Jessalyn Gilsig

Jessalyn Sarah Gilsig (born November 30, 1971) is a Canadian actress known for her roles in television series, e.g. as Lauren Davis in Boston Public, Gina Russo in Nip/Tuck, Terri Schuester in Glee, and as Siggy Haraldson on the History Channel series Vikings.
==Early life==
She was born on November 30, 1971 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the daughter of Claire, a writer and translator, and Toby Gilsig, an engineer. She began her acting in a voice work part at age 12 for a National Film Board of Canada production, Masquerade. Gilsig attended high school at Trafalgar School for Girls in downtown Montreal.
==Education==
Gilsig attended McGill University in Montreal, from 1989 to 1993, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1993. She later pursued her acting studies further at Harvard University's Institute for Advanced Theater Training.
==Career==
Gilsig began her career as a voice actress. She has done voices in the films Masquerade, and in The Journey Home, and for the television series The Little Flying Bears, Young Robin Hood, and Gulliver's Travels.
She moved to New York City in 1995 where she appeared in several off-Broadway plays. Although she had appeared in several Canadian productions in the late 1980s/early 1990s, her television career began during the late 1990s when she guest-starred in several television series, including Viper and Seven Days. However, it was her association with David E. Kelley that led to her starring role in Boston Public.
After guest-starring in two episodes of Kelley's The Practice, Gilsig was cast in two episodes of another Kelley program, the short-lived Snoops. Although the series was cancelled before Gilsig's episodes were broadcast, Kelley wrote the part of Lauren Davis in Boston Public specifically for her, a series that premiered in September 2000 on FOX; Gilsig would leave the series after the end of the second season in May 2002.
Following her departure from Boston Public, Gilsig joined the cast of Nip/Tuck in 2003 as Gina Russo, a role she continued until 2008. In 2004, she appeared in five episodes of NYPD Blue, followed by four episodes of FOX's Prison Break in 2005. In early 2006, she guest-starred in an episode of Law & Order.
In addition to her extensive credits in television and theatre, Gilsig has appeared in film, beginning with a small role in the 1998 film The Horse Whisperer. She then provided the speaking voice for Kayley in the animated film Quest for Camelot (1998), with Andrea Corr performing the character's songs. In 2004 she appeared in Chicks with Sticks, as well as See This Movie, and in one of the lead roles in the 2007 movie, Flood.
In 2007-2008 she had recurring roles in two television series, playing Shelley, the sister of Tami Taylor, on NBC's Friday Night Lights, and Claire Bennet's biological mother, Meredith Gordon, on Heroes. Gilsig went on to play the main role of Terri Schuester on the Fox show, Glee, from 2009-2011, with her character returning in the episode "Glee, Actually" in 2012.
In 2013, Gilsig was a series regular, portraying Siggy Haraldson, wife of Earl Haraldson and paramour of Ragnar Lothbrok's brother, Rollo, on the History Channel series Vikings until 2015.
==Filmography==
Film
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1984	Masquerade 	(voice) 	Short film
1989	 	 	Short film
1989	Jacknife 	His Girlfriend 	
1998	The Horse Whisperer	Lucy 	
1998	Quest for Camelot 	Kayley (voice) 	
2004	Chicks with Sticks 	Paula Taymore 	
2004	See This Movie 	Annie Nicole 	
2007	Flood 	Samantha 'Sam' Morrison	
2008	Prom Night 	Aunt Karen Turner 	
2009	 	Julie King 	
2011	About Fifty 	Jessica 	
2013	Somewhere Slow 	Anna Thompson 	
Television
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1991 	 	Tina (voice) 	TV series
1991–1992 	Young Robin Hood 	Gertrude of Griswald (voice)	26 episodes
1992 	Gulliver's Travels 	Folia (voice) 	TV series
1998 	To Have & to Hold 	Paula 	Episode: "Stuck in the Blizzard with You"
1998 	Viper 	Alyssa 	Episode: "Family Matters"
1999 	Seven Days 	Carla Boyles 	Episode: "Last Card Up"
1999 	 	RJ Shannon 	Episode: "The Real Deal"
1999 	 	Callie 	TV movie
1999 	 	ADA Jennifer 	Episode: "Loser's Keepers"Episode: "Victimless Crimes"
2000 	Snoops 	Suzanne Shivers 	Episode: "Swan Chant"Episode: "The Stolen Diskette"
2000–2002 	Boston Public 	Lauren Davis 	44 episodes
2002 	Haunted 	Elise Martin 	Episode: "Three Hour Tour"
2003 	Without a Trace 	Whitney Ridder 	Episode: "Confidence"
2003–2008 	Nip/Tuck 	Gina Russo 	17 episodes
2004 	NYPD Blue 	Det. Kelly Ronson 	5 episodes
2005 	Fathers and Sons 	Dianne (uncredited) 	TV movie
2005 	Prison Break 	Lisa Rix 	4 episodes
2006 	Law & Order 	Angela Burquette 	Episode: "Heart of Darkness"
2007 	Backyards & Bullets 	Eileen 	TV movie
2007 	Destination: Infestation	Dr. Carolyn Ross 	TV movie
2007–2008 	Friday Night Lights 	Shelley Hayes 	6 episodes
2007–2008 	Heroes 	Meredith Gordon 	10 episodes
2008 	 	Christine Rydell 	TV movie
2008 	CSI: NY 	Jordan Gates 	3 episodes
2008 	XIII 	Kim Rowland 	TV miniseries
2008–2009	Imaginary Bitches 	Jessalyn 	Episode: "A New Leper in the Colony"Episode: "Three Bitches Is an Imaginary Crowd (Part Two)"Episode: "Bitches Emmy Special"
2009–2012, 2015	Glee 	Terri Schuester 	Seasons 1-2 - Series Regular (Season 4 - Guest Star (1 episode, "Glee, Actually")Season 6 - Recurring (2 episodes, "2009" & "Dreams Come True")Glee Encore
2012 	Smart Cookies 	Julie Sterling 	TV movie
2013–2015 	Vikings 	Siggy 	Main cast
2013 	The Good Wife 	Janie Ludwig 	1 episode
2014 	Angels and Ornaments 	Corrine Stockton 	TV movie
2015 	Evil Men 	 	TV movie
==Personal life==
Gilsig met and briefly dated her future husband Bobby Salomon as a high school student - he was the football team quarterback she described as a "cool guy"; after Salomon, a film producer, moved to Hollywood in 2002, he and Gilsig renewed their friendship, began dating again, and married on January 1, 2005 in a traditional Jewish wedding (Gilsig being Jewish on her father's side). Gilsig and Salomon have a daughter, Penelope, born on September 26, 2006.
Gilsig filed for divorce from Salomon on September 8, 2010, citing irreconcilable differences, having been separated since 2009.
==Further reading==
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==References==
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Category:1971 births
Category:Actresses from Montreal
Category:Anglophone Quebec people
Category:Canadian child actresses
Category:Canadian film actresses
Category:Canadian television actresses
Category:Canadian voice actresses
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:Jewish Canadian actresses
Category:McGill University alumni
Category:Living people
Category:20th-century Canadian actresses
Category:21st-century Canadian actressesCategory:Pages stolen off Wikipedia