What Happened To The Actor Who Played Britta In Community?

"Community" was a beloved comedy series that aired from 2009 until 2015 and featured a super talented ensemble cast including Joel McHale, Alison Brie, Chevy Chase, Donald Glover, Danny Pudi, Ken Jeong, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Gillian Jacobs. Jacobs' character Britta was a well-meaning rule breaker whose tireless activism was often misguided and whose somewhat ditzy but lovable nature was the source of much of the show's humor.

Jacobs, a Juilliard-trained actor, got her big break with "Community" and hasn't stopped working since. She has appeared in some of the past decade's most critically acclaimed series, tried her hand behind the camera, voiced many animated characters in a variety of projects, and even dabbled in an offbeat side gig as well.

Although many fans will always think of Jacobs and Britta as one and the same, the actor's range is surprising, and the work she has done since the series wrapped is nothing short of impressive. Read on to learn more about what happened to Gillian Jacobs, the actor who played Britta on "Community."

In 2015, Gillian Jacobs appeared on the hit HBO series "Girls" as Mimi-Rose Howard. Mimi-Rose was introduced in the first episode of the show's fourth season as Adam's new girlfriend, a successful and self-possessed artist. Jacobs embodied the role perfectly, but it was a part that she landed quite by chance.

Although Jacobs was friendly with "Girls" co-creator Jenni Konner, she didn't know the show was filming in New York on the day she happened upon the set. The actor was walking back to her hotel from a meeting when she passed by a restaurant she could tell was the site of a shoot. Konner happened to look out the window and saw Jacobs and gestured for her to come inside.

"I ... always feel so awkward being on somebody else's set, so I was trying, you know, to not get in the way," Jacobs explained during an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "[T]hey had just started thinking about Mimi-Rose and who they were gonna cast. And I think they had maybe thought of me and then there I was," she said, adding, "maybe it felt serendipitous."

Jacobs still had to audition, but of course, she landed the role. "I've never quite gotten a job like that before," the actor admitted. As for what she thinks Mimi-Rose would be up to these days, Jacobs told Bustle, "She's probably made a hologram of herself, trying to get some residency to do performance art at Coachella or something ... it's fun to think about!"

In 2016, Gillian Jacobs starred on the Netflix series "Love" as Mickey, the erratic, sex-addicted, heavy-drinking wild child who forms a relationship with Gus (played by Paul Rust), who is very much her opposite. It's a testament to Jacobs' acting chops that she was able to play a character that, according to her, she was nothing at all like.

"On the surface, I have almost nothing in common with Mickey," the actor shared during an appearance on "Off Camera With Sam Jones." "I don't drink, I don't smoke, I've never done drugs. ... I've never had a drink," Jacobs revealed. That said, she was still able to empathize with the character and bring authenticity to the role in that way. "I sort of feel like Mickey is me at the worst time in my life if I'd never gotten therapy and made some different choices," Jacobs shared.

Jacobs also gave some insight into her childhood and why she was never into partying. She'd made up her mind at a young age that she would never get into substance use, and she stuck to her guns. She recalled going to a house party in high school with her cousin where people were smoking pot. "I was so scared that I would get a contact high that I was trying to hold my breath," Jacobs said.

Following her role on "Love," which wrapped in 2018, Gillian Jacobs made appearances in the film "Life of the Party," as well as on series such as "Angie Tribeca," "Weird City," "At Home With Amy Sedaris," "Astronomy Club," and "The Twilight Zone." In 2020, the actor returned to the big screen with a starring role in the film "I Used to Go Here," about a down-on-her-luck writer who takes on a speaking engagement at her alma mater.

The film centers on Jacobs' character Kate finding solace in the memory of her college days. But for Jacobs, college was far from a happy time in her life. The actor studied acting at The Juilliard School, a prestigious performing arts university, but found it to be "brutal" and a terrible blow to her self-esteem.

