😢 Her Work Appeared On Some Of The World’s Biggest...

Ava Gillies had already left her mark on some of the most watched screens of the past few years. At 26 she had worked as a hair and makeup artist on Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, Netflix’s The Crown and Bridgerton, Wonder Woman 1984, Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast and Star Wars: The Acolyte. Colleagues and her family remembered a young professional whose talent, energy and presence filled rooms long before the cameras rolled. In the early hours of 29 July she was driving a white Volkswagen Polo along the A170 near Wrelton in North Yorkshire when a black Audi A4 collided with her car. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

North Yorkshire Police said the two-vehicle crash happened around 1.20am to 1.30am. Emergency crews attended. Despite their efforts, Ava could not be saved. Occupants of the other vehicle were taken to hospital with injuries that were not described as life-threatening. The road, a country carriageway, became the site of an investigation that would later be accompanied by a family’s public farewell.

Her family released a statement through police that captured both the scale of the loss and the fullness of the life she had lived. They called her their beautiful daughter, sister and granddaughter. “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 & make-up for film and TV. In almost 27 years with us, you packed in so much, study, travel, and work. It was a privilege to have raised you and loved you.” They noted how clearly she was loved beyond the family circle — by friends, the community that raised her, and people across the film industry who sent cards, messages and expressions of respect for her work. Funeral arrangements would be announced in due course.

Ava had spent more than five years building a career that took her from smaller jobs to some of the biggest productions of the decade. Her IMDb credits and professional site listed feature films, television dramas, commercials and short films. Barbie demanded a specific, heightened visual language. The Crown required historical precision. Bridgerton asked for period romance with contemporary polish. Each project asked something different of the hair and makeup department, and she had been part of those teams. She was a BAFTA Connect member, a programme that supports emerging screen talent through mentoring and networking. Industry messages after her death spoke of a rising artist who had already earned genuine regard.

The contrast between that professional momentum and the suddenness of the crash is what has stayed with those who knew her. Makeup and hair work is intimate and demanding. It begins before dawn on set, continues through long days, and lives in the small decisions that make a character look lived-in rather than merely costumed. Ava’s family spoke of her feisty confidence and her excellence. Those who worked with her described a young woman who had already travelled, studied and delivered on high-profile jobs while still in her mid-twenties. The tributes that followed the police announcement mixed personal grief with recognition of that early achievement.

Wrelton is a small place. The A170 is a familiar route through North Yorkshire countryside. Late-night collisions on such roads are investigated as a matter of course: vehicle positions, witness accounts, the condition of the road and the cars. Police have not released further details about the circumstances of the collision beyond the basic facts of time, location and vehicles. The focus in the days after the crash has remained on the person who was lost and on the family now navigating an immeasurable absence.

Her work will continue to appear on screen. Viewers who watch Barbie, The Crown or Bridgerton will see the results of departments she belonged to, even if they never knew her name. That is the nature of crew work: the contribution is visible, the individual often invisible. The messages that reached her family from inside the industry suggest she was not invisible to the people who stood next to her on set. They spoke of talent and of the person who brought it.

The family statement returned more than once to the idea of privilege — the privilege of having raised her and loved her, and the comfort they take from knowing how many others felt the same. In a career that had already spanned major studio films and prestige television, Ava Gillies had packed study, travel and work into a short span of years. Those who loved her now face the task of remembering the wit, the charm and the confidence that will no longer walk into a makeup trailer or a family kitchen.

Police continue their inquiries into the collision. The other people involved in the crash are recovering. For Ava’s parents, siblings and the wider circle of friends and colleagues, the days since 29 July have been defined by the statement they chose to make public: she will always be missed, and it was a privilege to have known her. That is the measure they offered of a life that ended on a North Yorkshire road in the dark, after she had already helped shape some of the most distinctive images of recent cinema and television.