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Nick Gilley

@actforlife

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Southern-Gothic Alchemist
Married to @elysiann
Performer: @marycollinsagency
Artwork: @gesturesgally
“An Artist, more or less”
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Trying something new, just for fun!

Wanted to share two contrasting takes for this monologue, taken from Dale Wasserman’s stage adaptation of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ by Ken Kesey.

Lots to work with in this one! Hope y’all like it.

#Ratched by @actforlife

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3 months ago

Reverend Hale’s monologue from Act 4 of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
I was asked to tape this scene for an audition and really liked the way it sounded. I’d love to do this full show one day.

Here’s to even more projects in 2026! by @actforlife

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10 months ago

“I be the witch of the wood.”

Our first costumes this year are from Robert Eggers’ The Witch (2015).

A diabolical little fairy tale about a family banished from their Puritan settlement and living on the edge of the New England wilderness. Eggers is a master of research and weaves real superstitions, folk tales, and even court testimony from the actual witchcraft trials of the 1600s into a riveting 92 minutes.

The first time we watched this was at a cabin in the woods, and that location definitely amplified the terror of the pure darkness you can only get in the middle of nowhere. I still remember gasping at the final turn and almost holding my breath through the final moments of the film.

All the clothing pieces for Thomasin were handmade by Elysia, while the beautiful apple turnovers (including the rough puff pastry) were handmade by Nick.

“Wouldst thou like the taste of butter? A pretty dress? Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?” by @actforlife

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3 days ago

🎃 Happy October, dearest friends and ghouls, and hello again to good ol’ Spooky Season! We made it! 👻

As y’all know, it’s always Halloween in our home, but this month is especially important to us because we get to share our Annual Costume Series with all of you!
Our Seventh year! How lucky we have been! 🕸️

Because this month has five Saturdays (culminating on Samhain proper), and we have 4 posts to share, today is a little taste of things to come… and some hints to ponder for the next few weeks 😉 but no spoilers!

We hope you enjoy the looks we have to share this month, and that you all have a safe and joyous October!

Love, your Faerie Goth Parents 🖤 by @actforlife

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11 days ago

Elwood P. Dowd’s monologue from Henry Koster’s 1950 film adaptation of Mary Chase’s play, ‘Harvey’.
A beautiful show and one of the most inspiring characters of all time. I’d love to portray him on stage someday.

Recorded back in May of this year, I never posted this because 1) I look SO crazy, and 2) I couldn’t get Mina to stop snoring in the background so the audio isn’t great.

Oh well 🤷🏻‍♂️ Púcas, am I right? by @actforlife

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2 months ago

“What happened to you?”

Detective Spooner monologue from I, Robot (2004) by @actforlife

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2 months ago

Original Pictures, Original Poem

Written in October of 2021, the first title of this poem was simply “Slur”… but I felt that was a bit too blunt, in the end.

My gentleness is self-taught.

“Tongue of Fire” by Nick Gilley by @actforlife

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3 months ago

Happy Gotcha Day to my favorite little gremlin, little miss Wilhelmina Murray Harker Worcester Gilley.

5 years ago we went to a stranger’s house and picked up this little fuzzball who promptly barfed on Nick’s arm on the way home. Please enjoy a super cut of all my fave gremlin sounds that Mina Bobina has made over the years. by @actforlife

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3 months ago

The Ellie Badge
8” x 10” Acrylic on Canvas
See my art page @gesturesgally for more details!

AVAILABLE by @actforlife

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3 months ago

Recently, I was asked by my friend and fellow artist @audriaic to help with an upcoming, collaborative poetry project of hers. She sent me a “rough” (her term! not mine lol) poem and asked me to interpret the ideas in my own words and style. What fun!
The last slide is the poem I was sent, with a two-part reading (video slides can only be a minute max 🤷🏻‍♂️) of my own poem, “No One Envies An Oracle”.
I’m very lucky to be considered by such talented industry professionals (and get to call them friends), and it’s always exciting to accept an artistic challenge. Thank you for the opportunity!

Original picture, original poem. by @actforlife

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4 months ago

Every now and then a project comes along that reminds you WHY you do it. All of it. Every bit of self-sacrifice, and painful vulnerability, and exhausting perseverance that you must have to mirror and share the beauty of this world through artwork and storytelling (humanity’s oldest gifts to ourselves).
‘When The Azaleas Bloomed’ by Jake Willeford (and the entire SMU Film team) is one such project. After nearly a decade of professional work, it’s safe to say that this production was in the top 3 best sets I have ever worked on. The professionalism, talent, enthusiasm, support, compassion, collaboration, and respect I found in (and received from) this team was simply unbelievable. And from a group of current university students and recent graduates? Enduring 19-hour days in un-air-conditioned sets with constant changes to their schedule on account of unpredictable weather? Baffling. I remain amazed by this team, and hope to work with any and all of them again.
I’ve thanked as many as I could already (and I know I’d miss a few if I tried to do so again here), but a few specific people need a shout-out:
@jakewilleford_23 I don’t know what it cost you to tell a story this honest, or what you’ve given from your soul to share a gift like this with us, but we are all the better for it. Thank you for trusting me with your work, and your craft and heart will never go unappreciated.
@sofia.raquel.official thank you for seeing something in me during casting that I did not (and cannot) see in myself. I’m not sure how y’all did it, but Jake crafted this family, and you made us real.
@taylorleahoyt there is no Joe without Jesie, and I could not have found him without you. Thank you for our crash-course friendship, and for sharing your stories (and enduring mine), and for your willingness to be scared with a stranger so that something true would bloom from uncertainty.
To Hendricks and Chandler Raye and @dawsonvjackson and @brin_johnsonn , I could not be more grateful for the light and hope you gave us all. What wonders you all are! It never felt like work being on set with you. I’ll never be a father in real life, but it was an honor to be your Papa. (Cont.) by @actforlife

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4 months ago

I was so moved by this piece I wanted to record a reading of it. Sorry for the messy audio, but what a poet she was. RIP.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things. by @actforlife

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4 months ago