‘Dead Money’ Actor Bringing His Poker Player Paintings to Life

The star of the poker-themed film “Dead Money” is now making money thanks to his love of the game and his artistic skills.

Actor Emile Hirsch unveiled what he called a “ginormous portrait” of Jennifer Tilly at the poker table on his X account.

The painting is almost as tall as Hirsch.

He posted an image of a second painting he created that was inspired by high-stakes pro Tom Dwan and posted it on his X, as well his Instagram account.

Dwan went to Boston University for an Engineering degree, but dropped out to become a professional poker player. He actually started playing poker online.

Hirsch Fell in Love With Playing and Painting Poker

In an interview with KTLA, Hirsch said he used to always play poker and never really did that well, but when he was sent the script for “Dead Money," he looked at it as a chance to learn the game inside and out — maybe even develop a new poker strategy.

Hirsch said he prepared by playing a lot in casinos and called the experience, “A huge learning curve.”

He felt his game improved and he even entered a high-stakes game in Las Vegas. After going on a downswing, he decided to use his love of poker as inspiration for his paintings.

So, he started painting poker players and selling the pieces. He says it’s meditative and that it’s also a good way to keep him from overdoing playing poker because now he has to leave games to go paint.

Tilly Has Long History of Poker Playing

Tilly, on the other hand, is well known for poker playing prowess.

She learned poker from her father and grew up playing the game. She became more active in poker during the 2000s boom when she started dating poker pro Phil Laak and won the 2005 WSOP Ladies Championship.

Tilly won a World Series of Poker bracelet for her efforts and became the first celebrity to achieve this feat. In 2005, she also won the World Poker Tour Ladies Invitational Tournament. In 2014, PokerListings nominated her for the Spirit of Poker Living Legend Award. By 2019, she had won over $1 million in live poker tournaments.

On top of all of that, she just won a huge pot in a recent episode of PokerGO’s High Stakes Poker.

Tilly was inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2022.

And by the way, she’s also an outstanding actress. Tilly has two Academy Award nominations and is best known for the role of serial killer Tiffany Valentine in the Chucky film franchise. She also voices Bonnie Swanson in Family Guy.

As for Hirsch, he’ll continue to act, but he asked his X followers to provide some suggestions for his next painting.

Regardless, it’s fun to see two actors, mixing their love for playing poker with their day jobs, and making money at both.