Who Is Daniel Gillies, AKA Mark on ‘Virgin River’?

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Published Dec 15, 2020

*Warning: Spoilers ahead*

As we impatiently await any news on a potential third season of Virgin River, we’ve been looking for more ways to pass the time. The result? Extensive research on each and every character from the hit Netflix series. So, we recently decided to do a deep dive into the actor who plays Mark. Turns out, his name is Daniel Gillies and he has a pretty extensive resume. Not to mention, he’s also married to a fairly famous actress.

Read on for everything we know about Daniel Gillies.

1. Who Is Daniel Gillies?

Daniel Gillies is a Canadian-born New Zealand actor best known for his roles as Elijah Mikaelson on the television series The Vampire Diaries (and its spin-off The Originals) as well as Dr. Joel Goran on the Canadian series Saving Hope.

Although he came from a family of mostly doctors (his mother was a nurse and his father a pediatrician), Gillies had a knack for performing from a young age. After completing his early education, he studied Performing and Screen Arts at Unitec, Auckland. The 44-year-old actually began his work in theater and even won a Chapman-Tripp Theatre award for Best Actor for his role as Jimmy Sullivan in The Godboy.

As for his private life, Gillies is married to fellow actor Rachel Leigh Cook (She’s All That) with whom he currently lives in Los Angeles and Atlanta. The couple, who wed in 2004, share two children together, Charlotte Easton (7) and Theodore Vigo Sullivan (5).

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2. What Else Has He Been In?

He actually has quite an impressive resume in both TV and film. One of his first roles in the U.S. was actually as John Jameson in Spider-Man 2.

According to his website, Gillies has appeared in the films Uncross the Stars, Bride and Prejudice and The Sensation of Sight. The actor has also made appearances on television shows such as Masters of Horror, NCIS, The Glades and True Blood.

As we mentioned above, Gillies had a recurring role on The CW drama The Vampire Diaries as the original bloodsucker Elijah Mikaelson starting in 2010. The series even developed its own spin-off drama, The Originals, in which Gillies also starred.

In 2012, the father of two landed the lead role of Dr. Joel Goranin in the Canadian supernatural medical series Saving Hope. He also currently stars as Mark on one of our favorite Netflix shows, Virgin River.

3. What Is ‘virgin River’?

Virgin River is a drama series currently streaming two seasons on Netflix.

The first season of the popular series tells the story of Mel Monroe, a woman who travels to the remote California town of Virgin River to try and start a new life. She quickly realizes that small town living isn't quite as simple as she expected and she soon learns that her past secrets are hard to keep buried.

The second season picked up where season one ended: when Mel learned that Jack and Charmaine were expecting a child and she packed her bags to leave. However, her voyage didn’t go according to plan and she returned to Virgin River, realizing she must learn to come to terms with herself and her past before she can truly make this her home.

Aside from Gillies, the series also stars Colin Lawrence (John ‘Preacher’ Middleton), Benjamin Hollingsworth (Brady), Martin Henderson (Jack Sheridan), Alexandra Breckenridge (Mel), Jenny Cooper (Joey Barnes), Lauren Hammersley (Charmaine Roberts), Annette O’Toole (Hope McCrea), Tim Matheson (Vernon) and Melinda Dahl (Staci).

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Alexandra Hough

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