Skater Stories: Alexe Gilles
From winning a national title as a junior to portraying Elsa for a decade to stunt doubling for Bryce Dallas Howard, this Gilles sister is an accomplished skater in her own right.
As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I have Disney On Ice to thank for my renewed figure skating fandom (or obsession, if you want to call it that). Because of that, and my social media connections, there are times when I view things a bit differently from other fans.
Let me take you back about 18 months or so. I was really starting to dive back into the sport, and was chatting with someone about skaters I should get to know. They listed off a few Americans before mentioning Canadian ice dance champion Piper Gilles.
“Oh, Alexe’s sister,” was my response. My colleague was like “how do you know Alexe and not Piper?” And I explained that I was familiar with Alexe because she’d been Elsa for nearly a decade with Disney On Ice: Dream Big (and I already knew about Piper, because she was the sister of one of my favorite Elsas).
So while most of the figure skating world is getting ready for Piper Gilles to make a run at Olympic gold, I was far more excited to interview Alexe Gilles recently about her career (though if you’re reading this, Piper, I’d be happy to interview you someday as well).
Q: Going all the way back to when you started, you and your sister followed in your brother’s footsteps as skaters. So what first drew you to the ice?
A: I don’t really know. We started when we were, like, two, two and a half, and I think my brother had a birthday party, and we just walked right out there in our shoes basically. My mom was like, ‘okay, perfect, let’s get you guys out there, get your wiggles out.’ You just couldn’t get us off the ice. I think we just liked skating with friends, and my brother, and my brother’s big friends, and I think we liked the outfits. I think we were just naturally drawn to it.
Q: Aside from your brother, were there any skaters that, in those early years that you looked up to, that you watched them and you’re like, oh, I want to be that person?
A: At our local club rink in Rockford, Illinois, my dad was the president of the club. Once my brother started getting into it, we would have an annual ice show every year. And so I think when we first started to remember, we had, like, Scott Williams come in and we had Tonia Kwiatkowski. From what we remember, we would go to Sun Valley. My dad would have a work conference out there, and then we wanted to be Linda Fratianne, and we wanted to be Jumping Jozef Sabovčík, he was an incredible skater. They were a huge influence. I think knowing some of those Olympians there, we were like, ‘oh my gosh, we want to do shows. We want to compete and be like them in the Olympics.’
Q: Your brother and your sister are both in ice dance, but you went the singles route. So what made you choose that path?
A: This is kind of a funny story. So I did do ice dance for skating skills. And I did some tests, especially when we moved out here to Colorado, Piper and I were about nine. She naturally paired up with Tim McKernan almost right away, Todd was with Trina Pratt, and I did have a skating partner for a minute. But during my tryout, it was 6:30 in the morning before school. He almost threw up on me. Not just one time, two times. So that wasn’t really a great moment. And then he wouldn’t listen to me, and he would lift me in a nice fish lift, and then he wouldn’t put me down, so we fell, and I didn’t like not having control. Naturally, I was a better jumper, and that was my route.
Q: That ended up paying off a few years later, when you were on top of the podium at nationals, at the junior level. What was that experience like?
A: That was pretty incredible. I will always remember winning in Minnesota in 2008, but I just remember the training up to that. I had a pretty successful first time on my Junior Grand Prix circuit, and coming off Junior Grand Prix final. I finished fifth, the year before, and so I was just ready to kind of have a breakthrough. I remember having a great training going into it, and then nothing was really gonna stop me from winning that year. I was third, I think, after the short program, but I just felt so confident. I remember Brittney Rizo laid down a really good program score, and then I was locked in and just did what I had done in training. I know I had a few doubters, too, so I was just ready to prove them wrong. I had a good team believing in me that year, so I think it just kind of paid off. But then I wasn’t selected for junior worlds after it, but I just remember everyone being really proud and excited. It’s something no one’s been able to take away from me.
Q: This might be a hard question to answer because it’s so broad, but what was your favorite part about being a competitive skater?
A: I really like to compete more than I like to train. I know some people would say the opposite. But I like that you can kind of focus in on your mind and you could have 10,000 people out there watching you, and you could feel like the only person in the arena. It could be you and your coach and just doing a program that you have been training. I really enjoyed the thrill of that. Then I grew up and then I got nervous more and more. But I think growing up, it was just super exciting. You had your friends cheering for you. You had fun programs, you had good costumes. So I think that was part of my favorite thing about competing.
