Jessalyn Gilsig

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.

• Born:
  in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Painter

Family

• Father: Toby Gilsig. born c. 1941
• Mother: Clare Gilsig. born c. 1941
• Sister: Deborah Gilsig. born c. 1968; trains 911 operators in Montreal

Significant Others

• Companion: . worked as assistant director in the 1996 Broadway revival of The King and I

Education

• McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1993
• Institute of Advanced Theater Training, American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts, drama

Milestones

• 1984 Lent her voice to the Co Hoedeman animated short Masquerade , produced by the National Film Board of Canada
• 1989 Acted in the National Film Board of Canada short The Journey Home
• 1989 Had early feature film credit with a cameo in Jacknife , starring Robert De Niro
• 1991 Had early TV voice-over credits on the syndicated animated series Young Robin Hood
• 1994 Featured in the American Repertory Theatre production of the Aeschylus trilogy The Orestia
• 1995 Headed back to Cambridge, Massachusetts to work in the professional company at the American Repertory Theatre; the company s policy to not hire former student less than one year after graduation was changed in order to bring her on board
• 1995 Moved to NYC after graduation
• 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 Gun-Shy , playing a neurotic anorexic with a fixation on married men
• 1998 Guest starred on an episode of the syndicated series Viper
• 1998 Had a supporting role in the romance feature The Horse Whisperer
• 1998 Voiced the character of Kayley in Quest for Camelot , bringing to life the little girl who wishes to be a knight in King Arthur s court
• 1999 Featured as Sally Field s estranged daughter in A Cooler Climate , premiered on Showtime
• 1999 Guested on episodes of the UPN series The Sentinel and 7 Days
• 1999 Had a two episode recurring role on The Practice , playing Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Liner
• 1999 Impressed with her performance on his series The Practice , David E Kelley tapped her to replace departing star Paula Marshall on the spy series Snoops (ABC), but the show was cancelled before she could appear in any episodes
• 1999 Played the young incarnation of Julie Harris Annalise in a the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center (Nyack, New York) production of Scent of the Roses
• 2000 Starred as teacher Lauren Davis, the dedicated head of the history department, in Kelley s controversial high school-set drama Boston Public (Fox)
• 2004 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 NYPD Blue, for five episodes as a new detective
• 2006 Cast in See This Movie, a mockumentary about a documentary filmmaker making a movie for the 2003 Montreal Film Festival
• Attended the Harvard University-sponsored Institute of Advance Theater Training at the American Repertory Theatre
• Began acting at age 12
• Raised in Montreal, Canada
• Trained as a painter before switching focus to acting