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Community Corner

Beachwood Patch Whiz Kid of the Week Jessie Gill

Budding actress just won first place at a recent tournament showcasing her acting ability

Jessie Gill

Age: 15

School: Beachwood High School

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Accomplishment: Recently ranked in the top 10 percent in the Ohio at the state debate tournament for an acting event

Key to Awesomeness: As a girl, Jessie Gill just wanted to be a princess. A Disney princess, specifically.

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But without an ounce of royalty in her bloodline, she did the next best thing: She became an actress.

After starting out taking some lessons and getting involved in some small productions when she was 7, Gill got her first big show four years later in a Cleveland Playhouse production of The Pillowman playing each of the child characters in the play. Even at a young age, she said she always enjoyed performing.

“When I was little I was always a ham and I wanted to be in the spotlight,” she said. “I’ve never been a self-conscious person and I’ve never been afraid to make weird sounds or ugly faces. I think it’s fun.”

Since then she’s been involved in numerous plays, including being chosen to play the lead over dozens of other teens in Hello Dolly at a New York state performing arts summer camp and most recently at a series of shows called Eat, performed at schools, hospitals and churches, which raises public awareness about eating disorders.

“That’s a way theater can positively influence people,” she said about the shows.

Earlier this month she placed first in the Humorous Interpretation category at the Ohio High School Speech League State Tournament, where she played eight different characters in her own rendition of a scene in the play, Anton in Show Business. She also won second in the drama category while playing four characters in Next to Normal.

Gill said she hopes to continue studying theater after high school.

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