Emily Gilson

Hi there! I'm SAG-AFTRA actor and teaching artist based in Washington, DC, with an excellent ear for accents (it's my favorite party trick). A cousin was the late radio and TV actor and writer Billy Idelson, who played Herman Glimscher on The Dick Van Dyke Show, not that I expect this to ever get me anywhere... ;) I get told I'm Winona Ryder's doppelganger a lot and I'm rolling with it.

I've been a professional actor for 11 years and a teaching artist for almost as many - I studied Theatre, Medieval History, and Medieval Literature at Purchase College SUNY, and returned to DC upon graduation to continue training. My work has been called "a skirling joy" to see (FringeUK, 2020), "sharp, perceptively wrought, vivid and intriguing" (The Washington Post). My Ariel in The Tempest at Avant Bard Theatre in 2018, under direction of founding artistic director Tom Prewitt, was called "a masterstroke of casting" (DC Metro Theater Arts).

As a theatre artist, I specialize in spirited, vulnerable truth seekers finding authenticity in outsiders. I've had the privilege of originating multiple new works with several of DC's new emerging playwrights, many of which have gone on to be fully produced and published - DC playwright Patrick Flynn's The Ferberizing of Coral, in which I originated the roles of Coral aged 8 and 17, was published in Samuel French's Off-Off Broadway Festival Plays, 43rd Series in August 2019.

When Covid-19 closed the world down in 2020, my practice shifted towards training, solo work, and voiceover. I continued my training, fully remotely, with a remarkable international company of artists at the Shaw Festival in Ontario, and Zoom as a new medium allowed me to join podcasts and a variety of global livestreamed projects while moving my teaching artistry online, with students and castmates as far as Singapore, the UK, South America, and Israel.

In 2022 I was cast by 6-time Tony winner George C. Wolfe in my first feature film with a supporting role in Rustin, starring Colman Domingo and Audra McDonald, out on Netflix global in November 2023. I trained in classical and contemporary drama at the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory, founded by Joy Zinoman, as well as Shaw Festival in Ontario, Overtures Musical Theatre Institute at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, and with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA, under direction of founder Tina Packer. As of 2021, I study musical theatre voice with Dan Thaler of Matt Farnsworth Vocal Studio, NYC.

I'd love to help you with your accent and dialect work as a reader or coach, and I LIVE FOR TABLE WORK - it's the best part of rehearsal.

You can also visit me at www.emilygilsonactor.com .

If I'm not online, DM me to find a time to read/rehearse at:
fb: @emilygilsonactor
instagram: @__spacegandalf
email: emgilson90@yahoo.com

Tips are very much appreciated :)

Emily H. Gilson is an accomplished actor, voiceover artist, and teaching artist, born and raised in Washington, DC, with an excellent ear for accents (it's her party trick). A cousin was the late radio and TV actor and writer Billy Idelson, who played Herman Glimscher on The Dick Van Dyke Show (not that she expects this to ever get her anywhere). She is told she resembles Winona Ryder a lot and is rolling with it. Emily studied Theatre, Medieval History, and Medieval Literature at Purchase College SUNY, and returned to DC upon graduation to continue her training. Her work has been called "a skirling joy" to see (FringeUK, 2020), "sharp, perceptively wrought, vivid and intriguing" (The Washington Post). Her Ariel in The Tempest at Avant Bard Theatre in 2018, under direction of founding artistic director Tom Prewitt, was called "a masterstroke of casting" (DC Metro Theater Arts). She has studied at Shaw Festival in Ontario, the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory, founded by Joy Zinoman, as well as Overtures Musical Theatre Institute at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, and with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA, under direction of founder Tina Packer. As of 2021, she studies voice with Dan Thaler of Matt Farnsworth Vocal Studio, NYC.

SAG-Aftra member since June 2022.
You can find her full portfolio at www.emilygilsonactor.com.

SAG-AFTRA. Represented by Sylvia Hutson at Hutson Talent: sylvia@hutsontalentagency.com / 757.673.6436 and Paige Gold at Triple Threat Talent Mid-Atlantic: paige@dcactors.com / 703.628.1664

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30min
$8.00
60min
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43 Reader Reviews

Credits Include

Year
Credit
2022 [added]
Rustin (Netflix)
Supporting
2022 [added]
Maryland Renaissance Festival
Acting Company Member
2022 [added]
Easward Ho!
Theatre Sindefy
2022 [added]
Washington DC Metro Commercial - year campaign
Principal (print, digital, TV)
2022 [added]
Pen Pals (short)
Lead
2021 [added]
Winterfest - Adventure Theatre MTC
Theatre Mom
2021 [added]
Jabberwocky Audio Theater: Quorum - season 2 lead
Radio Play Robin
2021 [added]
The Winter's Tale
Polixenes
2021 [added]
Normalized
short Supporting
2020 [IMDB]
The Show Must Go Online
TV Series
2020 [IMDB]
Sofa Shakespeare
TV Series
2020 [added]
Double Derby Desserts
Podcast Lead
2020 [added]
Euripides' HELEN
Zoom film Helen
2020 [added]
Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley
Theatre Elizabeth Darcy
2019 [added]
Baltimore County Public Library
Commercial Voiceover
2019 [added]
Medstar Health: Treat People
Commercial Supporting
2019 [added]
In the Next Room or the vibrator play
Theatre Catherine
2019 [added]
Other Desert Cities
Theatre Brooke
2019 [added]
Time to Live: Inheritance of Time #1
Audiobook Narrator
2018 [IMDB]
Legends & Lies
TV Series docu
2018 [IMDB]
Ahead of the Jones
Short
2018 [added]
America Saves
Commercial Co-Star
2018 [added]
Ghost House
Short Lead
2018 [added]
The Tempest
Theatre Ariel
2017 [IMDB]
Silent Sentinel
Short
2017 [IMDB]
The Real Mad Men of Advertising
TV Mini-Series
2017 [IMDB]
The Birthday Special
Short
2017 [added]
Koons Automotive
Commercial Lead
2017 [added]
Doubt: A Parable
Theatre Sister James
2016 [added]
Source Theatre Festival
Theatre Young Coral
2014 [IMDB]
Evil Twins
TV Series docu
2014 [IMDB]
Enemy of the Reich: The Noor Inayat Khan Story
TV Movie docum
2013 [IMDB]
Southern Fried Homicide
TV Series docu