CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA: It often happens that certain 'Jeopardy!' contestants leave a lasting impression on the viewers of the game show despite their short-lived appearances. The same was the case with Mia McGill, a contestant on the July 12 episode who instantly became a fan favorite.
The contestant became known for her interesting habit that they resorted to before watching any movie in the theater. While McGill did not manage to win the game, they were successful in winning the attention of several 'Jeopardy!' viewers.
Who is Mia McGill?
According to their 'Jeopardy!' profile, McGill is a Communications Specialist working at Arts Midwest from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their role there involves planning promotional and social media activity, planning press releases, and assisting with the graphics. They went to James Monroe High School for their education in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
McGill's Twitter account makes it obvious that they are a huge fan of films. They regularly post and retweet things related to films and have reviewed many of them on the film review app Letterboxd. From their interactions on the social media app, it also seems like a contestant named Ittai Sopher besides returning champ Justin White has already become great friends with McGill. It is not confirmed whether they knew each other long before they were announced as the contestants for the Wednesday episode.
Mia McGill's habit of watching movies
In the interview segment on 'Jeopardy!', host Ken Jennings interacted with the new contestant Mia McGill. Jennings brought up the conversation around McGill's ritual before watching any movie at all. "Before going to the movies, you like to do what?" he asked.
"I like to read the plot on Wikipedia and then watch the movie," McGill responded and then later added, "Sometimes I read it during the movie. I was watching 'La La Land' and I was getting impatient and I just read it. Saved myself a few hours."
Jennings was baffled by her reasoning, "Is that your reason? Short attention span?" He then proceeded to share his own "hot take" and said, "You should always watch the movie before reading the book because the book will spoil the movie but the movie won't spoil the book."
McGill clapped back like most contestants fail to do with Jennings and said, "Or you could do neither and just read the Wikipedia plot summary." The contestant had everyone laughing at her quirks throughout the episode.