John Christopher Reilly (born May 24, 1965) is an American actor, singer, and comedian. Making his film debut in Casualties of War, Reilly 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 that were all 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. Reilly has starred in Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule, a television show on Adult Swim, since its premiere on May 16, 2010.

 

Early life

Reilly was born in Chicago, Illinois, the fifth of six children of an Irish father and a Lithuanian mother.His father ran an industrial linen supply company. Reilly was raised Roman Catholic[6][7] and attended Brother Rice High School.Reilly is an alumnus of DePaul University in Chicago.

 

Film career

Reilly made his film debut in the Brian De Palma film Casualties of War (1989) as P.F.C. Herbert Hatcher.[10] 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. Reilly was a frequent collaborator of Anderson's in the 1990s, including other roles in Hard Eight, Magnolia and a cameo in the video for the Fiona Apple single Across the Universe, which Anderson directed.

 

He appeared in Days of Thunder (1990) as stock car crew member “Buck Bretherton” – in 2006 he revisited this film’s subject matter as the character of race car driver “Cal Naughton, Jr.” in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

 

In 2002 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 in February 2007

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.” He reportedly quit the 2005 film Manderlay to protest the on-set killing of a donkey. 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.

 

In March 2012, he was featured in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play, '8' — a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage — as David Blankenhorn.[14] The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, a non-profit organization funding the plaintiffs' legal team and sponsoring the play.

 

Personal life

Reilly married Alison Dickey, an independent film producer, in 1992. They have two sons.

 

Music

In 2002, he performed "Mr. Cellophane" in the movie/soundtrack Chicago. His character was Amos Hart, the husband of Roxie.

 

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”.

 

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.Reilly went on a concert performance tour in the US, performing as his character Dewey Cox in the Cox Across America 2007 Tour.

 

In 2011, he recorded two songs produced by Jack White and released as singles by White's Third Man Records: The Delmore Brothers' "Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar," performed with Tom Brosseau, and Ray Price's "I'll Be There If You Want," performed with Becky Stark. He also appeared as "future Mike D" in the Beastie Boys' video "Make Some Noise."

 

In 2012, his current band, John Reilly & Friends will be on tour with the Railroad Revival Tour that includes Willie Nelson & Family, Band of Horses and Jamey Johnson.

 

Television

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, which role spun off into the short-running series Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule.

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1989	Casualties of War	PFC. Herbert Hatcher
1989	We're No Angels	Young Monk
1990	Days of Thunder	Buck Bretherton
1990	State of Grace	Stevie McGuire
1992	Shadows and Fog	Cop at Police Station
1992	Out on a Limb	Jim Jr.
1992	Hoffa	Pete Connelly
1993	What's Eating Gilbert Grape	Tucker Van Dyke
1994	River Wild, TheThe River Wild	Terry
1995	Dolores Claiborne	Const. Frank Stamshaw
1995	Georgia	Herman
1996	Hard Eight	John Finnegan
1996	Boys	Officer Kellogg Curry
1997	Nightwatch	Deputy Inspector Bill Davis	Uncredited
1997	Boogie Nights	Reed Rothchild	Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cast Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1998	Hellcab	Steve
1998	Thin Red Line, TheThe Thin Red Line	Sergeant Storm
1999	Settlement, TheThe Settlement	Pat
1999	Never Been Kissed	Augustus Strauss
1999	For Love of the Game	Gus Sinski
1999	Magnolia	Jim Kurring	Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cast Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2000	Perfect Storm, TheThe Perfect Storm	Dale 'Murph' Murphy
2001	Anniversary Party, TheThe Anniversary Party	Mac Forsyth	Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
2002	Good Girl, TheThe Good Girl	Phil Last	Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
2002	Gangs of New York	Happy Jack	Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor also for The Hours and Chicago
2002	Chicago	Amos Hart	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor also for The Hours and Gangs of New York Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
2002	Hours, TheThe Hours	Dan Brown	Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor also for Gangs of New York and Chicago Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2003	Anger Management	Older Arnie Shankman	Uncredited
2003	Piggie
2004	Aviator, TheThe Aviator	Noah Dietrich	Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2004	Criminal	Richard Gaddis
2005	Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody?		Short film
2005	Dark Water	Mr. Murray
2006	A	Lefty	Nominated — Gotham Awards for Best Ensemble Cast
2006	Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby	Cal Naughton, Jr.
2006	Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny	Sasquatch	Uncredited
2007	Year of the Dog	Al
2007	Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story	Dewford "Dewey" Cox	Also writer Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Song Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song Nominated — Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
2007–10	Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!	Dr. Steven Brule	TV Series: 25 Episodes
2008	Promotion, TheThe Promotion	Richard Wehlner
2008	Step Brothers	Dale Doback	Also writer
2009	9	5	Voice role
2009	Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant	Larten Crepsley
2010	Check It Out!, With Steve Brule	Dr. Steve Brule	TV Series Also writer and producer
2010	Extra Man, TheThe Extra Man	Gershon
2010	Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Chrimbus Special	Dr. Steve Brule	Television film
2010	Cyrus	John	Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2011	Cedar Rapids	Dean Ziegler	Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
2011	Fight for Your Right Revisited	Mike D (B-Boys 2)	Short film
2011	We Need to Talk About Kevin	Franklin
2011	Terri	Mr. Fitzgerald	Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor
2011	Carnage	Michael
2012	Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie	Taquito
2012	Dictator, TheThe Dictator	Clayton	Cameo (Uncredited)
2012	Wreck-It Ralph	Wreck-It Ralph	Voice role