Early life

Gillies was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. When he was five, his parents decided to return to their native New Zealand, and moved to Invercargill and then to Hamilton. Though born into a family of strong medical background (his father is a pediatrician, his mother a nurse, and his great-great-great-grandfather was the renowned ENT/plastic surgery pioneer Sir Harold Gillies), he became interested in acting and studied at theUnitec School of Performing Arts.

Frustrated with the lack of opportunities in New Zealand, he moved to Sydney, Australia for six weeks in 2001, before returning to his native Canada for two months, where he worked as a waiter and dishwasher until deciding to move to Los Angeles, USA.

Career

Gillies began his career starring in several Auckland Theatre Company productions, before landing a two season lead role in the television drama Street Legal. After realizing that his acting options in his native New Zealand were limited, Gillies explored his options in Sydney and Canada. Gillies then moved to Los Angeles and was soon cast in the movies Bride & Prejudice and Spider-Man 2.

Since 2002, Gillies has worked in Canadian and American film and television - at times simultaneously. Before landing lead roles in television series, Gillies landed guests spots on television shows such as Masters of Horror, NCIS, and True Blood. In 2010, he was cast on the hit The CW drama The Vampire Diaries as Elijah Mikaelson. In 2013, CW created a successful spin-off of The Vampire Diaries chronicling the lives of the first (aka "the Original") vampires. Gillies' once recurring part as Elijah from The Vampire Diaries became a lead part in The Originals. A potential nightmare existed for CW since Gillies was already under contract to play the playboy-ish Dr. Joel Goran in the supernatural series, Saving Hope. Saving Hope initially aired in the US on NBC, but the series was not renewed although it continued to run in Canada. He continued both shows. In 2012, Gillies wrote, directed and starred with his wife Rachel Leigh Cook in Broken Kingdom.

Personal life

Gillies married American actress Rachael Leigh Cook on 8 August 2004, after less than a year of dating. They have one daughter, Charlotte Easton Gillies (born 28 September 2013) and one son, Theodore Vigo Sullivan Gillies (born 4 April 2015).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Soldier's Sweetheart, AA Soldier's Sweetheart	Medic
2001	No One Can Hear You	Dirk Mettcalfe
2002	Various Positions	Marcel
2002	Snow Queen	Delfont Chalfont
2004	Spider-Man 2	John Jameson
2004	Trespassing aka Evil Remains	Mark
2004	Bride and Prejudice	Johnny Wickham
2006	Sensation of Sight, TheThe Sensation of Sight	Dylan
2007	Captivity	Gary Dexter
2007	Matters of Life and Death	Jimmy	Short film
2008	Uncross the Stars	Troy
2012	Broken Kingdom	Jason '80'	Also Director and Producer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Young Hercules	Antos	Episode: "My Fair Lilith"
2000	Cleopatra 2525	Hot Guy	Episode: "Mind Games"
2000-02	Street Legal	Tim O'Connor	TV series
2002	Mentors	King Arthur	Episode: "Once and Future King"
2002	Jeremiah	Simon	Episode: "The Long Road: Part 1"
2002	Snow Queen	Delfont Chalfont	TV movie
2005	Into the West	Ethan Biggs	TV miniseries
2007	Masters of Horror	Jack Miller	Episode: "Dream Cruise"
2010	Glades, TheThe Glades	Dave Rollins	Episode: "Doppelganger"
2010	True Blood	Jon	Episode: "I Smell a Rat"
2010	NCIS	Royal Marine Major Peter Malloy	Episode: "Royals & Loyals"
2010-14	Vampire Diaries, TheThe Vampire Diaries	Elijah Mikaelson	Recurring Role
2012-15	Saving Hope	Dr. Joel Goran	Lead role
2013-present	The Originals	Elijah Mikaelson	Lead role

[ Source: Wikipedia ]