Q: And then, as your competitive career winded down, you transition to show skating. So what drew you to Disney on Ice?
A: After I retired, I kind of had a year where I was quite injured, so I had to take a little bit of time to coach and do a little bit of school, and then my choreographer, Catarina Lindgren, and her husband at the time, Tom Dickson, had also done a Disney on Ice show before. And I had talked to them about possibly doing shows, and, and then Caterina one day was like, ‘well, Disney is coming through and Judi Thomas was coming through to do some of the auditions, and would you, by any chance, want to do Disney?’ And I said sure, I don’t know what they would have, but I would love to talk to them. Sure enough, I got an in person interview and showed Judi what I could do later that week. It was a Monday, and then by Friday I would have an audition and I was casted almost on the spot. We talked about a few things for about a month and a half and then I was officially casted as Elsa. She told me right away about the potential of Elsa, and skating an actual program, and traveling the world still, and finding a different love of skating, not just competitive, and I think I wasn’t done sharing my love of the sport yet, and so, that’s basically kind of what brought me to Disney, fate and the right timing of everything. I couldn’t stop.
Q: When you first took that role of Elsa, you were training with Becky Bereswill, who was Elsa in the original full Frozen show. Like you, she has a twin sister, and you shared the podium with at the 2008 Junior Grand Prix final. What was it like working with someone that you had so much in common there?
A: Oh my gosh, Becky and I go back. We all competed singles together. Her twin sister and my sister, Allison and Piper, used to compete against each other a lot. Becky and I did, so it was really fun getting to travel with her as a friend, not just a competitor. I mean, we used to talk about our dogs at the rink, and we would go to Dallas, and she would come here for competitions, and, and then also competing Junior Grand Prix. We did train a little bit together in Detroit, and then finally, joining Disney. Actually I built Frozen with them. Becky came in and then I traveled about four weeks with them until Morgan [Bell] and I went to D27 to open Frozen. So my first time [as Elsa] was actually the full Frozen show, October 5, 2014, there was a Facebook reminder.
It was so nice to travel with Becky for a little bit. I think we became better friends after. We wanted to share the love of the sport outside of competition. And she was beautiful in it, as always. She was always a beautiful skater. Even now, too, we’ll message each other once in a while to say ‘Happy birthday,’ and hope she’s doing well. She’s doing fabulous, and, I did see her in person a couple years ago, too, down in Houston. Her, her mom and her sister came to the show, and it was really nice to see them.
Q: What was it like to bring what I consider to be the most iconic character for Disney On Ice to life night after night after night?
A: I didn’t really know what to expect. I mean, I knew the characters, and we really did a lot of training in studios of watching the program, watching the video, how do we translate motion actions from the movie to the ice. Then we had to do some training of what’s her description, what’s her characteristics, what is she feeling in this scene versus, you know, letting it go? She finally was able to become herself, but before that, during coronation or some dialogue scene, she couldn’t. She had to be the queen. She had to be more timid. She had to not touch anyone, not be near anyone. And then, once ‘Let It Go’ finally happened, she became a different person, and she was free, but scared, and then, but she knew the love from her sister. So it really goes, it goes deep. But seeing that all these kids could relate to this iconic character, and see how much they loved her, and the smiles, and the tears, and the cheers, that’s what really kept you going, especially that first year. I remember getting goosebumps night after night from hearing the kids screaming and singing at the top of their lungs. Especially worldwide, too, in different languages. I still get goosebumps now. I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ That it related so much to everyone.
Q: Last season, you got to work with D38 for a little bit, which meant bringing Frozen 2 to life. You talk about relating, and the song that I relate to the most is “Show Yourself.” So I wanted to get your thoughts on skating to that song and doing that performance.
A: It was beautiful. Actually, I closed D27 earlier that year in England. I had 10 years of “Let It Go,” through a pandemic and everything, to finally being able to do D38, “Show Yourself,” and learning it from Maria Starr, who is wonderful and seeing Adam Blake do the program. It felt like “Let It Go” was finally being free, and “Show Yourself” was finally showing your true self to yourself and to others, and it was such a feel good program. She ends on the top of the Roomba, the pyro, and the dazzling special effects. It felt like a full circle moment of just being one with yourself, and this is what you are to the world, and being okay with that. I mean, “Show Yourself,” love yourself, basically. And her mom playing on the screen, the memories, and the whole Frozen family. Oh my gosh, it was, again, goosebump moment. I was nervous to do it for the first time, actually, because I wanted to do it justice. And I would love to do it again, but we’ll see. But it was, like I said, a full circle moment, and that was the one that I love to do. That was one of my favorite songs in the movie, too. More than “Into The Unknown.” “Show Yourself,” I mean, Maria does it beautifully every single day. I don’t know how she does it. So, just a little glimpse of it, I was like, I hope I did it justice.
