ABOUT JILLIAN
Born in Portland, Oregon, Jillian Clare has appeared on both the big and small screen in numerous projects including her double award winning portrayal of pre-teen ‘Abby Deveraux’ on NBC’s Days Of Our Lives and her most well-known character on the silver screen was in the hit Nickelodeon Victorious film Freak the Freak Out as Tori's rival, Haley Ferguson.
Her most notable films include starring roles in The Kitchen, alongside Bryan Greenberg and Laura Prepon, plus the recently released faith-based holiday feature, By God’s Grace. Miss Clare also stars in Alien Abduction by famed producers Lawrence Bender and Mike Fleiss for IFC.
No stranger to the stage either, Clare’s background includes lead roles in musicals, original pieces, and iconic plays. Fall 2014 brought another dimension to Jillian's theater experience as she starred in Delusion: Lies Within – the pioneer production of horror theater produced by the Tony Award Winning team, Glendell Entertainment. Jillian also starred in the 2016 production of Delusion: His Crimson Queen.
In early 2010, Miss Clare joined the ranks of New Media and began producing and starring in the multi-award winning teen series Miss Behave, a role that won her “Best Lead Actress in a Drama” at the 2011 International Television Festival and Indie Series Award nominations for Best Lead Actress three years in a row. In 2012, she expanded her web experience to the north starring in the Season Two finale of the award winning Canadian female fatale series, Clutch, which earned her the title of Best Supporting Actress in a Drama at the 2014 Indie Series Awards. Jillian currently stars in Acting Dead, a dark comedy about Hollywood and Zombies. The show is the first independent series to win a Primetime Emmy. Jillian also made a special guest appearance on Fame Dogs – a mini-digital series that won several awards in the community.
In April 2016, Jillian was cast in Ladies of The Lake which tells the story of four wealthy wives living in the exclusive gated community of Avalon. When their abusive husbands begin to turn up dead, Detective Shawn Daniels launches an investigation, only to discover the many secrets hidden beneath the glossy veneers of Avalon. Jillian plays Cassidy Montgomery, the Queen Bee of the Ladies of the Lake children. The mini-series is a live action version of the novel of the same name written by Ken Corday (Days of Our Lives, executive producer). Two seasons of the show are available exclusively on Amazon.
Jillian stars in Pretty Broken (formerly Free For All), in which she also produced. The film was shot in Clare's hometown of Portland, OR and made its world premiere at The Newport Beach Film Festival. The film was released in March 2019.
Most recently, Jillian stepped behind the camera for her directorial debut on the feature film To The Beat!. The film follows 14 year old twin sisters who enter a contest to be dancers in their favorite pop stars music video, which leads to a battle with their rival, across the street who wants to win the contest as well. The film was released on DVD and VOD March 13th, 2018 and is now available on Amazon Prime as well. Jillian once again stepped behind the camera for the sequel To The Beat! Back 2 School, making her one of the only women to direct both films in a series. The film was released in March 2020.
During quarantine, Jillian launched her podcast Thanks For Coming In - a weekly show with guests who share their best and worst audition stories. The show has been charting across the globe since its release. In 2022, the show was picked up by REALM for exclusive distribution worldwide.
In addition to her career, Jillian is an outspoken environmentalist and activist. She has been the Ambassador for several causes over the course of her career, including Ape Action, St. Baldrick's Foundation, and Starlight Children's Foundation. In 2018, Jillian launched her own holiday event called "Joy of Giving" benefiting two charities for both animals and humans. Jillian currently serves her union, SAG-AFTRA, as a Board Member and Convention Delegate and is Co-Chair of the Los Angeles Young Performers Committee. Ms. Clare also returned to college during the 2020 lockdown and graduated with honors in 2023 with a BA in Political Science. She was also chosen as the class commencement speaker. Currently, Jillian is pursuing a Master's in Legal Sciences at Cornell. Jillian is a member of Film Fatales, a highly-coveted female directors group.