"It's funny because as we're doing interviews for the film, Kris [Rey, the film's writer and director] is talking about college as this time where you feel like you can do anything, and I just had the completely opposite experience of that at Juilliard," the actor shared with The Independent.

She went on to give some insight into her difficult college experience. "You would sit around at the end of each semester one on one with your teachers and they'd tell you how you were underperforming," she explained, adding, "I didn't get a lot of praise. Mine was this sort of brutal couple of hours where there's a teacher sitting in each corner of the room telling me how I'm failing."

Gillian Jacobs continued working steadily, appearing in films such as "Magic Camp," "Come Play," "North Hollywood," and "Mark, Mary & Some Other People." She went on to star in the "Fear Street" trilogy of films, which aired on Netflix in 2021, "Fear Street: Part One – 1994," "Fear Street: Part Two – 1996," and "Fear Street: Part Three – 1666." Jacobs played the adult version of Ziggy, whose teen counterpart was played by "Stranger Things" star Sadie Sink.

In an A.V. Club interview, Jacobs openly praised Sink, saying, "I hope to be as good of an actress as Sadie one day ... it's a high bar." Although the two actors shared a character, they didn't actually film together, which meant Jacobs and Sink didn't meet until the premiere.

"I wish we had crossed paths on set," Jacobs admitted but continued to fangirl over Sink. "I'm kind of in awe of her as an actress," Jacobs shared while complimenting another of Sink's notable roles. "[T]he Taylor Swift 'All Too Well' , like, she's incredible."

After her star turn in "Community" came to an end, Gillian Jacobs began dabbling a bit behind the camera. She directed an episode of "Signals" in 2015 and an episode of "Shatterbox" in 2018 but really began getting her footing in 2020 when she directed an episode of the docuseries "Marvel 616." In an interview that same year with Marvel Entertainment, Jacobs shared her excitement about her new pursuit.

"I'm really enjoying it," Jacobs said. "I feel like I'm using whole new parts of my brain." She came up with an interesting analogy when comparing her work as an actor to her directorial duties. "Going from feeling like an important piece in a puzzle to feeling like I'm putting together the puzzle," was how she described it.

Jacobs' enjoyment of working behind the camera was not something she could have foreseen in her early years, but somebody else predicted it. "I remember my first week of college during orientation week, we went down to the West Village to see a psychic on Fifth Avenue," Jacobs told The Independent. "... she told me, 'You're going to be a director' and I was actually so upset when she said that."

In addition to her TV projects, Jacobs went on to direct two films in 2022, the documentary "More Than Robots" and a segment of "The Seven Faces of Jane."

Gillian Jacobs is clearly a very versatile performer with her comedic roles, her dramatic portrayals, and her directorial projects. To make her resume all the more impressive, Jacobs is also an accomplished voice actor. She has lent her voice to various animated projects in recent years, including series such as "Ten Year Old Tom," "Invincible," "Krapopolis," and "Wylde Park," among others.

According to Jacobs, something told her she'd be good at voice-over work, and she followed her intuition. "I had an instinct that I would like it," she shared with A Book Of. "I consciously asked to start auditioning for animated shows. I don't know why I had that instinct, but it just looked like fun play."

Jacobs found she was correct in that she found the work enjoyable, which is not to say it was easy. "It's also challenging, performance-wise, to put everything into your voice, and you start to realize how much you rely on your physicality, your face, all these things as an actor," she explained.

The actor spoke with A.V. Club about what it was like to voice the character of Atom Eve in "Invincible," revealing that she felt a bit silly at times. "So, the hardest part about voicing a superhero character is definitely all the fight noises you have to do," Jacobs said. "[S]tanding in a sound booth by yourself ... like what sound does it make to have atomic powers?"

As if to prove she can truly do it all, Gillian Jacobs picked up what she called a "side gig" as a reporter for the podcast "99% Invisible." The actor spoke about her new venture during a visit to "Jimmy Kimmel Live," explaining, "I'm kind of dabbling as an amateur reporter ... untrained, unlicensed reporting."

