Victoria Justice and herself
2011"Time in the Day"Mikey Deleasa
2012"Time of Our Life"Big Time Rush
2012"Make It in America"Victoria Justice
2012"We Are Believix"Herself
2012"You Don't Know Me"Herself
2013"Right There"Ariana Grande
2015"Die Trying"Herself
2016"Bang Bang"Herself
2018"Thank U, Next"[34]Ariana Grande
2020"Stuck With U"Ariana Grande featuring Justin Bieber

Theater
Year Title Role Notes
2008–2009 13 Lucy Original Broadway cast
2013 Jawbreaker: The Musical Courtney Workshop reading

Discography
Main article: Elizabeth Gillies discography

References
  1. Brantley, Ben (October 6, 2008). "Stranger in Strange Land: The Acne Years". The New York Times. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  2. Gillies, Elizabeth [@LizGillies] (July 25, 2011). "Enjoying the last few hours of my childhood! Tomorrow I am a legal adult!" (Tweet). Retrieved January 22, 2017 – via Twitter.
  3. Zutter, Natalie (March 13, 2011). "Interview: Broadway Star and 'Victorious' Mean Girl Elizabeth Gillies Couldn't Handle Bieber Fans". Alloy. Archived from the original on August 27, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2018. But my Italian grandmother and great-grandmother weren't having any of it; they have their traditional Italian meal, and I had to watch this gorgeous food be consumed by my family. Lasagna, meatballs, and I'm just sitting there...
  4. "13 A New Musical Announces Its Teenage Cast and Band". Broadwayworld.com. August 14, 2008.
  5. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (February 10, 2017). "CW's Dynasty Reboot Casts Elizabeth Gillies in Starring Role". Variety. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  6. Gillies, Elizabeth [@LizGillies] (April 23, 2016). "My platinum blonde, bowl-cut-haired little brother is now a fully grown TWENTY YEAR OLD MAN. Can't believe it. Happy Bday @GeorgeGillies3 :)" (Tweet). Retrieved January 22, 2017 – via Twitter.
  7. Gillies, Elizabeth [@LizGillies] (March 17, 2015). "I'm Irish AF btw" (Tweet). Retrieved June 11, 2018 – via Twitter.
  8. Rohan, Virginia (July 20, 2011). "TV Mean Girl: Haworth's Elizabeth Gillies talks iParty with Victorious". Bergen.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2015. Elizabeth Gillies is not a diva. She just plays one on TV. The Haworth teen is nothing but charming as she chats on the phone about Jade, the gifted character with attitude she plays on Nickelodeon's Victorious.
  9. "Kidsday interviews actress Elizabeth Gillies", Newsday, October 26, 2011. Accessed December 17, 2019. "[Q] How do you balance your schoolwork and acting? [A] It’s hard. It’s very tricky. I had to leave high school freshman year, but I didn’t want to leave school in general because I want to have an education. It’s important. I’m doing online school."
  10. "13, A New Musical Announces Its Teenage Cast and Band". Broadway World. August 14, 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  11. Gans, A.; Jones, K. (November 21, 2008). "New Musical 13 to Close on Broadway in January 2009". Playbill. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  12. Orenstein, H. (July 27, 2012). "Elizabeth Gillies, 'Victorious' Star, On Playing The Bad Girl And Being The Nice Girl". HuffPost. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  13. Mulvaney, Nicole. "J-14 Exclusive: Liz Gillies Talks the End of 'Victorious' and New Music". J-14.com. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  14. "Victorious 3.0 Track List". Archived from the original on October 2, 2013.
  15. Gillies, Liz [@LizGillies] (October 16, 2012). "Everyone make sure to pre-order the Victorious3.0 soundtrack! Excited to have a song I wrote on there" (Tweet). Retrieved October 16, 2012 – via Twitter.
  16. "Viacom Press - Nickelodeon Winx Club". ViacomCBS. The series features the voices of some of Nick’s biggest stars including ... Elizabeth Gillies (Victorious) as Daphne
  17. "Nick.com - Listen to the Winx Club Theme Song!". Nick.com. July 27, 2012.
  18. Gillies, Liz [@LizGillies] (March 6, 2012). "@LizGOnline I know! I've been crazy busy writing original music so I haven't had any time do covers, but I promise I'll do one very soon :)" (Tweet). Retrieved July 27, 2012 – via Twitter.
  19. Orenstein, Hannah (July 27, 2012). "Liz Gillies Interview". HuffPost.
  20. Gans, A. (September 26, 2013). "MadBromance Productions hosts a 29-hour reading of Jawbreaker: The Musical, based on the 1999 film "Jawbreaker," Sept. 26–27 at 3 PM in Manhattan". Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  21. Boardman, Madeline (December 10, 2013). "Ariana Grande Does 'Santa Baby' With Liz Gillies". HuffPost. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  22. Ng, Philiana (July 25, 2013). "Drew Barrymore's 'Animal' Sets Ensemble Cast (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  23. Patten, Dominic (June 30, 2014). "FX Orders Denis Leary's 'Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll' To Series". Deadline Hollywood.
  24. Ausiello, Michael (September 9, 2016). "Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll Cancelled at FX". TVLine. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  25. Petski, Denise (February 10, 2017). "Elizabeth Gillies Joins The CW's Dynasty Reboot; William Miller Cast In Searchers". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  26. Holloway, Daniel (May 10, 2017). "Dynasty Reboot, Military Drama Valor Land Series Orders at CW". Variety. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  27. Swift, Andy (April 20, 2019). "Dynasty's New Alexis Revealed: Who's Taking Over for Nicollette Sheridan?". TVLine. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  28. Swift, Andy (April 26, 2019). "Dynasty's Elizabeth Gillies on Her 'Wild' Transformation From Fallon to Alexis: 'It Was Crazy, But I Love a Challenge'". TVLine. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  29. "′Arizona′ Review – Variety". Variety.
  30. McNary, Dave (May 1, 2018). "Danny McBride's Comedy 'Arizona' Bought for Summer Release". Variety. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  31. Kiefer, Halle (August 13, 2018). "Danny McBride Is Out for Homeowner's Revenge in Housing Crisis Thriller Arizona". Vulture. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  32. Aniftos, Rania (November 20, 2019). "Ariana Grande & Liz Gillies Recreated a 'Victorious' Scene Onstage & We Were Suddenly Transported to 2010". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  33. Macon, Alexandra (September 16, 2020). "Actress Elizabeth Gillies Drove an RV to Her Wedding At a Charming Farm in New Jersey". Vogue. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  34. Aiello, McKenna. "All the Celebrity Cameos in Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next Music Video". E! News. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.