Known as the hunky on- and off- lawyer and paramour to Ally McBeal in the late 1990s, he is probably best remembered in films for his smallish, breakthrough role as an ill-fated inmate in The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Bellows got the part after Brad Pitt passed on it to do the lead in Legends of the Fall (1994).
First met his Ally McBeal (1997) co-star, Calista Flockhart, when they were both theater actors in New York. He used to sit across from her at play readings.
Met his wife, actress Rya Kihlstedt in 1991 when they were working at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Gil and wife Rya had a 2nd child, a son named Giovanni, in December 2001.
He is a member of the Act One Repertory Company of the prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts.