John Reilly

John Christopher Reilly (born May 24, 1965) is an American actor. 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 film productions, including three separate films in 2002, each of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. He was 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 wrote and performed in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. He will appear in the animated Shane Acker action/fantasy 9, produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov and due for release September 9, 2009.
Reilly made his film debut in the Brian De Palma film Casualties of War (1989) as PFC Herbert Hatcher. 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 1990’s 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.
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 32 Oscars, including one for Best Supporting Actor for Reilly’s performance as Renée Zellweger’s trusting husband in Chicago. Ultimately, Gangs of New York won none, Chicago won six, and The Hours won one.