She went on to describe an assignment that required her to investigate the history of the Los Angeles River. "[I]t was really fascinating," Jacobs shared, adding that the producer of the podcast suggested she actually go out on the river to learn more about it.

"I didn't want her to know what a coward I am so I said, 'Okay,'" Jacobs revealed. She ended up sort of unsuccessfully trying to kayak down the river while wearing gardening gloves to protect herself from the water's pollution. It also turned out that her oar had been upside down, which kept her from getting very far.

Still, Jacobs really enjoyed her reporting stint, and told Bustle, "I find it so engaging."

In 2023, Gillian Jacobs starred in the Netflix original miniseries "Transatlantic." She played Mary Jayne Gold, an American heiress who was instrumental in helping many flee from Nazi-occupied France in the early 1940s. In preparation for the role, Jacobs did her homework, reading a memoir Gold wrote as well as searching for interviews and other material written about her.

However, because aspects of Gold's experience were fictionalized for "Transatlantic," Jacobs needed to find a balance between the real person she was playing and how the creators wanted the character to be played. "Whenever you're doing a fictionalized version, you want to do as much research as you can about the real people and the real events, but then also give yourself over to the story that you're telling," the actor shared with A Book Of.

She continued, "I tried to find that balance between doing research, learning what I can, and then just kind of giving yourself over to it." Ultimately, Jacobs was simply grateful for the opportunity to take part in the project. "[T]hat was an amazing experience; I'm so lucky that I got to be a part of it," she said.

Viewers and critics alike have shown plenty of love for the hit FX series "The Bear," on which Gillian Jacobs plays Tiff, the ex-wife of Richie aka Cousin. She was the perfect fit for the role, but interestingly enough, her participation in the show began as a favor to her real-life partner Chris Storer, the creator of "The Bear."

Initially, only Jacobs' voice appeared on the series in the form of a voicemail. The show's first season was in post-production, and Storer asked if she could do a quick recording. "Chris and Josh Senior, who's one of the producers on the show, were like, 'Will you just record really fast a voicemail for Richie's ex-wife?'" Jacobs told Bustle. "I sent them four different versions, never thinking it would be more than that."

Jacobs appeared in the flesh during the Emmy-winning series' second season, notably in the fan-favorite episode "Fishes," which featured the whole family gathering for the holidays and shined a light on Tiff and Richie's backstory.

Aside from the fact that Jacobs and the show's creator have been in a long-term partnership, the actor also already had connections with other cast members of "The Bear." She and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who plays Richie, both appeared on "Girls" and even shared a scene. Jacobs also starred alongside Abby Elliott, who plays Natalie "Sugar" Berzatto on the show, in an indie film called "Life Partners."

For Jacobs, her connection with Elliott spilled over into their characters' relationship on "The Bear." "In my mind, [Tiff is] very good friends with Sugar," the actor told Bustle. "We have a tiny moment in 'Fishes' in the kitchen where I'm leaving, she comes in. She's like, 'You good?' I'm like, 'No.' That, to me, is emblematic of a great friendship."

For "Community" fans, there is good news on the horizon. The long-awaited movie adaptation of the series is still on, and Gillian Jacobs is on board. According to the show's creator Dan Harmon, the movie was initially green-lit back in 2022. Due to scheduling issues with the cast, it's been slow going. But as of May 2025, the "Six seasons and a movie!" slogan Abed (played by Danny Pudi) originated is coming true.

For Jacobs, reprising her role as Britta is bound to come naturally. "I have a feeling that once the initial nerves pass it will really be like being back home again," she shared with A.V. Club. "[F]or all of us, you know, that was six years of our lives playing those characters, so ... that's a lot of hours spent being Britta," Jacobs added. But will she be able to slip back into the character that so many fans loved throughout the series? "I bet she's still in there," Jacobs said reassuringly.