Daniel Gillies

Daniel Joshua Gillies (born 14 March 1976) is a Canadian-born New Zealand actor, film producer, director and screenwriter. He played the role of Elijah Mikaelson on the television series The Vampire Diaries and its spin-off The Originals but most importantly he is known for his iconic role of John Jameson in Spider-Man 2. As well as Dr. Joel Goran on the Canadian series Saving Hope, a medical-themed show with a mystical, paranormal twist. He wrote and directed the 2012 film, Broken Kingdom.

Gillies was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to parents from New Zealand. When he was five, his parents decided to return to their native New Zealand, and moved to Invercargill and then to Hamilton. Though born into a family of strong medical background (his father is a pediatrician, his mother a nurse, and his great-great-great-grandfather was the renowned ENT/plastic surgery pioneer Sir Harold Gillies), he became interested in acting because he said it was “the only thing I was ever any good at”