Daniel Gillies

Daniel Gillies
Gillies at PaleyFest 2014 for The Originals
Born	(1976-03-14) 14 March 1976 (age 40) Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Nationality	New Zealand
Occupation	Actor, screenwriter, director, producer
Years active	1997–present
Spouse(s)	Rachael Leigh Cook (m. 2004)
Children	2

Daniel Gillies (born March 14, 1976) 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. He wrote and directed the 2012 film Broken Kingdom.

Gillies was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 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 returning to his native 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 Pride & Prejudice and Spider-Man 2.