Who plays Gil in You and where have you seen him before?

22 October 2021, 16:23 | Updated: 22 October 2021, 21:56

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Polly Foreman

By Polly Foreman

Mackenzie Astin is the actor who plays Gil in season three of Netflix's You - find out his age, Instagram and other TV work.

Polly Foreman

By Polly Foreman

The new series of You has seen a number of new faces enter the sordid lives of murderous couple Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) and Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti).

One of these is Gil, their friendly neighbour who ends up becoming another of their victims.

After Gil tells Love that his kids gave Henry measles due to the fact he chose not to have them vaccinated, she hits him over the head and puts him in the bakery cage.

She and Joe end up framing Gil for Natalie's murder, after he kills himself while imprisoned.

Gil is played by Mackenzie Astin, who you'll likely recognise from his previous TV work.

Here's your need-to-know on the actor.

Who plays Gil in You season 2?
Gil is played by actor Mackenzie Astin. Picture: Netflix

Who is Mackenzie Astin? What else has he been in?

Mackenzie, 48, is an actor from LA.

He is best known for appearing in The Facts of Life, Scandal, and Iron Will.

Mackenzie has also had roles in shows like Lost, Grey's Anatomy, House, and NCIS.

In You, Mackenzie's character Gil was part of an anti-vaccine storyline, with his character choosing not to have his children vaccinated. He told Love that his kids had given her baby Henry measles, saying: "Our girls were pretty minor. We hope you won't hold it against us. We just don't believe in subjecting kids to toxic injections they don't need to fight things their bodies were created to fight. We don't judge people who do of course."

You's showrunner Sera Gamble previously told Newsweek that the anti-vaccine storyline was not created in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and that it was a complete coincidence that it came while vaccines are such a prominent topic of conversation.

Mackenzie has previously appeared in a number of high-profile TV shows
Mackenzie has previously appeared in a number of high-profile TV shows. Picture: Alamy

She said: "In terms of the episode about measles, we opened the writer's room in February of 2020, so it was before the pandemic started and we were all in person.

"That idea for that story came out of conversations that were really about, 'when you're a parent, what scares you the most?' and the immediate answer of so many parents said 'if my child is sick and I can't help them' and that is the most helpless that I have ever felt in my life.

"The obvious next question when you're dealing with parents like Joe and Love is 'what kind of situation would your child be in that would push you to like the extremes that you're capable of?' We had written that idea of her story in February and early March [2020], we were already well into writing all of this and stuff, and then we all went home [due to the COVID-19 related lockdowns].

"People are really going to read a lot more into it, which is fine. I mean, it feels like it's amazingly psychic of the writers but it's just a terrible, catastrophic, worldwide timing that we are all so focused on vaccines right now."

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