Jessalyn Gilsig

Jessalyn Gilsig (born November 30, 1971) is a Canadian actress known for her roles in the television series Boston Public, Nip/Tuck and as Will Schuester's wife Terri Schuester in Glee. She has also appeared in several episodes of NYPD Blue, Prison Break, andHeroes as well as several other series.

Personal life

Gilsig was born in Montreal, Quebec, the daughter of Claire, a writer and translator, and Toby Gilsig, an engineer. She began acting at age 12. She attended high school at Trafalgar School for Girls in downtown Montreal. She later studied at Harvard University’s American Repertory Theater and attended McGill University from 1989 to 1993, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1993.

Gilsig first met Bobby Salomon when both were Montreal high school students. They briefly dated, with Gilsig commenting that Salomon was the "cool guy" and football team quarterback. After Salomon, now a film producer, moved to Hollywood in 2002, he and Gilsig renewed their friendship and began dating again. The pair wed on January 1, 2005. As Salomon is Jewishand Gilsig is Jewish on her father's side, the couple had a traditional Jewish wedding. 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. They had been separated since 2009.

Career

She began her career as a voice actress. She has done voices in the films Mascarade and The Journey Home and the television series The Little Flying Bears, Young Robin Hood and Gulliver's Travels.

In 1995, she moved to New York City where she appeared in several off-Broadway plays. Although she had appeared in several Canadianproductions 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-livedSnoops. Although the series was cancelled before Gilsig's episodes were broadcast, Kelley wrote the part of Lauren Davis in Boston Publicspecifically for her. The series premiered in September 2000 on FOX. Gilsig left the series after the end of the 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 her character was killed off in 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 also has some experience with films. She had a small role in the 1998 filmThe Horse Whisperer and provided the speaking voice for Kayley in the animated film Quest for Camelot (Andrea Corr performed the character's songs), also released in 1998. In 2004, she appeared in Chicks with Sticks as well as See This Movie.

Gilsig currently has recurring roles in three television series. On NBC she plays Shelley, the sister of Tami Taylor in Friday Night Lights as well as Claire Bennet's biological mother, Meredith Gordon, on Heroes. Gilsig plays the supporting role of Terri Schuester on the Fox showGlee. She appeared in one of the lead roles in the 2007 movie Flood.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Masacarade		Voice
1989	The Journey Home		Voice
	Jacknife	His Girlfriend
1990	The Little Flying Bears	Tina	Voice
1991	Young Robin Hood	Gertrude of Griswald	Voice
1992	Gulliver's Travels	Folia	Voice
1998	Quest for Camelot	Kayley	Voice
	The Horse Whisperer	Lucy, Annie's Assistant
2000	Boston Public	Lauren Davis	44 episodes, 2000–2003
2003	Without a Trace	Whitney Ridder	Episode: "Confidence"
	Nip/Tuck	Gina Russo	17 episodes, 2003–2008
2005	Prison Break	Lisa Rix	4 episodes
2007	Heroes	Meredith Gordon	10 episodes, 2007–2008
	Friday Night Lights	Shelley Hayes	6 episodes, 2007–2008
	Flood	Samantha "Sam" Morrison
	Destination: Infestation	Dr. Carolyn Ross
2008	XIII: The Conspiracy	Kim Rowland	2 episodes
	Prom Night	Aunt Karen Turner
	CSI: NY	Jordan Gates	3 episodes
2009–present	Glee	Terri Schuester	18 episodes (credited with 32) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
	The Stepfather	Julie King

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