John C. Reilly
☼ Born on 24 December 1965, in Chicago, Illinois, USA
Biography
Character actor, dramatic leading man, or hilarious comic foil? With an astonishing range of roles already under his belt, John C. Reilly has played an eclectic host of rich characters to great effect over the years, from seedy ne'er-do-wells, to lovable, good-natured schlepps.
The fifth of six children, John Christopher Reilly was born in Chicago, to a father of mostly Irish descent, and a Lithuanian-American mother, and was brought up on Chicago's tough Southwest territory. His father, also named John, ran an industrial linen supply company business. On the amateur stage from age eight, Reilly 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 (1989), 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 (1990), Shadows and Fog (1991), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) and The River Wild (1994). He became a major stock player in director Paul Thomas Anderson's films, while finding some of his best roles in Hard Eight (1996) as a compulsive gambler, Boogie Nights (1997) in which he played a narcissistic porn star, and in Magnolia (1999) as a compassionate policeman. He went on to earn further critical points for his
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role of the soldier sent to the front lines in Terrence Malick's war epic The Thin Red Line (1998).
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 (2002), The Good Girl (2002), Gangs of New York (2002), and especially Chicago (2002) as the put-upon husband, Amos Hart, who is played for a patsy by murderous wife Roxie (Renée Zellweger). For this last part, he received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor.
Since then his stock has risen considerably, and he has further widened his cinematic repertoire, appearing in everything from dramatic roles - We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), The Aviator (2004) and Carnage (2011) - to broader comic turns - Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Step Brothers (2008), Cyrus (2010) and Cedar Rapids (2011). Most recently, he has voiced the lead in Disney's animated smash Wreck-It Ralph (2012).
Reilly is married to producer Alison Dickey.
In the role of actor
Ralph Breaks the Internet (22/11/2018)
Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope leave the confines of the arcade in Ralph Breaks the Internet. Over the past six years, Wreck-It-Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) have become the best of friends in the video game arcade. However, when Ralph accidentally causes Vanellope’s Sugar Rush game to break, she is left without a home. Using the arcade’s new […]
The Guardians (28/04/2018)
The systematic abuse of the elderly in the Las Vegas area is investigated in The Guardians. Elderly couples such as Rudy and Rennie North find themselves appointed to legal guardians without their knowledge, which results in them being literally kidnapped from their homes and robbed of their life savings. This has resulted in people, such […]
Gilbert (02/05/2017)
Take a peak into the private life of comedian Gilbert Gottfried in Gilbert. In his public persona as a standup comedian, Gilbert Gottfried is known for his squinty-eyed appearance and his very crude and politically incorrect jokes. However, at home Gottfried is a very shy and softspoken guy, who has been adjusting for the last decade […]
Kong: Skull Island (12/03/2017)
A group of explorers travel to and island ruled by a giant ape in Kong: Skull Island. Bill Randa (John Goodman) is a government official, who is made in charge of an expedition to the uncharted skull island. The expedition is escorted by a platoon of soldiers fresh out of the Vietnam War, lead by Lieutenant […]
Guardians of the Galaxy (03/08/2014)
A new team of Marvel heroes hits the big screen with the comedic sci-fi adventure Guardians of the Galaxy. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), aka Star-Lord, is a human outlaw, who was abducted as a child and raised by a group of Ravagers, lead by Yondu (Michael Rooker). Quill comes into possession of a sphere-like artifact, […]
Wreck-It Ralph (08/11/2012)
I’ve always been a huge fan and player of video games, so the premise of Wreck-It Ralph – about a video game villain fed up with his bad guy status – really appealed to me. I also liked the fact that Disney took the time to licence actual video game characters, from games such as […]
Carnage (06/01/2012)
Roman Polanski‘s latest film, based on the play God of Carnage, is a very simple and hilarious film about how a simple conversation can quickly blow out of proportion. The whole film is one giant coversation between two couples. The son of Nancy and Alan (Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz) hit the son of Penelope […]
Cyrus (06/07/2010)
Cyrus is the first somewhat mainstream from the “mumblecore” duo of Jay and Mark Duplass. The film deals with a divorced man (John C. Reilly), who begins a relationship with a woman (Marisa Tomei) and has to deal with her overprotective (and somewhat sociopathic) son (Jonah Hill). Jonah Hill is mostly known for his loudmouth roles […]
Step Brothers (04/08/2008)
Earlier this year when I was talking about Semi-Pro, I stated that I thought Will Ferrel’s routine was getting old. After seeing Step Brothers, I still have yet to be convinced otherwise. Before I say anything else, I should state that I thought Step Brothers was an incredibly funny movie. However, it was also an […]
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (23/12/2007)
This year’s holiday season is jam packed with films I’d like to see, so here is the third film I’ve seen within a week’s timespan (with at least one or two more planned before the end of the holidays). This has been a killer year for producer/director Judd Apatow, whose films Knocked Up and Superbad […]