John C Reilly is an American by nationality.
John Christopher Reilly is an American actor. After his film debut in Casualties of War, he gained exposure through his supporting roles in Days of Thunder, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and The River Wild.
Reilly was raised Roman Catholic and attended Brother Rice High School. He is an alumnus of The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago.
He 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.
In early 2011, Reilly collaborated with director Miguel Arteta for a second time with the comedy Cedar Rapids, starring Ed Helms. New York Daily News critic Elizabeth Weizxman considered Reilly a stand-out in the film and he received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male nomination.
Reilly co-starred with Steve Coogan in the 2018 biopic Stan & Ollie about the comic double act Laurel and Hardy, with Reilly portraying Oliver Hardy and Coogan Stan Laurel. Also that year, he played hitman Eli Sisters in The Sisters Brothers, based on the Patrick deWitt Western novel, with Joaquin Phoenix co-starring as his brother Charlie, Jacques Audiard directing, and Reilly as a producer.
He made an uncredited cameo appearance as Munsters star Fred Gwynne in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza (2021).