Elizabeth Gillies Is Taking on an Exciting New Role in Hollywood With ‘Spread’

Elizabeth Gillies has been a staple on TV for as long as I can remember. From being the style icon of my childhood in Victorious to her days as Fallon on the long-running reboot of Dynasty, she’s been a familiar face on the small screen for audiences the world over, with her iconic fashion sense and signature deadpan that make her impossible to forget.

Now, though, she’s taking a break from TV and making a leap to the big screen with her latest film, Spread, which hits Tubi on Friday. The story of Ruby, an uptight aspiring journalist who finds herself down on her luck and working at an adult magazine, marks the first major project Gillies has taken on since the end of Dynasty in 2022, where she co-stars alongside film legend Harvey Keitel and serves some serious looks along the way. Even better, she also serves as executive producer on the film, a first for her that opened up an all-new, intriguing set of doors for her career.

Collider was lucky enough to sit down with Gillies to discuss the film and her experience producing it ahead of its release on Tubi, as well as Ruby’s incredible wardrobe, what it was like working with Keitel, and what she hopes to do more of as an actress and a producer.

COLLIDER: I had so much fun with this movie. It was so ridiculous in a really endearing way. I know it’s been a minute since you’ve done a film. You’ve obviously been on Dynasty for quite a long time, and doing TV, so what about this project appealed to you as both an actor and a producer?

ELIZABETH GILLIES: I was so burnt out by the end of Dynasty just because the schedule was so tough, and we’ve been going for so long. I think we were on Episode 90-something when I got this script. Typically, whenever I was sent a script, especially during that time, if it was too long or if it was boring me… I wanted to take a really big break, which I ended up doing, but this script, when I read it, really charmed me and made me laugh. I related to the character, and I felt it was refreshing. It reminded me a little bit of the early 2000s oddball workplace comedies, which I grew up loving, and it was just an immediate yes for me.

I connected with Ellie [Kanner], the director, and I loved the script that Buffy [Charlet] wrote based on her experience at Hustler. I thought it was all very cool. And in a way, it kind of tied into what I was doing at Dynasty, so it felt like the right next step. To produce on it was just the icing on the cake because I love producing. I’ve really fallen in love with that side of the industry. So, it made me laugh, and it felt like the right move. I’m glad it’s finally coming out. It’s been a minute.

Producing Is a New Challenge for ‘Spread’s Elizabeth Gillies

As far as producing goes, does that change how you operate in front of the camera? Has it influenced that in a positive way, maybe in a negative way?

GILLIES: I love it! I will say, when I am producing and when I’m directing — I didn’t direct this, obviously, but I have directed in the past on Dynasty — and when I am also in the project, I do have much more on my mind, and sometimes it will factor into my performance, but mostly it’s just an asset. That’s always how I’m thinking. Even when I was just acting, before anyone gave me the privilege or the responsibility of stepping up to a producer or director role, I was always thinking about everyone else’s performance and what’s going to work in editing.

I would shout things out on Dynasty like, “Use take four, use the last line,” and they’re like, “Shut up, Liz. We’re not doing any of that. You have no power.” But what’s nice is that my brain works like that anyway, so it’s an asset. So, to get to use it and actually have the title, it’s only helped me. I don’t love directing myself, but because Ellie was directing and I was just able to play producer and lead on this movie, this was very nice. This was a nice combination for me since I had to be in the movie so much.

My brain works the same way. I know what works, or I think I know what works. Does that make you feel like you have a little more control over what’s going on?

GILLIES: I think so. Luckily, I did have a producer title in this one, but like anything when you’re an actor, when they give you a director title or producer title, a lot of people immediately think of it as a fluff role because they’re just appeasing the actor whose name is on the movie and on the call sheet. The challenge is always to prove yourself early on as somebody who is thinking on a higher level and who won’t be selfish or myopic about their notes or decision-making, and that’s something I always try to do.

