Elizabeth Gillies

Elizabeth Gillies
Gillies at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	Elizabeth Egan Gillies (1993-07-26) July 26, 1993 Haworth, New Jersey, U.S.
Other names	Liz Gillies
Occupation	Actress singer
Years active	2005–present

Elizabeth Egan "Liz" Gillies^[1] (born July 26, 1993)^[2] is an American actress and singer. She appeared in several television series and commercials, before acquiring her first significant role prior to her 17th birthday, playing Jade West on the television series Victorious. She made her Broadway debut at age 15 in the musical 13, playing the character of Lucy.^[3] She had a main role in FX's rock 'n' roll comedy series Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll.

Life and career

1993-2007: Early life and career beginnings

Liz was born in Haworth, New Jersey to Dave and Lorrie Gillies. She has one younger brother, George, born 1996.^[4] She is of Irish and Italian descent.^[5]

Gillies' acting career began at age twelve, when she started going to local open casting calls. She quickly began appearing in commercials for companies such as Virgin Mobile.^[6] 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 2007, she played small roles in The Clique, Harold, and Locker 514.^[7]

In the summer of 2008, Gillies was cast as Lucy in a Godspeed 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.^[8] Gillies remained with the production until its closure on January 4, 2009.^[9]

2010-2013: Involvement with Nickelodeon

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-based 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."^[10] The show premiered on March 27, 2010, and ended on February 2, 2013 after four seasons. Gillies reprised her role as Jade in a special episode of the iCarly and Victorious spinoff series Sam and Cat. The episode aired in 2014.

During her time on Victorious, Gillies lent her talents to other Nickelodeon shows, voicing the character of Daphne on the animated series Winx Club and recording Winx Club's official song, "We Are Believix." She also appeared in an episode of Big Time Rush and as a contestant on game shows BrainSurge and Figure It Out.

2012-2015: Other appearances and movie roles

Beginning in 2012, Gillies began playing small guest roles outside of Nickelodeon. Notable appearances include White Collar and The Exes.

Following the cancellation of Victorious, 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.^[11] The musical did not end up being taken to Broadway.

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.^[12]

Killing Daddy, a Lifetime original movie,^[13] stars Gillies as Calista "Callie" Ross, a troubled young woman who returns to her estranged family with a plan for her recently disabled father and her inheritance. The movie aired on Lifetime on July 5, 2014.

2015-present: Vacation and Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll

In 2015, Gillies was cast as Heather in the remake of Vacation. The film received a wide release on July 29, 2015.

Also in 2015, Gillies was cast in the comedy series Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll as Gigi Rock, an aspiring singer and daughter of a former rock star named Johnny Rock (portrayed by the show's creator Denis Leary).^[14] 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.^[15]

Music

Gillies was featured in several songs on the soundtracks Victorious (soundtrack) 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,^[16] and it was later featured in Victorious 3.0.^[17][18]

Gillies has a YouTube account called LizGilliesOfficial, where she uploads covers of popular songs including: "Wild Horses" by The Rolling Stones, "You and I" by Lady Gaga, "For No One" by The Beatles, "Jealous Guy" by John Lennon, "Father and Son" by Cat Stevens and "One and Only" by Adele.^[19] She has also covered songs with Max Schneider ("Somewhere Only We Know") and Ariana Grande ("The Christmas Song").

In July 2012, it was reported that Gillies was working on an alternative rock album.^[20][21]

On December 10, 2013, Gillies recorded a duet with Ariana Grande called "Santa Baby" for Grande's Christmas EP Christmas Kisses.^[22]

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Theatre

Discography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elizabeth Gillies.

• Elizabeth Gillies at the Internet Movie Database
• Elizabeth Gillies at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• Elizabeth Gillies on Facebook
• Elizabeth Gillies on YouTube