John C. Reilly

John Christopher Reilly (born May 24, 1965) is an American actor.

He is known as a character actor taking leading and supporting roles in independent drama films and studio comedies.

Reilly made his film debut in the Brian De Palma war film Casualties of War as PFC Herbert Hatcher in 1989.

Although his role was written as a small one, De Palma liked Reilly's performance so much that the role was significantly expanded.

That September, he played an Irish hoodlum named Stevie McGuire in the crime film State of Grace, which starred Sean Penn; Reilly had previously appeared as a monk in the comedy We're No Angels (1989), which also starred Penn. In 1992's Hoffa, Reilly played Jimmy Hoffa's (Jack Nicholson) associate who testifies against him at Hoffa's trial.

He played Buck, Tom Cruise's character's NASCAR crew member in Tony Scott's Days of Thunder in June 1990.

Reilly appeared in a supporting role in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), playing one of the titular character's (played by Johnny Depp) friends.

Reilly's other notable films include The River Wild (1994), The Thin Red Line (1998), and The Hours (2002).

His next role was in The River Wild (1994), in which Reilly appeared alongside Kevin Bacon as a pair of criminals who terrorise a family during a rafting trip.

In 1995, Reilly appeared in the psychological thriller Dolores Claiborne as a police constable and in the drama Georgia as a drug-addicted drummer in the band Jennifer Jason Leigh's character joins.

He gained exposure through his supporting roles in Paul Thomas Anderson's films Hard Eight (1996), Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999), and Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002) and The Aviator (2004).

In Paul Thomas Anderson's directorial debut film Hard Eight (1996), Reilly played a near homeless man in Reno, Nevada, who is taken under the wing of a senior gambler (Philip Baker Hall).

Reilly collaborated with Anderson on other films, playing a pornographic actor in Boogie Nights (1997); a deeply religious police officer in Magnolia (1999); and a cameo in the music video for Fiona Apple's single "Across the Universe".

Terrence Malick's ensemble war film, The Thin Red Line (1998) featured Reilly in a supporting role that was written as a larger one, but much of his scenes were deleted along with many other cast members.

In 1999, Reilly starred in the independent film The Settlement alongside William Fichtner, which Variety writer Robert Koehler dismissed as a "write-off" despite praising his performance.

That same year, Reilly played one of the newspaper managing editors in the romantic comedy film Never Been Kissed.

In Sam Raimi's sports drama For Love of the Game, released the same year, Reilly played fictional baseball catcher Gus Sinski.

For his role in the Broadway revival in Sam Shepard's play True West (2000) he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.

Reilly was born in Chicago, Illinois, the fifth of six children.

His father was of Irish and Scottish descent, and his mother was of Lithuanian ancestry.

His father ran an industrial linen supply company.

Reilly has described himself as being mischievous during his childhood, highlighting an event when he was 12 in which he and his friends stole 500 boxes of Sugar Corn Pops from a freight train.

Reilly grew up in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood.

Reilly was raised Roman Catholic and attended Brother Rice High School.

He is an alumnus of The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago.

The box office hit The Perfect Storm was his only release of 2000 and featured Reilly as a veteran crew member on the Andrea Gail fishing vessel which was caught in the 1991 Perfect Storm.

In the Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming directed comedy The Anniversary Party (2001), he played director Mac Forsyth.

Reilly was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the corresponding Golden Globe Award for his role in the musical film Chicago (2002).

In 2002, Reilly played a stoner husband in a lackluster marriage to Jennifer Aniston's character, who cheats on him with a younger man played by Jake Gyllenhaal, in Miguel Arteta's comedy-drama The Good Girl.

Later that year, Reilly appeared in three of the year's Academy Award for Best Picture nominees – Chicago, Gangs of New York and The Hours.

In Chicago, he played Amos Hart, Roxanne's (Renée Zellweger) trusting husband and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, as well as the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.

Zellweger remarked that "John is so often the best thing about the movies he's in" and critic Roger Ebert praised the "pathetic sincere naivete" that Reilly brought to the role.

Reilly made a brief appearance in the comedy Anger Management (2003) as a monk.

Reilly gained prominence for his roles in comedy films such as the title character in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007), Cal Naughton in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) and Dale Doback Step Brothers (2008).

He voiced the title character in the Wreck It Ralph film series (2012–⁠2018), and acted in the independent films Cyrus, We Need to Talk About Kevin, and Carnage (all in 2011), The Lobster (2015), and The Sisters Brothers (2018).

He portrayed comedian Oliver Hardy in the biopic Stan and Ollie (2018) earning nominations for the Golden Globe Award and Critics' Choice Award.

Reilly is also known for his work on television.

Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York featured Reilly as corrupt 19th-century constable "Happy Jack" Mulraney, while Stephen Daldry's drama The Hours saw him play the husband to Julianne Moore's character.

He created and starred in a Showtime comedy series Moonbase 8 (2020) and led an ensemble cast for the HBO sports drama series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (2022).

Reilly performs with his band John Reilly and Friends.