Daniel Gillies

Daniel Gillies is a Canadian-born New Zealand actor. He is best known for his role as Elijah Mikaelson on the television series The Vampire Diaries and its spin-off The Originals, as well as Dr. Joel Goran on the Canadian series Saving Hope, a medical themed show with a mystical, paranormal twist. He wrote and directed the 2012 film Broken Kingdom.

Gillies was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to New Zealand parents. 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 because he said it was "the only thing I was ever any good at".

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

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 deciding 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 and 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 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 wife Rachael Leigh Cook in Broken Kingdom.

Gillies married American actress Rachael Leigh Cook on 8 August 2004. Together, they have a daughter, Charlotte born in September 2013, and a son, Theodore born in April 2015. In an interview in 2017, he revealed he took medical steps to prevent a third child being brought into the family citing concerns about his age and energy levels, "...no, that's the answer. I want to be able to give these two my love and my attention and my care. I would like to stop now." On 13 June 2019, both Cook and Gillies announced on Instagram that they mutually decided to separate and they also said that they wanted it to be as discreet as possible for the sake of their kids.