| John C. Reilly | |
|---|---|
Reilly in June 2009 |
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| Born | John Christopher Reilly May 24, 1965 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor/Comedian |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Spouse | Alison Dickey (1992-present) |
John Christopher Reilly, Jr. (born May 24, 1965) is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002 (all three were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture). He has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Chicago and a Grammy Award for the song "Walk Hard", which he performed in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
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Reilly was born in Chicago, Illinois, the fifth of six children of an Irish American father and a Lithuanian American mother.[1][2] His father, John Reilly, Sr.,[3] ran an industrial linen supply company.[4] Reilly was raised Roman Catholic[5][6] and attended Brother Rice High School, a Catholic school.[7][8] He is an alumnus of DePaul University in Chicago.
Reilly made his film debut in the Brian De Palma film Casualties of War (1989) as P.F.C. Herbert Hatcher.[9] Although the role of Hatcher was written as a small one, De Palma liked Reilly's performance so much that the role was significantly expanded. Also notable in his film work throughout the 1990s was his supporting role alongside Mark Wahlberg in Paul Thomas Anderson's 1997 film Boogie Nights, in which he played the pornographic film star Reed Rothchild.
He appeared in Days of Thunder (1990) as private school race car driver “Buck Bretherton” – in 2006 he revisited this film’s subject matter as the character of public school race car driver “Cal Naughton, Jr.” in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
His profile as a film actor was significantly raised in 2002 when he appeared in three of the year's Academy Award for Best Picture nominees – Chicago, Gangs of New York and The Hours. The three movies were nominated for a total of thirty-two Oscars, including one for Best Supporting Actor for Reilly's performance as Renée Zellweger's trusting husband in Chicago. Ultimately, Chicago won six, The Hours won one, and Gangs of New York won none.
Reilly appeared in Martin Scorsese's 2004 Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator, as Hughes' (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) trusted business partner, Noah Dietrich. Of the role Reilly said, “Noah was almost a father figure to Hughes... Howard would have a scheme, and it was Noah who had to say, ‘We don’t have the money.’ He was one of his few friends.”[10] He appeared in Adam McKay's Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby in 2006, as Cal Naughton, Jr., the title character's best friend, alongside Will Ferrell. He also starred alongside Woody Harrelson, Meryl Streep, and Lindsay Lohan among others in the Robert Altman film A Prairie Home Companion. In 2007, Reilly starred as the title character in parody bio-pic Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, singing various songs parodying Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, and others. The next year, Reilly reunited with Ferrell to star in Step Brothers.
In 2008 he was among the many notable actors to perform in the online political musical, Proposition 8 - The Musical.
Then in 2009 he played the role of Larten Crepsley from the motion picture Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant and provided the voice of "5" in 9. Reilly also appeared in the 2010 film Cyrus.
Reilly has stated that he would be very determined to play the lead role of Nathan Detroit if a revival of the musical Guys and Dolls were to occur.[11]
Reilly married Alison Dickey, an independent film producer, in 1992. The couple met in Thailand on the set of the Brian De Palma film Casualties of War.
Reilly performed on two tracks of the 2006 compilation Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys: “Fathom the Bowl” and “My Son John”.[12]
In 2007, Reilly starred in the biopic parody Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. In addition to his acting role, he also performed as a vocalist and songwriter on the movie's soundtrack, for which he was nominated for a Grammy.[13] Reilly went on a concert performance tour in the US, performing as his character Dewey Cox in the Cox Across America 2007 Tour.[14] Reilly played the role of future Mike D of the Beastie Boys for their full-length music video for the song Make Some Noise. In 2011, he released two songs produced by Jack White. The songs were duets, one with Tom Brosseau and one with Becky Stark. The song with Brosseau is entitled "Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar" by the Delmore Brothers, and the song with Stark is entitled "I'll Be There If You Want", written by Ray Price.
Reilly provided the voice of himself in The Simpsons episode “Any Given Sundance”. He also frequently appeared on Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! as Dr. Steve Brule spawning a spin-off series, Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule.
During the production of the 2005 Lars von Trier film Manderlay, a donkey was slaughtered for "dramatic purposes". Because of this, Reilly quit his role. The scene was then cut from the film before it was released.[15]