Select a region
Jumping from massive water towers, playing Marilyn Monroe, and giving movement to characters in some of the world's biggest video games - it’s not everyone’s typical day at the office.
But for Gigi Neil, slipping into other people’s roles is her '9 to 5'. Over the last few years, the Jersey-born actress has appeared in a variety of different media, ranging from TV to stunt shows to most recently being motion-captured for games.
One her latest performances was for a music video set in the world of the League of Legends game franchise, where she provided the physical performance for the character of Evelyn.
View this post on Instagram
The video has currently racked up nearly 50m views on YouTube, and is part of Gigi’s growing body of work across acting, stunt performance and dance.
She traces those roots in physical drama and dance back to her early training in Jersey, where she participated in a number of groups, such as the Green Room Club, First Tower Dance School and the JADC. In particular, she described her lessons with late local teacher David Love as “wonderful” and “influential.”
At 18, Gigi left Jersey to begin studying in at Michael Howard Acting Studios in New York, where she was trained in a number of techniques, ranging across sitcom performance to classic Stanislavsky techniques.
Her second-year performance at the school, where she became Brigitte Bardot in a one-woman show after a year of research, would prepare her for her next big step, where she would immerse herself in another glamour icon in the most unusual of places: Marilyn Monroe at the Universal Studios Park in Japan.
“I’d never even thought I’d visit Asia, let alone live in Asia,” she remarked, saying that the prospect of playing “the infamous Marilyn Monroe” was what made her gravitate towards the audition.
“I did a monologue and I had a marvellous time – I sang happy birthday to the panel, I put the wig on, I really tried to embody, and I was lucky enough to get the job!” For Gigi’s second job at Universal Japan though, it was to be a very different adventure to Marilyn…
“During that time I fell in love with another show at the park called Waterworld, a live action stunt show.”
Pictured: After playing glamour icon Brigitte Bardot as in a one-woman performance during her second year of performance school, Gigi moved to Japan to perform as Marilyn Monroe at Universal Studios.
Waterworld, a condensed version of the Kevin Costner film, is a technical effects extravaganza, involving plane crashes, Jet Ski chases, and countless pieces of stunt fight choreography.
“Growing up as a dancer I had nothing but strength in my bottom half, but the stunts you need the majority of your strength in your upper body,” Gigi explained. “So I went through a crash course training where I got super fit super quick and just gave myself a really strict training regime to get the upper body strength required for the auditions.”
Eventually, the work paid off and Gigi ended up bagging the lead role of Helen, which she described as “one of the best years of my life,” even if it essentially involved three high intensity workouts a day.
However, alongside the spectacle, one challenge in particular stuck out in Gigi’s mind of her time playing Helen: “She does this incredible leap in the show because the tower that she’s stood on gets shot at and bursts into flames.
“As the pyrotechnics hit at the bottom of the tower, the tower falls and Helen has to jump off of that tower, so I had to learn how to jump into a specific part of the water to make sure it was deep enough and that the tower had cleared and that it was safe enough for us to perform those stunts.”
Pictured: Gigi went through elaborate and intense training for stunt show, Waterworld.
Indeed, though she does not have a fear of heights, Gigi said the courage to leap from the tower came more from immersing herself in the story and character than anything else: “If I wasn’t portraying a character, I think Gigi would have held myself back – but because I was playing Helen, and Helen was in fight or flight… it wasn’t Gigi doing the stunts, it was Helen.”
After her time at Universal Japan, Gigi wanted to return to her acting roots, and so decided to relocate to Vancouver in Canada, due to its film and television scene. Again though, it was an unexpected avenue that offered Gigi some of her most exciting work to date, in the world of motion capture and video games.
The process of motion capture involves an actor being suited up with sensors so that animators can trace and record an actor’s movements and facial expressions, and then apply them to a computer generated character.
“It’s basically the niche for physical actors, so I absolutely love it,” Gigi elaborated. “As soon I moved to Vancouver, I was just itching at the chance to get an audition for video game. I’m very fortunate to have worked on three since I came out here, and it’s a brilliant process. You’re able to let go of your image to a degree, because you know your skillset has been employed rather than what you look like.
“There is an element of shape and size, but it’s not necessarily whether I’m blonde or if I’m blue eyed, because of half of the time, if you’re playing an avatar, the player is going to be able to have control over what your avatar looks like anyway… I could have green hair, purple eyes and an orange face if you wanted me to.”
Pictured: Gigi entered the world of motion capture upon moving to Canada, where she has appeared in a number of games.
Speaking about the process, Gigi described acting with an entirely imaginary world: “It’s a little bit odd, your imagination has to do a lot of work to really see where you are.”
She continued: “I found that when you are doing a more naturalistic environment, when you’re playing a librarian or something that might be easier to access. But when you are playing creatures, you really have to imagine that environment and work to think about they would move and how they would feel.”
Talking about these techniques brings her back to where her love of physical, immersive performance began in Jersey, as she recollected a childhood memory with her drama teacher, David Love, who passed away in 2009.
She was doing an animal study lesson with him, where she had been tasked with inhabiting the role of a giraffe. To give an example of how to become a different creature, David gave a demonstration Gigi has never forgotten.
View this post on Instagram
“He sat at the end of the desk and… he embodied this little chameleon, and he was bouncing forwards and backwards. We were hooked, we were just hooked on this chameleon - then suddenly the tongue came and whipped out as if to catch a fly!
“It was brilliant, and I’ll never forget that moment – he was just so good at bringing joy and fun to characters, and I think that’s ultimately why I ultimately chose that as my path long-term – there’s always so much fun and playfulness that you can have.”
She added of today’s performance technology: “I wish that I could speak to [him] about it – I’m sure he would marvel at motion capture.”
At the moment, Gigi has been keeping herself occupied with projects such as a comedy web series, an independent film and a filmed production of The Nutcracker.
Pictured: Gigi said she thinks her old teacher would "marvel" at the new motion capture technology and its capabilities.
But with motion capture opening the doors to a seemingly endless array of possibilities for performance, Gigi is keen for more: “I’ve had a taste of it so far, so I’d love to keep going.”
Beginning visualising herself as wild creatures in Jersey classrooms, and ending up visualising herself as wild creatures in high-tech gaming studios, it’s the passion for imagination that is the real fixture in Gigi Neil’s career of transformations.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.