Jessalyn Gilsig
About
Biography
Biography
A pretty, honey blonde Canadian import with extensive United States theater credits, Jessalyn Gilsig launched her career as a David E Kelley protege of sorts, guesting on "The Practice" (ABC), winning a never-to-be-seen regular role on his doomed spy series "Snoops" (ABC) and starring on his controversial high school-set drama "Boston Public" (Fox) in a role written with her in mind. Born and raised in Montreal, the actress got her start in voice-over work at age 12, bringing life to animator Co Hoedeman's "Masquerade" for the National Film Board of Canada in 1984. She was featured in 1989's "The Journey Home", another Film Board production, and had a cameo in the romantic drama "Jacknife" starring Robert De Niro that same year.
A graduate of Montreal's McGill University, Gilsig headed south to Massachusetts where she excelled in the Harvard University-sponsored Institute of Advanced Theater Training at the American Repertory Theatre (ART). Completing her two-year course in 1995, the actress headed to NYC, but soon returned to Cambridge when the theater bucked policy and hired the actress for their professional theater though she was a new graduate. With ART she starred as Miranda in "The Tempest" (1995) and was featured in Moliere's "Tartuffe" (1996), and evinced a well-rounded spirit of both feminine nurturing and feminist strength in her portrayals. Returning to Manhattan, she was featured on stage in the Primary Stages production "Mere Mortals and Others" (1997) and co-starred in 1998's "Gun-Shy", a presentation at Playwrights Horizons. 1998 also saw her take on a lead voice role in the animated feature "Quest for Camelot", playing a young female hero, a girl who dreams of following in the footsteps of her father and serving as a noble knight of King Arthur's court.
More TV guest work followed for the actress, who had a role in the syndicated series "Viper" in 1998, and was featured on episodes of UPN's "The Sentinel" and "7 Days" the next year. 1999 also saw her begin her alliance with David E Kelley, when she played Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Liner on two memorably disturbing episodes of "The Practice". Her performance led to a part replacing Paula Marshall on "Snoops", but before Gilsig's character could hit screens, the series was cancelled. Keeping the bright hopeful in mind, Kelley began work on "Boston Public" and wrote the idealistic social studies teacher Lauren Davis for the actress. "Boston Public" was a controversial show that kept the industry buzzing, and the actress admirably rose to the challenge of portraying the optimistic but frazzled Ms. Davis, showing both her commitment and frustration, her dedication and her increasingly shaky idealism. Gilsig's next major role came on the edgy plastic surgery drama "Nip/Tuck" (FX 2003-2010) as sex addict Gina Russo. Gilsig was a regular on "Glee" (Fox 2009-15) for its first two seasons, playing Terri, the unfaithful wife of teacher Mark Schuester. This was followed by a leading role on "Vikings" (History 2013- ), a historical drama that was the first scripted series made for The History Channel.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Art Department (Feature Film)
Special Thanks (Feature Film)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1984
Landed her first role as the voice of a puppet in "Masquerade," an animated short produced by the National Film Board of Canada
1989
Had early feature film credit with a cameo in "Jacknife," starring Robert De Niro in the title role
1989
Acted in the National Film Board of Canada short, "The Journey Home"
1991
Had early TV voice-over credit on the syndicated series, "Young Robin Hood"
1994
Featured in the American Repertory Theatre production of the Aeschylus trilogy, "The Orestia"
1995
Moved to New York City
1995
With American Repertory Theatre, co-starred as Miranda in "The Tempest"
1996
Featured in the American Repertory Theatre production of Moliere's "Tartuffe"
1997
Had early New York stage credit with "Mere Mortals and Others," a collection of six one-act plays produced at Primary Stages
1998
Co-starred in the Playwrights Horizons presentation of "Gun-Shy," as a neurotic anorexic with a fixation on married men
1998
Had a supporting role in the drama feature, "The Horse Whisperer"
1998
Voiced the character of Kayley in "Quest for Camelot"
1999
Had a two episode recurring role on "The Practice," playing Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Liner
1999
Featured as Sally Field's estranged daughter in "A Cooler Climate", premiered on Showtime
1999
Set to replace departing star Paula Marshall on the David E. Kelley spy series, "Snoops" (ABC), show was cancelled before her episodes were aired
2000
Cast as teacher Lauren Davis, the head of the history department, in David E. Kelley's high school-set drama, "Boston Public" (FOX)
2003
Cast as the conning sex-addicted love interest of Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) on the F/X drama, "Nip/Tuck"
2004
Joined the cast of ABC's "NYPD Blue," for five episodes as a new detective
2005
Appeared in four episodes of "Prison Break" (FOX)
2006
Co-starred in "See This Movie," a "mockumentary" about a documentary filmmaker making a movie for the 2003 Montreal Film Festival
2007
Cast as Claire Bennet's biological mother, Meredith Gordon, on NBC's "Heroes"
2007
Played Shelley, the sister of Tami Taylor, in NBC's "Friday Night Lights"
2009
Cast in the supporting role of Terri Schuester on the FOX series, "Glee"
Family
