Jillian Shea Spaeder is not your average 18 year old.
While the young star might be familiar to those of you who’ve seen Disney XD’s Walk The Prank , Jillian is more than just an actor and singer-songwriter — she’s the future of Hollywood, proving that Gen Z has the drive, ambition, and desire to make real change in the world.
Diply had the pleasure of sitting down with Jillian to discuss her starring role in the upcoming Disney+ film Godmothered co-starring Jillian Bell and Isla Fisher, her music career, and how important it is to trust your gut and use your voice to make a difference in the world.
Jillian told us that her already impressive career in acting had never been her intention.
Jillian told Diply that music was her first passion, and she’s been singing and playing the piano since she was 5 years old. “I kind of accidentally fell into the world of acting,” Jillian laughed, explaining, “I’ve been doing music my whole life and just happened to meet my acting manager at a singing competition. She convinced me to come to LA and I started working right away.”
She wasn’t exaggerating — within Jillian’s first three months in Hollywood, she had already landed jobs in the DreamWorksTV series OMG! , guest-starred on Disney’s Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn , and became a series regular as Bailey on Disney XD’s Walk The Prank.
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“I never wanted to be an actor, I love it now, but it wasn’t my goal as a kid,” Jillian explained.
“I went [to Hollywood] in the sixth grade, and in sixth grade my career goal was to be a part-time marine biologist and a part-time lawyer,” Jillian joked, showing just how young she was when she launched her career.
Jillian’s youthfulness hasn’t held her back — in fact, she’s used it to enact real change and use her considerable influence to do so. Jillian was a first-time voter in this year’s election and knew how important it was to encourage others her age to make their voices heard, telling Diply , “If you have the opportunity to use your voice and to change things, it’s important that you do it.”
Jillian directed and co-starred in the short film It Counts to educate and encourage young voters to make their voices heard. “People think that their vote doesn’t matter and it won’t change things, but that’s why it’s called It Counts , because it does,” Jillian explained.
Up next for Jillian is the exciting Disney+ original film *Godmothered*, which she stars in alongside Isla Fisher and Jillian Bell.
Godmothered follows a fairy godmother in training desperate to prove that fairy godmothers are still needed in the world before the profession goes extinct.
It’s not every day that you get a part in a Disney movie, even for a successful actress like Jillian, who called the day she found out she’d gotten the part “the most fun day” of her life. “I was so excited,” she enthused, adding, “I got like three hours of sleep that night.”
The process of filming was just as exciting. “We filmed a year ago, and everyone was so wonderful to work with, so sweet, and everyone was so funny. It was the most chaotic set. There were constant jokes going around.”
*Diply* asked Jillian what her advice would be to any young kid who wants to follow in her footsteps.
“It’s so important for kids who want to be actors and musicians and dancers and anything creative, just to trust yourself,” Jillian said. “It’s important to trust your mind, and trust that you’re making something that you like and that you’re proud of. It’s important not to judge yourself. It’s so harmful to your mental health when you judge everything you do, especially creative works.”
Jillian’s latest song, Let It Snow is available for streaming on Spotify , and Godmothered will be available to stream on Disney+ starting December 4th.