Q: You mentioned a decade of being Elsa. During your time, though, were you able to get the opportunity to explore other roles?
A: I did. I was able to do Belle mostly. She did “Be Our Guest,” and her song in the village, the “Belle” reprise, and then I was able to wear the beautiful gold dress in the finale. But all the other ones were pair roles and honestly, we were so busy with Elsa and Frozen. We didn’t have many understudies at the beginning. And then I would jump back and forth to do the full Frozen show, and I was little too tall for Anna. So, I wasn’t able to do any of the other Frozen roles or do Anna, but those were my two gals.
Q: Are there roles that you’re like, man, I wish I could have done that?
A: Cinderella’s beautiful. She was always one of my favorites growing up. Because, you know, there were less Disney characters back in the day. Tinker Bell, you know, she’s sassy, and she’s cute. Jessie would have been a fun one. Nala, she’s beautiful. But, again, I’m a tall, statuesque 5-7, so I was very limited on my roles.
Q: Elsa, she’s a queen, but recently, I saw you got to portray a literal goddess in Aphrodite in the EPIC show. So what was that like?
A: Oh, that was so fun. I haven’t been able to do a show that we stayed in the same costume the entire time. Aphrodite is the goddess of love and passion, but also wisdom a little bit too. She came out and I skated to Sabrina Carpenter. She came out and she did her big spiral, and jump, and spin, and spin fast, and then look at the crowd. She was quick, but I did really love playing her. I love playing a queen, goddess, being tall in the skating community, I do command the ice and take up a lot of space with my long legs, so I love it.
Q: Now I see you’re working with Illusion on Ice. So I was curious, you could tell us a little bit about that show and what being part of that is like?
A: I actually joined Illusion a little bit after COVID. That was my first show back, and I was super grateful for it because I joined [shows] and went to Disney right away, so I was a character. Then when I did Illusion, I was myself, as Alexe. I was almost more nervous to be myself than I was doing Elsa, just because it was my face and not a wig and a costume and that specific character. I have loved having a chance to do my own choreography and be a bit of a showgirl. There’s feathers, and sparkles, and just, just kind of a different mix and bits of everything. This last one, what did I do? I still skated... in a fun way, but then I do a bit, and the lighting’s beautiful, the screens are beautiful. The audiences down there are wonderful and they’re very enthusiastic. So, I really like doing Illusion. It’s a lot of shows. We just did like 60 shows almost in three-and-a-half, almost four weeks. So I’m a bit tired. But still, I have been very grateful to them for having an opportunity to still continue skating in different capacities. Then I get to go do SeaWorld for Christmas down in Florida. So I’m really excited about that as well.
Q: You mentioned one of the benefits of skating with Illusion was skating as yourself. On the exact opposite spectrum of that, you were part of the crew that brought the skating scene to life in the movie Argylle, which was very much not skating as yourself. I’m curious how that came.
A: Yeah, how cool is that? That was a project kind of still a little bit during COVID. It was the very end of 2021, and I stunt doubled for Bryce Dallas Howard, who is an amazing actress, and super nice. There was a stunt professional who saw Jordan [Cowan’s] work on TikTok, and some of his work with Amber [Glenn] about how she does her butterflies, and really cool tricks, and so he contacted Jordan about a possible stunt opportunity, and then Jordan brought Ben [Agosto] and Katherine [Hill] in to create a scene for a potential movie. And then for PreViz they brought in Sonja Hilmer, they brought in Brandon [Frazier] and Alexa [Knierim] and Elladj Baldé to bring an idea to life.
Then they needed a girl who fit the 5-7, 5-10 type, and I have known Ben for a long time. My dad was a team doc when Ben was traveling with Tanith [Belbin], and then I traveled with Ben, so Ben threw my name into the loop. Being in Colorado Springs, I was able to meet up with them. And then got casted as the stunt double, as well as, her name is Anastasiia Bardonova.