Luckily, Ellie was a wonderful collaborator and really let me weigh in a lot on the movie. I was a part of all the editing and everything, and it was a treat. You do have to take yourself out of it, though. I have to look at myself like, “I am not in my own body.” I look at myself as a product, and I say, “I don’t like this scene for her. I think we have a better take of her,” as if it’s not even me. But you have to because otherwise you’re just selfishly making decisions and serving yourself, which will never work, I don’t think, as a producer or director or any of it. But I love Ellie, and she did a great job.

Was there ever any kind of… not anxiety in the edit, but looking at yourself and going, “Oh, god, why did I do that?”

GILLIES: Yeah! I held a lot of dildos in the movie, and that was not fun to watch back, if that’s what you mean. [Laughs] No, I know that’s not what you mean. There are certain things. You’re going so fast on projects like this, especially when it’s not a big-budget movie, and you have limited time and resources, and you’re on location, and you’re trying to get it all done in 23 weeks, or however long we shot it for, and sometimes things work, sometimes things don’t. The beauty is that much can be solved in editing. Ellie and I were so like-minded that often I would have a note, and it would already be coming out of her mouth. We’re sort of telepathic. It’s been very cool. Even now, when they were cutting the trailer, she and I had the exact same notes. So, I was very blessed to be able to work with someone who was so like-minded and had all the same notes as I did. But yeah, there were a couple of things I watched back, and I was like, “Oh, swing and a miss!” It happens. [Laughs] What can you do?

I know that this script was obviously based on somebody’s real experiences at Hustler, but — I have to figure out a delicate way to ask this — did you do any sort of research into the adult entertainment industry? Obviously, Playboy, Hustler, all those magazines are such a big part of pop culture. Was there anything else that you looked into?

GILLIES: I talked to Buffy, our writer, a lot. Hearing about her experience, I was so curious to know how much crossover there was into our script. Ruby has to do so many funny things, and she’s treated in a very interesting way in the beginning. I asked Buffy, “Is this what it was like at Hustler for you being one of the, if not the, only female copy editor at the time, rising from a temp position?” And she said it was really trippy, and she’s always wanted to tell this story. [Laughs]

I guess I have a normal person’s knowledge of the porn industry. I’m definitely not judgmental about it in the way that Ruby is, but of course, she comes around in the end. This is unrelated, but I grew up watching The Girls Next Door on VH1 or MTV. [Laughs] Do you remember that show?

[Laughs] Yeah.

GILLIES: For better or worse, I watched it because it was on TV a lot when I was young. So, I was familiar with all of the playmates and, of course, Playboy. I never got into Hustler. I don’t look at a lot of porn [laughs], but maybe. I’m still young. It still could turn around. Listen, rock on. It’s a booming industry, and I have nothing negative to say about it. And Ruby definitely has the right journey in this movie because her whole thing is she stands on this feminist pedestal, but she doesn’t even know who she is or what that means. She learns from meeting more people and going out in the world to not be so close-minded and so ignorant. That’s part of her growing and learning experience, and all of us can learn something from that because we’re never done growing and learning at any age.

Elizabeth Gillies’ Fashion in ‘Spread’ Is Off the Charts

Probably my favorite part of this movie is Ruby’s outfits. Basically, my entire life, I grew up watching you on Victorious. I always thought you looked like the coolest human being on the planet.

GILLIES: Did I have any hand in your exquisite look that’s happening right now?

Yes. Very much so.

GILLIES: That makes me so happy. I hope we can meet again in a life where I’m not actively self-tanning and when I look how I wanna look with my pale skin and my black hair and my beautiful winged eyeliner. I pray to God that we can meet again in this life when I’m doing that. [Laughs]

You have been a massive influence on my fashion from Victorious when I was a kid through Dynasty, and then this film. You are constantly looking iconic. Did you have any say in the costuming for Ruby?

