James Gillins (he/him) was a 10 pound baby born in Santa Monica, California. Born and raised in the valley in the year 1999, art was always incorporated into his well-rounded schedule of extracurriculars and fostered his love for creative expression. James knew his path led towards the arts in high school which meant leaving his small school and auditioning for Valencia High’s vocal jazz ensemble as well as their choral program. James received news of his acceptance into the vocal jazz program the same day he suffered a major baseball accident causing the loss of his 4 front teeth, but by the end of James’ senior year, he was offered a presidential scholarship to study jazz vocal performance at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Valencia High is also where James took a single year of theater 3, catching a bug which festered for two years until, after much internal and external debate on personal artistry and assisted by the space given due to a global pandemic, James decided to take the leap of faith and begin a new training program in acting here at Rutgers. James feels immensely satisfied with his decision. He is excited to be in more and more rooms with people who share his passion for the work, and plans to further his artistic growth through work at UCB as well as motion capture programs. Rutgers Company Theatre credits include:
Benedick – Much Ado About Nothing
Lady Capulet – Romeo & Juliet
Clotaldo – Life is a Dream
Chorus – Orlando
James would also like to thank the maxillofacial surgeon team of Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Maranon for his Hollywood whites*
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