| Gil Bellows gained attention among filmgoers and critics for his portrayal of an inmate with a penchant for knowledge in the critically lauded The Shawshank Redemption, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Shortly after, Bellows won the hearts of moviegoers when he appeared opposite Sarah Jessica Parker in Miami Rhapsody. Other film credits include Chasing Sleep, with Jeff Daniels; Beautiful Joe, opposite Sharon Stone; Love and a .45; The Substance of Fire; Richard III, directed by Al Pacino; The Assistant, with Joan Plowright and Armand Mueller-stahl; Dinner at Fred's, with Parker Posey; and Judas Kiss, with Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman. Bellows starred in the series The Agency and in the popular Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning series Ally McBeal and can next be seen in First to Die for NBC. He had a recurring part on the Josh Brand-created series Going to Extremes and starred in the telefilms Radiant City, opposite Kirstie Alley; Snow White: Tale of Terror, with Sigourney Weaver; and Showtime's White Wash.
Bellows has appeared on stage in an off-Broadway production of A Snake in the Vein and in the Playwrights Horizon production of Flaubert's Latest and Best of Schools. He is a founding member of the Seraphim Theater Company in New York, for which he starred in True West, Road, and The User's Waltz. He was also a member of the Act One Repertory Company of the prestigious Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts. This past year, Bellows founded Cygnus, an international institute for emerging filmmakers.
The Canadian-born Bellows developed an interest in acting at age 18 when he auditioned for and was accepted into The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. After graduating, Bellows stayed in Los Angeles, where, ironically, the first movie work he found was a role in the National Film Board of Canada production of The First Season.
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