Early life

Gilsig was born on November 30, 1971 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the daughter of Claire, a writer and translator, and Toby Gilsig, an engineer. She began her acting in a voice work part at age 12 for a National Film Board of Canada production, Masquerade. Gilsig attended high school at Trafalgar School for Girls in downtown Montreal.

Education

Gilsig attended McGill University in Montreal, from 1989 to 1993, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1993. She later pursued her acting studies further at Harvard University's Institute for Advanced Theater Training.

Career

Gilsig began her career as a voice actress. She has done voices in the films Masquerade, and in The Journey Home, and for the television series The Little Flying Bears, Young Robin Hood, and Gulliver's Travels.

She moved to New York City in 1995 where she appeared in several off-Broadway plays. Although she had appeared in several Canadian productions in the late 1980s/early 1990s, her television career began during the late 1990s when she guest-starred in several television series, including Viper and Seven Days. However, it was her association with David E. Kelley that led to her starring role in Boston Public.

After guest-starring in two episodes of Kelley's The Practice, Gilsig was cast in two episodes of another Kelley program, the short-lived Snoops. Although the series was cancelled before Gilsig's episodes were broadcast, Kelley wrote the part of Lauren Davis in Boston Public specifically for her, a series that premiered in September 2000 on FOX; Gilsig would leave the series after the end of the second season in May 2002.

Following her departure from Boston Public, Gilsig joined the cast of Nip/Tuck in 2003 as Gina Russo, a role she continued until 2008. In 2004, she appeared in five episodes of NYPD Blue, followed by four episodes of FOX's Prison Break in 2005. In early 2006, she guest-starred in an episode of Law & Order.

In addition to her extensive credits in television and theatre, Gilsig has appeared in film, beginning with a small role in the 1998 film The Horse Whisperer. She then provided the speaking voice for Kayley in the animated film Quest for Camelot (1998), with Andrea Corr performing the character's songs. In 2004 she appeared in Chicks with Sticks, as well as See This Movie, and in one of the lead roles in the 2007 movie, Flood.

In 2007-2008 she had recurring roles in two television series, playing Shelley, the sister of Tami Taylor, on NBC's Friday Night Lights, and Claire Bennet's biological mother, Meredith Gordon, on Heroes. Gilsig went on to play the main role of Terri Schuester on the Fox show, Glee, from 2009-2011, with her character returning in the episode "Glee, Actually" in 2012.

In 2013, Gilsig was a series regular, portraying Siggy Haraldson, wife of Earl Haraldson and paramour of Ragnar Lothbrok's brother, Rollo, on the History Channel series Vikings until 2015 when her character was killed off.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Masquerade	(voice)	Short film
1989	Journey Home, TheThe Journey Home		Short film
	Jacknife	His Girlfriend
1998	The Horse Whisperer	Lucy
	Quest for Camelot	Kayley (voice)
2004	Chicks with Sticks	Paula Taymore
	See This Movie	Annie Nicole
2007	Flood	Samantha 'Sam' Morrison
2008	Prom Night	Aunt Karen Turner
2009	Stepfather, TheThe Stepfather	Julie King
2011	About Fifty	Jessica
2013	Somewhere Slow	Anna Thompson

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Little Flying Bears, TheThe Little Flying Bears	Tina (voice)	TV series
1991-1992	Young Robin Hood	Gertrude of Griswald (voice)	26 episodes
1992	Gulliver's Travels	Folia (voice)	TV series
1998	To Have & to Hold	Paula	Episode: "Stuck in the Blizzard with You"
	Viper	Alyssa	Episode: "Family Matters"
1999	Seven Days	Carla Boyles	Episode: "Last Card Up"
	Sentinel, TheThe Sentinel	RJ Shannon	Episode: "The Real Deal"
	Cooler Climate, AA Cooler Climate	Callie	TV movie
	Practice, TheThe Practice	ADA Jennifer	Episode: "Loser's Keepers" Episode: "Victimless Crimes"
2000	Snoops	Suzanne Shivers	Episode: "Swan Chant" Episode: "The Stolen Diskette"
2000-2002	Boston Public	Lauren Davis	44 episodes
2002	Haunted	Elise Martin	Episode: "Three Hour Tour"
2003	Without a Trace	Whitney Ridder	Episode: "Confidence"
2003-2008	Nip/Tuck	Gina Russo	17 episodes
2004	NYPD Blue	Det. Kelly Ronson	5 episodes
2005	Fathers and Sons	Dianne (uncredited)	TV movie
	Prison Break	Lisa Rix	4 episodes
2006	Law & Order	Angela Burquette	Episode: "Heart of Darkness"
2007	Backyards & Bullets	Eileen	TV movie
	Destination: Infestation	Dr. Carolyn Ross	TV movie
2007-2008	Friday Night Lights	Shelley Hayes	6 episodes
	Heroes	Meredith Gordon	10 episodes
2008	Apostles, TheThe Apostles	Christine Rydell	TV movie
	CSI: NY	Jordan Gates	3 episodes
	XIII	Kim Rowland	TV miniseries
2008-2009	Imaginary Bitches	Jessalyn	Episode: "A New Leper in the Colony" Episode: "Three Bitches Is an Imaginary Crowd (Part Two)" Episode: "Bitches Emmy Special"
2009-2012 , 2015	Glee	Terri Schuester	Seasons 1-2 - Series Regular ( Season 4 - Guest Star (1 episode, "Glee, Actually") Season 6 - Recurring (2 episodes, "2009" & "Dreams Come True") Glee Encore
2012	Smart Cookies	Julie Sterling	TV movie
2013-2015	Vikings	Siggy	Main cast
2013	The Good Wife	Janie Ludwig	1 episode
2014	Angels and Ornaments	Corrine Stockton	TV movie
2015	Evil Men		TV movie

Personal life

Gilsig met and briefly dated her future husband Bobby Salomon as a high school student - he was the football team quarterback she described as a "cool guy"; after Salomon, a film producer, moved to Hollywood in 2002, he and Gilsig renewed their friendship, began dating again, and married on January 1, 2005 in a traditional Jewish wedding (Gilsig being Jewish on her father's side). Gilsig and Salomon have a daughter, Penelope, born on September 26, 2006.

Gilsig filed for divorce from Salomon on September 8, 2010, citing irreconcilable differences, having been separated since 2009.

Further reading

• Rohan, Virginia (2001). "Gilsig Goes 'Public' And Grapples With Racism". Chicago Tribune (online, February 6): 8 (print). Retrieved 27 October 2015.
• Stebbins, Sarah (2005). "School Ties". InStyle (Special Issue, July 4): 272f (print). Retrieved 27 October 2015.
• Anon. (2015). "Jessalyn Gilsig—Actor, Painter". Hollywood.com (online). Retrieved 27 October 2015.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]