With a homely mug and curly mop of hair made for repelling character work, John C. Reilly has defied the odds by drawing in the ladies in recent years with his touching "common man" portrayals of lovable schmucks. The fifth of six children of an Irish father and Lithanian mother, Reilly was brought up on Chicago's tough Southwest territory. On the amateur stage from age 8, he trained at the Goodman School of Drama and eventually became a member of Chicago's renowned Steppenwolf Theatre. His film break came with a small role in the Vietnam War drama Casualties of War, wherein Brian De Palma liked his work so much during the early stages that he recast him in a major role by the start of shooting as a soldier bent on rape. Reilly gained momentum throughout the 1990s and showed his dazzling stretch of talent in such films as Days of Thunder, Shadows and Fog, What's Eating Gilbert Grape and The River Wild. He became a major stock player in director Paul Thomas Anderson's films, while finding some of his best roles in Hard Eight as a compulsive gambler, Boogie Nights in which he played a porn star, and in Magnolia as a compassionate policeman. He went on to earn further critical points for his role of the soldier sent to the front lines in Terrence Malick's war epic The Thin Red Line. On stage, Reilly has wowed audiences in "The Grapes of Wrath" on Broadway, "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Othello" at Steppenwolf, and earned an Outer Critics Circle Award and Tony nomination for "True West" alongside another impeccable character player Philip Seymour Hoffman. Reilly finally received the film recognition he deserved in 2002 with a slew of choice, high-profile parts in The Hours, The Good Girl, Gangs of New York, and especially Chicago as the schleppy husband, Amos Hart, who is played for a patsy by murderous wife Roxie ('Renee Zellweger' ). For this last part, he received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for best supporting actor. Though he didn't win either, it's only a matter a time for this talented thespian who can easily switch from being a dream of a nice guy to your worst nightmare on any given day. Reilly is married to producer Alison Dickey.
Received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from DePaul University's Goodman School of Drama (Chicago) [1987] Originated the role of Marty in the 2002 musical "Marty" (book by Rupert Holmes, music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams), based on the 1955 movie Marty. In April 2004 he left the filming of Manderlay to be replaced by Slovenian actor Zeljko Ivanek. According to a report in Entertainment Weekly, he did so to protest against the killing of a donkey during production. Attended DePaul University in Chicago. John is a wonderful singer who came out of a musical theater background - did all of his own singing in Chicago. In 2003, he starred in three out of the five movies nominated for Best Pictures. They are Chicago, Gangs of New York, and The Hours. Made a home video of himself singing in a bow tie and suit for director Rob Marshall who gave him his role in Chicago. Mother is from Lithuania. Father is Irish. He is the fifth of six children. Director Antoine Fuqua wanted to cast him in his since aborted crime epic "Tru Blu" with Denzel Washington and Benicio Del Toro. For not only his broad, 6' 2" frame, curly hair, and everyman's mug, but also his straight-forward but thoughtful acting style, Reilly has frequently been dubbed "his generation's Gene Hackman". Was nominated for Broadway's 2000 Tony Award as Best Actor (Play) for a revival of Sam Shepard's "True West." Is of Irish and Russian decent. Graduated from Brother Rice High School on the South Side of Chicago.