John C Reilly

John C. Reilly (born 24.5.1965)

John C. Reilly is an American film actor.

John C. Reilly: Childhood

John Reilly was born to an Irish-American father and Lithuanian mother; the fifth of six children. He was raised on Chicago and attended Brother Rice High School. Reilly went on to graduate from Chicago's DePaul University.

John C. Reilly: Film Career

In 1989, John Reilly made his film debut in Casualties of War. The Brian de Palma movie starred Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn. Another highlight of Reilly's early career was his role alongside Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights in 1997. The cult hit also starred Burt Reynolds, Heather Graham, Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

A turning point for John C. Reilly's career came in 2002, when he was cast in three Academy Award-nominated films. Firstly was Chicago, a film adaptation of the popular musical. The film version starred Catherine Zeta Jones, Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere and Queen Latifah. The next film in the queue for awards was Gangs of New York. Despite featuring an all-star cast (including Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis and Cameron Diaz), the Martin Scorsese-directed movie failed to win any Academy Award. The final film in Reilly's successful trilogy of 2002 was The Hours. Nicole Kidman brought home an Oscar for her performance and the film also starred Meryl Streep, Ed Harris and Julianne Moore.

In 2004, John C. Reilly worked with Martin Scorsese once more, in the Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator. The movie saw Reilly sharing screen time with DiCaprio once more, as well as Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin and Kate Beckinsale.

Two years later, Reilly showcased his comic talents in Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby, which featured Will Ferrell. That same year, he worked with Woody Harrelson, Lindsay Lohan and Meryl Streep in Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion.

2007 saw John Reilly starred in the biopic parody Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, which took off a number of musical biopics, including those of Ray Charles and Johnny Cash.

Following this, John C. Reilly and Will Ferrell worked together once more, on Step Brothers. The film also featured Kathryn Hahn and Mary Steenburg and was written by Adam McKay (who also wrote Talladega Nights.).

Reilly has also worked in television, appearing frequently on Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! This led on to a spin-off series, Check it Out! with Dr. Steve Brule. Reilly has also provided his voice for an episode of The Simpsons (entitled 'Any Given Sundance').