Daniel Gillies

Daniel Gillies (born Daniel Joshua Gillies) is an actor and director. Gillies moved around as a child and spent time in both Canada and New Zealand. After deciding he wanted to pursue acting, he spent a brief stint in Sydney before moving to Los Angeles to audition for roles.

While in Australia, Gillies participated in multiple theater productions. In 2000, after a handful of minor screen roles, he landed his first recurring role on the drama Street Legal. Following his move to Los Angeles, the Canadian hit it big with his 2004 roles as John Jameson in Spider-Man 2 and as John Wickham in the rom-com Bride & Prejudice. He guest starred on TV shows such as Masters of Horror and NCIS.

In 2010, the actor signed on to The CW’s beloved teen drama The Vampire Diaries as Elijah Mikaelson. He quickly became a fan favorite on the show and reprised his role as a lead on spinoff The Originals from 2013 to 2018. Gillies later joined the cast of Netflix’s Virgin River as Mark Monroe. Some of his other notable works include Saving Hope and The Newsreader. He has also made a handful of film appearances, including in the 2020 action film Occupation: Rainfall.

In 2024, Gillies was announced as a member of the cast of The CW’s Sight Unseen where he plays the role of Jake Campbell.

In 2004, he wed actress Rachael Leigh Cook; the pair share two kids, daughter Charlotte (born in 2013) and son Theodore (born in 2015). The twosome announced their split in 2019, and their divorce was finalized in 2021. He began dating cellist Julia Misaki later that year.