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John C. Reilly

John C. Reilly continues to make an impact in both comedic and dramatic movie roles. He was an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award nominee for his performance as Amos Hart (Mr. Cellophane) in Rob Marshall's Academy Award-winning Chicago. That same year, he was voted Best Supporting Actor by the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, for the latter performance in tandem with his work in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York and Stephen Daldry's The Hours. When those two movies joined eventual winner Chicago as Academy Award nominees for Best Picture, it marked the first time that a single actor had played in three of the five films in the category.

He was recently a double Golden Globe Award nominee for Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, directed by Jake Kasdan, for Best Actor [Musical/Comedy] and Best Original Song (for the title song, Walk Hard); Mr. Reilly co-wrote the songs in the movie, and as such was also a Grammy Award nominee (again for Walk Hard).

He last starred in the blockbuster comedy Step Brothers, for which he co-created the story with writer/star Will Ferrell and writer/director Adam McKay. The trio had previously teamed on another hit, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

Mr. Reilly's first film role was in Brian De Palma's Casualties of War. Among the many movies he has since appeared in are Neil Jordan's We're No Angels; Tony Scott's Days of Thunder; Phil Joanou's State of Grace; Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog; Danny De Vito's Hoffa; Lasse Hallström's What's Eating Gilbert Grape, opposite his fellow 9 actor Crispin Glover; Curtis Hanson's The River Wild; Taylor Hackford's Dolores Claiborne, opposite his fellow 9 actor Christopher Plummer; Ulu Grosbard's Georgia; Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line; Raja Gosnell's Never Been Kissed; Sam Raimi's For Love of the Game; Wolfgang Petersen's The Perfect Storm; Peter Segal's Anger Management; Gregory Jacobs' Criminal; Martin Scorsese's The Aviator; Walter Salles' Dark Water, opposite his fellow 9 actor Jennifer Connelly; Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion; Paul Weitz' soon-to-be-released Cirque du Freak; Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's upcoming The Extra Man; and, notably, for writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia.

The Chicago native studied at the Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University. He returned to his theater roots in 2000, in the Tony Award-nominated Broadway production of Sam Shepard's True West, directed by Matthew Warchus and starring opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman. The production saw Mr. Reilly alternating roles during the run, and garnered him Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations.

In 2005, he was again on Broadway, in Edward Hall's staging of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, opposite Natasha Richardson. He also starred in the Steppenwolf Theatre staging of the latter play, as well as the troupe's productions of Othello and The Grapes of Wrath, alongside Gary Sinise. Mr. Reilly's other stage work includes producing and played the title role in Eugene Ionesco's Exit the King at the Actors' Gang Theatre in Los Angeles, directed by Patrick Murphy.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2009.
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John C. Reilly Facts

Birth Name John Christopher Reilly
OccupationActor
BirthdayMay 24, 1965 (58)
SignGemini
BirthplaceChicago, Illinois, USA
Height6' 1" (1m85)  How tall is John C. Reilly compared to you?

Selected Filmography

Sing
Chicago Diamond Edition
Gangs Of New York
The Lobster
Wreck-It Ralph
Step Brothers
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Guardians of the Galaxy
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