Anecdotes

Was accepted to Harvard and Northwestern University but chose to attend Julliard.

Studied acting at the Juilliard School, in New York City, graduating in 2004.

Starred in such off-Broadway productions as "Little Flower of East Orange", which was directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, as well as "A Feminine Ending", directed by Blair Brown.

Made her New York stage debut in 2006 in "Cagelove". Her performance as an assault victim was praised in a New York Times review, which said she "has the glow of a star in the making".

Her first love is theatre. She started acting at the Pittsburgh Public Theater and frequently competed in an annual Shakespeare Monologue Contest.

Her forename, Gillian, is pronounced with a hard "G" (as with Gilda, Gilmore etc).

Despite playing Mickey Dobbs, a recovering alcoholic and a drug addict in the show Love (2016) on Netflix, in reality, Gillian is a teetotaler and practices complete personal abstinence from alcoholic beverages and drugs.

Good friends with Community (2009) co-star Joel McHale.

Since she is a teetotaller in real life, she would spin around herself before the scenes where her character is drunk or ask crew members how it feels to be drunk.

Had her ears pierced on live television as she has always been too scared to do it and figured that she couldn't chicken out if it was on national TV.

As a child traveling with her family from Nice to Venice by train, she was robbed by thieves who had sprayed a drug inside the compartments to incapacitate passengers.

One of her nicknames is 'Bubby' given by her mother, after the former Steelers quarterback Bubby Brister.

Has a great interest in pod-casting. Apart from her notable appearances in Comedy Bang Bang: The Podcast (2009), also appeared in True-Crime Podcast, Blood Ties (2019) alongside Josh Gad. She also co-hosted a STEM podcast named, Periodic Talks (2021) with Diona Reasonover.

Her grandfather, John Martin Magenau, was president and CEO of the family-owned Erie Brewing Company in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Niece of former Secretary of Transportation Samuel Skinner.

Jacobs is of Irish, Scottish, German, and French heritage.

Her celebrity crush was Cary Grant when she was a teenager.

Published several articles including personal essays and interviews for Lenny Letter between 2016 and 2017.

She is a fan of the show Barry (2018).