"I've never been someone who's been given work because of the way I look or because I have some box office appeal. I get work because people know I'm swinging as hard as I can, trying to connect, giving it my level best."
John Christopher Reilly (born May 24, 1965 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and musician.
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. Since 2007 on [adult swim] he has starred in Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and its spinoff Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule as news correspondent Dr. Steve Brule. He is also the voice of Wreck-It Ralph.
TV Tropes filmography:
Film roles
- Casualties of War (1989) as PFC Herbert Hatcher
- We're No Angels (1989) as Young Monk
- Days of Thunder (1990) as Buck Bretherton
- Shadows and Fog (1992) as Cop at Police Station
- Out On A Limb (1992) as Jim Jr.
- Hoffa (1992) as Petey Connelly
- What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) as Tucker Van Dyke
- The River Wild (1994) as Terry
- Dolores Claiborne (1995) as Constable Frank Stamshaw
- Hard Eight (1996) as John Finnegan
- Nightwatch (1997) as Deputy Inspector Bill Davis
- Boogie Nights (1997) as Reed Rothchild
- The Thin Red Line (1998) as Sergeant Storm
- Never Been Kissed (1999) as Augustus Strauss
- Magnolia (1999) as Jim Kurring
- The Perfect Storm (2000) as Dale "Murph" Murphy
- The Good Girl (2002) as Phil Last
- Gangs of New York (2002) as Happy Jack
- Chicago (2002) as Amos Hart note
- The Hours (2002) as Dan Brown
- Anger Management (2003) as Older Arnie Shankman
- The Aviator (2004) as Noah Dietrich
- Dark Water (2006) as Cory Murray
- A Prairie Home Companion (2006) as Lefty
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) as Cal Naughton Jr.
- Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006) as Sasquatch
- Walk Hard (2007) as Dewford "Dewey" Cox
- Step Brothers (2008) as Dale Doback
- Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) as Larten Crepsley
- The Extra Man (2010) as Gershon
- Cyrus (2010) as John
- Cedar Rapids (2011) as Dean Ziegler
- Carnage (2011) as Michael
- We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) as Franklin
- The Dictator (2012) as Clayton
- Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013) as Ghost of Stonewall Jackson
- Life After Beth (2014) as Maury Slocum
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) as Corpsman Rhomann Dey
- The Lobster (2015) as Lisping Man
- Tale of Tales (2015) as King of Longtrellis
- The Little Hours (2017) as Father Tommasso
- Kong: Skull Island (2017) as Hank Marlow
- The Sisters Brothers (2018) as Eli Sisters
- Stan & Ollie (2018) as Oliver Hardy
- Holmes & Watson (2018) as Dr. John Watson
- Licorice Pizza (2021) as Fred Gwynne
TV roles
- Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (2007–10) as Dr. Steve Brule
- Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule (2010–16)
- Moonbase 8 (2020) as Robert "Cap" Caputo
- Winning Time (2022–) as Jerry Buss
Voice roles
- 9 (2009) as 5
- Wreck-It Ralph (2012) as Wreck-It Ralph
- Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
- Once Upon a Studio (2023)
- When Marnie Was There (2014) as Kiyomasa Oiwa
- Sing (2016) as Eddie
The Award-Nominated Tropes of John C. Reilly:
- The Cast Show Off: Many of his roles show off his singing abilities, and in some instances his musicianship as well. He is also a huge fan of clowning, and designed his own clown-face for the "Mr. Cellophane"-number in Chicago.
- Leslie Nielsen Syndrome: One of the few modern actors who regularly performs both drama and comedy and get away with it. A year after turning down a role in Anchorman to appear in The Aviator, he starred in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Later, his part in We Need to Talk About Kevin was filmed simultaneously with episodes Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule. And his first feature voice acting role prior to Wreck-It Ralph? #5 in 9. Lampshaded at the 2008 Oscars where Will Ferrell and Jack Black sang a song called "A Comedian At The Oscars," where they bemoan how
comedic actors don't win awards like dramatic actors before Reilly appears, encouraging them to have it both ways like he does. - One for the Money; One for the Art: While he says that he enjoys doing comedies like Step Brothers and Wreck-It Ralph, he also does them because they give him the financial security to do smaller, more personal projects like Cyrus, Carnage and Stan & Ollie. It's just another thing he and Will Ferrell have in common.
- Production Posse: In addition to being one of many performers whose career was launched by Brian De Palma, he's also a regular of Adam McKay, Judd Apatow, Tim & Eric and Paul Thomas Anderson.
- Romance on the Set: Met his wife while filming Casualties of War; she was Sean Penn's assistant at the time.
- Star-Making Role: He has had several, with each making him more popular in different demographics.
- Chicago was his first Oscar-nominated role, earning him some industry credibility.
- His films with Judd Apatow and Adam McKay, Walk Hard, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Step Brothers made him an in-demand comedic actor, with the latter two cementing him as one half of a comedy duo with Will Ferrell.
- And finally, Wreck-It Ralph made him a popular voice actor.
- Those Two Actors: He frequently co-stars with Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Sacha Baron Cohen or/and Will Ferrell.
- What Could Have Been
- He was originally slated for the role of Champ Kind in the first Anchorman, but he was busy working on The Aviator, so David Koechner replaced him.
- He was originally supposed to play Dr. Hector in Manderlay, but quit halfway through. While never conformed, rumor has it that he objected to Lars von Trier slaughtering a donkey for "dramatic purposes,"note which was obviously not going to go over well with a strict vegetarian like Reilly.
