A Field Guide To Gillian Jacobs

Last week brought the news that Gillian Jacobs -- most recently of NBC's "Community" and some very sexy GQ photos -- would be joining the cast of HBO's "Girls" (and, we hope, following in the very naked footsteps of the show's creator, Lena Dunham). As long time fans of Ms. Jacobs, we're thrilled that we're going to get to see more (hopefully a lot more) of her on screen. But if you're just getting acquainted with the lovely lady, well, here's a brief intro as to why she's so amazingly awesome.

Gillian Jacobs was born October 19, 1982 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Go Steelers!), and grew up in Mt. Lebanon. Though her parents were an investment banker and a college administrator, Gillian figured out pretty early on that her future lay down a more artistic path. By the age of eight she'd started acting lessons at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, and performed in Pittsburgh Public Theater productions throughout her youth (including quite a bit of Shakespeare). Upon graduating high school in 2000, she made her way to New York City to attend Juilliard, where she learned a whole bunch of fancy stuff about acting that has doubtless served her well in the decade since she graduated. After graduating with a BA in 2004 she set her sights on professional acting gigs: and that, friends, is where the story really starts to get interesting. (Especially if nudity happens to interest you.)

Gillian's first professional acting role was playing Adele Cosgrove on the TV series "The Book of Daniel," a gig which was followed other TV roles ("Fringe," "Law and Order: Criminal Intent") and a few off-off-Broadway roles. But for anyone who finds her alluringly attractive, her first important role came in 2007, when she starred in Adam Rapp's "Blackbird" as a runaway-turned-exotic dancer. A clean living, well behaved sort of person, Jacobs didn't have much personal experience to draw on for the role, so she committed herself to diligently doing a whole lot of research. Preparation for "Blackbird" included "taking her first trip to a strip club and later attempting to choreograph her own striptease while her family prepared Thanksgiving dinner downstairs," which, honestly, just sounds like a typical Thanksgiving to us.

"Blackbird" may have been Jacobs first experience working the pole, but it definitely wasn't her last. A year later, she found herself featured in "Choke" as Cherry Daiquiri (civilian name: Beth), a stripper who falls for the protagonist's best friend. In an interesting turn, "Choke" saw her not just playing a stripper but actually stripping, with a delightful scene of Gillian sans top at the strip club. But Gillian's breasts disappeared as quickly as they'd come into view: as of this writing, "Choke" features both Jacobs's first and last filmed topless scene (though we should note that she did show her butt in 2008's "Gardens of the Night.")

Not that we can complain too much. Because while Gillian hasn't been giving us more glimpses at her goods, she has been entertaining us with some very excellent acting, with scores of appearances in films, web videos, and TV -- most notably, of course, her role as Britta Perry on "Community," which showed us all that she's as funny as she is sexy (which is to say, she's a whole lot of both). 

Of course, even if Gillian hasn't been doing more nudity, that doesn't mean she's abandoned onscreen sexiness (we'd probably have to quit the planet if she had). Her role on "Community" led to a very delicious photo shoot for GQ, wherein Jacobs and costar Alison Brie (another Fleshbot crush, of course) had a friendly, pin-up style tussle in some very lovely lingerie. Though some saw this shoot as a distraction from Jacobs's and Brie's more serious work, we think it was just the two of them proving to the world that you can be serious and sexy (and that life is a whole lot more fun when you get to be both).

But wait, you say: surely this woman must have a life outside of being hilariously funny (and gorgeously sexy) in front of a camera. And friends, you would be right. Though her career consumes a whole lot of her life (while shooting "Community," she'd sometimes give up her weekends to shoot other projects as well), she does find time to enjoy the finer things in life as well. And we do mean finer things: Jacobs is regular attendee of indie wrestling showcase Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, as well as a hardcore fan of public radiohits like Radiolab, This American Life, and The Moth Radio Hour. We're not sure what you call a woman who's funny, nerdy, sexy, and loves public radio as much as wrestling -- no wait, we are. You call her Gillian Jacobs, and then you swear your eternal love and devotion to her. Which, guys, you better believe we already have.