Jessalyn Gilsig began acting at age twelve while living in Montreal. She later honed her talents at Harvard University's prestigious American Repertory Theatre and graduated with a degree in English from McGill University. This Canadian actress was born in Quebec in 1971, to a writer and an engineer.
In 1995, Jessalyn Gilsig moved to New York City where she began appearing in several off-Broadway plays. Although she had roles 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. Later on, she met producer David E. Kelley. Their friendship blossomed and Gilsig landed a starring role in his series Boston Public. She soon became a guest star on Kelley’s The Practice, and was also cast in the short-lived Snoops. Gilsig left Boston Public in May 2002, and soon joined the cast of the series Nip/Tuck. Her role was the troubled and bitter HIV positive sex addict, Gina Russo. Her character was killed off in 2008, but Gilsig continued her career and moved on. Her other appearances include five episodes of NYPD Blue in 2004, which was followed by a part on the FOX Network’s Prison Break in 2005. On the early months of the next year, Gilsig found herself on a guest spot in a Law & Order episode. Her television career has also enabled her to win roles in feature films. In 1998, she was seen as Lucy in the movie The Horse Whisperer. She also became known for lending her voice to the character Kayley in the animated film Quest for Camelot. In 20004, Gilsig was cast in the sport drama film Chicks with Sticks, as well as the comedy See This Movie starring John Cho and Seth Myers. She later worked with NBC for roles in the series Friday Night Lights, as well as on the hit drama Heroes. She plays the sister of Tami Taylor in the former and the mother of the character Claire Bennett in the latter. Gilsig later landed one of the lead roles in the 2007 movie Flood.