When Brad Pitt bolted at the last minute from "The Shawshank Redemption" to do "Legends of the Fall" (both 1994), his key supporting role went to little-known Gil Bellows, prompting the Canadian-born actor to say, "One day I'd like to meet him and shake his hand." Playing that petty thief with a penchant for knowledge who is murdered because he can clear Tim Robbins of murder put the handsome, broad-shouldered Bellows on Hollywood casting lists. He began acting in his native Canada in his late teens and appeared in a National Film Board of Canada feature "First Seasons". After acting classes in Los Angeles, Bellows headed to NYC where he acted in Off-Broadway productions of "True West" and "Beirut". While working on stage, he made his American TV debut in a 1991 episode of the NBC series "Law & Order", guest-starred in 1992 on the Fox sitcom "Flying Blind" and played an American trying to get into a Jamaican-based medical school in two episodes of the ABC series "Going to Extremes" in 1993.
Bellows' performance as an I Ching-tossing Texas crazy in "Love and a .45" (1994) helped him land the "Shawshank" role, after which he essayed leads as the mysterious recruit in the Showtime movie "The Silver Strand" and as the zoologist fiance of Sarah Jessica Parker in "Miami Rhapsody" (both 1995). Landing the role of Billy in David E Kelly's hot comedy-drama "Ally McBeal" (from 1997-2000), however, took his career to an entirely new level. Married to Georgia but still attached to old flame Ally, Billy by TV comedy standards is a multi-dimensional character with lots of room for growth during the coming years. Prior to the series, Bellows had worked in a flurry of small pictures, acting in Daniel Petrie's "The Assistant", renouncing corporate mediocrity for the eccentric Parker Posey and family in "Dinner at Fred's" and appearing as leader of the scruffy captor/saviors of Showtime's "Snow White: A Tale of Terror" (all 1997). Though being a series regular preempts a lot of feature opportunities, Bellows has worked during his breaks, playing opposite his wife Rya Kihlstedt in "Say You'll Be Mine" and appearing as a tech expert in "Judas Kiss" (both 1999).