GILLIES: Yeah! Our costume designer was great. I wanted her to find herself. We both wanted her to have a journey with her wardrobe, as well. As she comes into her own a little more, she starts dressing a little more cohesively, she starts finding her style. I wouldn’t say she starts dressing sexier, but the big choice we made in the beginning of the movie is she’s this loud, peacocking kind of girl, which obviously gets her fired pretty early on in the movie. She’s wearing this insane red hat with a matching bright red coat and it’s just a lot. We had a couple more lines that we ended up not using to display how this girl just comes at things guns blazing and then just says bullshit and then gets fired.

Her journey in fashion goes along with the lesson she learns about being more subdued and listening and being quiet and taking notes for a minute before taking that authority position again. The pink suit at the end, that was our big she’s-found-herself moment. But there’s no reason for her to be wearing anything expensive or couture or anything like that — she’s not Fallon from Dynasty — so we kept it a little more realistic but still infused a little style. I can’t really do anything without infusing a little bit of my style. I love the wrap dresses. We kind of leaned into the ‘70s. The whole vibe is very ‘70s porno energy, and so those wrap dresses and those oranges, like a burnt orange or a yellow or a beige, and some hoop earrings. It was really fun to play with all of that. But yeah, she goes on a little journey, for sure.

Elizabeth Gillies Got to Work With a Hollywood Legend on ‘Spread’

You also get to work pretty closely with Harvey Keitel in this film. I think you probably have the most intimate, emotional scenes with him. What was that like?

GILLIES: Oh, it was wonderful. I just love learning from people who not only are legendary in his case, but who have been in this industry a long time, who are much older than me and wiser than me. Those are my favorite conversations to have, and those are my favorite hangs, always and forever. Getting to work with him and getting to laugh with him, and hear his stories, and act opposite him — that was one of the bigger reasons why I chose to do this movie. Once I heard he was attached, that was just sort of a no-brainer for me. He more than lived up to my expectations of everything I’d heard about him and seen him in. It was awesome. And he sang a whole song in my face. He sang “Ruby” by Ray Charles, which wasn’t even in the script. He just did it. And to watch him get into that mode and do his thing, it was very, very special. I feel very lucky that I got to do that. Harvey is the coolest.

Personally, I would be kind of shocked. “I don’t know how to act!” Was there any of that going in, or was it just immediately like, “No, let’s go in. Let’s get the job done,” and try to shake those off as much as you could?

GILLIES: Luckily, I got to meet him first, and I got to have coffee with him, and we had a great coffee. We had a long, great coffee where we talked, and we laughed, and we connected kind of instantly. That was more my concern. First of all, if I hadn’t gotten to meet him before, there’s nothing scarier than when you are right on set, and they call action, and you’re with somebody who is quite iconic, and you’re gonna have to just play ball without any conversation beforehand. So, to get to chat with him and see that we got along was very special. My nerves dissolved there.

But yeah, that bigger scene when he has the emotional breakdown, acting opposite him, it was hard not to just watch him, a front-row seat to this incredible moment and his process. I’ll never forget that. It was very cool. I think he did two or three takes, and it was just incredible. And yes, then I had to remind myself I had to act, as well, but I really just wanted to support him and watch him from very close-up. It was great.

We talked about you doing a lot of TV at the start of this, but is film something you want to do more of? Do you want to get away from TV and continue doing this, or are you happy picking what roles you think fit you and your career best?

GILLIES: I think it all depends on the role. It’s such an interesting time right now in the industry. In TV, you could do, like, seven 20-minute episodes of television now and call it a season. Would I go do a 23-episode-a-year, hour-long, 500-season show? I don’t know about that. [Laughs] But I’m open to whatever. I continue to search for things that challenge me and stretch me, especially because I’ve played a lot of roles that are important to certain generations now. So, I like to switch it up, and I like to do something different so no one can put me in a box. But if I stay in a box, I like the box, so it’s okay. [Laughs]

I’d love to do more movies. I love being on the set of a movie, because you are all in it so hard for such a short amount of time. You tend to get a little lazy and a little stagnant on a TV show that runs too long, so it’s nice to do these short-form things. I look forward to seeing what the future holds. I’m open to whatever interests me.

Spread is available to stream July 19 on Tubi in the U.S.

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