We were supposed to film in LA, and then that stunt professional [Brad Allen] passed away, unfortunately. So we weren’t sure if that scene was actually gonna get filmed. The team in London picked it up, and so we finished. We rehearsed for about two and a half weeks in London, and then we shot for two weeks at a very big airport hangar outside of London. Then they brought it to life through VFX and face swap, and we skated with a foam gun and foam knives. Nothing was real. But it was so cool to see a female lead do a stunt scene like this, on ice. Yeah, it’s a little cheesy, but it’s still so cool that it wasn’t AI, it was me and this other girl actually able to bring something to life not through the effects and AI.
I’ve known Jordan and all of them for a long time and then I just fit the role and just had the wonderful opportunity and they auditioned and I got casted.
Q: I know obviously you keep up with your sister’s career, but outside of that, how much skating do you actually get to watch these days?
A: Um, some. It’s hard for me to watch competitive skating, but I do watch my sister a lot. I have known Amber Glenn since she was a young, young girl, so I’m always Team Amber. I try and support all the Colorado Springs people, and Piper’s Toronto crew, who, you know, are Caroline [Soucisse] and Shane [Firus], they skate for Ireland right now. I try and keep up with Ilia [Malinin] or Alysa [Liu]. I went to worlds last year, so I kind of got my fill at worlds. I’m trying to get to Skate Canada. I love Kaori [Sakamoto]. I try and watch bits and pieces of everyone that I can through professional or competitive. Thank God I follow you because I’m like, ‘okay, what is he doing?’ I saw you just posted Jeremy [Abbott] there and I’m like, ‘okay, great.’ I try and keep up with my friends through Disney. There’s just a lot going on, and I love it, but it’s difficult.
Q: Piper is a serious Olympic medal contender this year, but going back 10 years or so, she had the same opportunity you did, which she was offered to join Disney On Ice. She chose to go in a different direction, which worked out for her, but do you ever just say to her ‘you know, you could have been Elsa too.’
A: She was gonna be Rapunzel! She was gonna be the first Rapunzel, and Judi was like, ‘We need to move forward.’ She had just had the opportunity. She had just working with Paul [Poirier], and Judy was like, ‘I need a decision,’ and Piper was like, ‘Oh, this sounds fabulous,’ but she just wasn’t done. She had that last minute urge to compete, and it’s paid off for her. But she’s like, ‘yeah, I was the one that was gonna do Disney’ sometimes, and I was like, ‘yeah, but I’m a queen. You can’t take that away from me. Give me one thing.’ It would have been so cool. She actually came to watch me my first time. She did the Autumn Classic, and then her and Alex Johnson and my mom came to watch me open a show. She’s always been very supportive of my career as well.
Q: Wanted to wrap this up with a quick little lightning round. What is your favorite move to perform on the ice?
A: It’s so hard because it’s either a jump or a spin or a butterfly, or spiral. Can I do a classic spiral now? I love a butterfly, because you can do it, star butterfly or butterfly into a pass spin, and the crowd goes crazy.
Q: Favorite Disney song of all time?
A: Oh, I mean, of all time? I’m still gonna go “Let it Go.”
Q: Favorite Disney movie of all time?
A: Of all time? I’m gonna go “Frozen.” “Frozen” is classic. Yeah, “Frozen.”
Q: Favorite figure skating movie of all time?
A: Blades of Glory
Q: There are 6 kinds of basic jumps in figure skating: loop, toe loop, flip, Salchow, Lutz, and Axel. Which one is your most hated?
A: Now it’s probably Salchow. It used to be my fave, one of my faves, but toe is my fave [now].
Q: If you hadn’t been a professional skater, what do you think you would have done?
A: I don’t know. I coached when I was younger, so I probably would have been a coach. I mean, it’s still a possible opportunity. Or... I don’t know. I can’t say what I would have done. Back in the day, I wanted to own a cupcake shop. But that’s not a passion anymore.
Q: And last but not least, one piece of advice you would give to anyone starting out in skating.
A: I would say probably never, never lose your love for the sport. Always have fun.
Spot on. I totally remember you talking about your Disney On Ice fandom before, and its kinda funny how you got to Alexe first! It just goes to show how different entry points can build such distinct mental models, you know? Really cool how you connected that. Made me smile, seriously!