Ava Gillies obit

Tributes pour in for The Crown and Barbie movie make-up artist, 26, killed in two-car crash

 

She was not on the list.

Tributes have poured in for The Crown and Barbie movie make-up artist who was killed in a two-car crash.

Ava Gillies was driving her white Volkswagen Polo near Wrelton, North Yorkshire, at 1.30am on July 29 when a black Audi A4 driving in the opposite direction collided with her.

Sadly, the 26-year-old hair and make-up stylist was pronounced dead at the scene by the emergency services.

Five people in the Audi A4 were taken to hospital for treatment to injuries but none are believed to be life-threatening.

Ms Gillies' family issued a heartbreaking statement about their 'beautiful daughter, sister and granddaughter,' who worked on shows including Bridgerton, Barbie and The Crown.

The tribute read: 'Ava, we will always, always miss you, your wit, your charm, your beauty, your feisty confidence, your many talents and your excellence in your field: hair & makeup for film and TV.'

Her family said that they were proud of her achievements, including becoming a Bafta Connect member and her hair and make-up roles.

They continued: 'What's becoming clearer with every passing day is you were loved by so many people outside the family, your friends and the community in which you were raised.

'We take great comfort from the comments, cards and messages from people within the film industry and their expressions of love and respect for your talent.

Ms Gillies studied at York College before she went on to train at Delamar Academy of Make-up and Hair in London where she graduated in 2018.

After leaving the academy, Ms Gillies went on to work on some of the film industry's biggest shows and movies.

Her impressive IMDb portfolio credits her involvement with 29 projects during her career.

She worked in the make-up department for the 2022 reboot of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile and the superhero flick Wonder Woman 1984.

Ms Gillies was also part of the hair and make-up team on the sets of Star Wars: The Acolyte and fellow Star Wars universe spin-off, Andor.

Aside from her roles in blockbuster films and television shows, she was a designer for the Enzo Fernandez ambassador collaboration with Bing X.

Delamar Academy paid tribute to Ms Gillies and said they were 'broken-hearted' by the news of their former student's death.

'Ava was an exceptionally gifted artist, and has been successfully building her career since training at Delamar in 2018.'

'Ava was a kind, creative, hardworking and lovely person who will be greatly missed by all who knew her.'

 

Makeup Department

The Last House

hair and make-up Junior Daily

Completed

2026

 

War

hair and makeup artist daily

FilmingTV Series

2026

1 episode

 

Route Cause

hair and make-up designer

CompletedShort

 

Prodigies

hair and makeup artist

Post-productionTV Series

7 episodes

 

Bolbol (2025)

Bolbol

Short

hair and make-up designer

2025

 

Dror Keren, Ohad Knoller, Hisham Suliman, Oz Zehavi, Yiftach Mizrahi, Amir Boutrous, Roi Miller, Maor Schwietzer, Eva Nürnberg, Diana Golbi, and Daniel Gal in Band of Spies (2025)

Band of Spies

7.8

TV Series

hair & makeup artist

2025

8 episodes

 

Murder Before Evensong (2025)

Murder Before Evensong

7.0

TV Series

hair & makeup artist daily

2025

6 episodes

 

Ivanko's Childhood (2025)

Ivanko's Childhood

Short

Hair and Makeup Designer

2025

 

Robert Carlyle and David Tennant in The Hack (2025)

The Hack

7.3

TV Mini Series

hair & makeup artist

2025

4 episodes

 

Jo Joyner and Diane Kruger in Little Disasters (2025)

Little Disasters

7.0

TV Series

hair & makeup artist

2025

6 episodes

 

Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot in Snow White (2025)

Snow White

2.2

hair & makeup junior daily

2025

 

Dev Patel in Rabbit Trap (2025)

Rabbit Trap

4.9

hair & makeup supervisor

2025

 

Naomie Harris, Darcey Ewart, Eddison Burch, and Gwendoline Christie in Robin and the Hoods (2024)

Robin and the Hoods

4.3

hair & makeup artist

2024

 

Carrie-Anne Moss, Lee Jung-jae, Hassan Taj, Charlie Barnett, Dean-Charles Chapman, Rebecca Henderson, Manny Jacinto, Jodie Turner-Smith, Amandla Stenberg, Dafne Keen, and Joonas Suotamo in The Acolyte (2024)

The Acolyte

4.3

TV Series

crowd hair & makeup artist daily (uncredited)

2024

8 episodes

 

Dangerous Romance (2024)

Dangerous Romance

Short

Hair and Makeup Supervisor

2024

 

Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard in Breeders (2020)

Breeders

7.6

TV Series

Hair and Makeup Artist

2023

10 episodes

 

Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Martin Freeman, Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders, Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, and Kingsley Ben-Adir in Secret Invasion (2023)

Secret Invasion

5.8

TV Mini Series

junior hair & makeup artist

2023

6 episodes

 

Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in Barbie (2023)

Barbie

6.8

hair & makeup artist (uncredited)

2023

 

Jason Statham in Meg 2: The Trench (2023)

Meg 2: The Trench

5.0

junior hair & makeup artist (uncredited)

2023

 

Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning in The Great (2020)

The Great

8.1

TV Series

hair & makeup artistHair and Makeup Artist

2023

10 episodes

 

Toni Collette, Zrinka Cvitešić, Halle Bush, Ria Zmitrowicz, and Auli'i Cravalho in The Power (2023)

The Power

6.7

TV Series

junior hair and makeup artistjunior hair & makeup artist

2023

9 episodes

 

Stellan Skarsgård, Forest Whitaker, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Genevieve O'Reilly, Alan Tudyk, Denise Gough, Faye Marsay, Kyle Soller, and Adria Arjona in Andor (2022)

Andor

8.6

TV Series

hair & makeup artist trainee

2022

5 episodes

 

Elizabeth Debicki in The Crown (2016)

The Crown

8.6

TV Series

junior hair and makeup artist

2022

2 episodes

 

Luke Thompson and Yerin Ha in Bridgerton (2020)

Bridgerton

7.5

TV Series

hair & makeup artist trainee: dailies (uncredited)

2022

2 episodes

 

Our House (2022)

Our House

6.4

TV Series

Hair and Makeup Artist Daily

2022

4 episodes

 

Kenneth Branagh, Annette Bening, Dawn French, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, Russell Brand, Armie Hammer, Gal Gadot, Ali Fazal, Rose Leslie, Letitia Wright, Tom Bateman, and Emma Mackey in Death on the Nile (2022)

Death on the Nile

6.3

hair stylist traineemakeup artist trainee

2022

 

Terence Stamp, Matt Smith, Michael Ajao, Thomasin McKenzie, and Anya Taylor-Joy in Last Night in Soho (2021)

Last Night in Soho

7.0

hair & makeup trainee (uncredited)

2021

 

Judi Dench, Ciarán Hinds, Jude Hill, Lewis McAskie, Caitríona Balfe, and Jamie Dornan in Belfast (2021)

Belfast

7.2

hair & makeup trainee

2021

 

Honor Swinton Byrne in The Souvenir: Part II (2021)

The Souvenir: Part II

7.0

makeup & hair trainee

2021

 

Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Wonder Woman 1984

5.3

makeup trainee (uncredited)

2020

 

A Night in 97 (2020)

A Night in 97

5.0

trainee hair & makeup artist

2020

 

Rafe Riley in To Walk Amongst You (2020)

To Walk Amongst You

Short

Hair and Makeup Designer

2020

 

James Buttling and Peter McPherson in Your Heart Is Homeless (2019)

Your Heart Is Homeless

6.6

Short

Hair and Makeup Designer

2019