President Garrett Walker on Netflix 'House of Cards'

Michel Gill | Biography

Set to appear as Chris Holmes 'The Dropout' on Hulu

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Update : April 28, 2022

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Michel Gill is an American actor best known as President Garrett Walker in the Netflix political thriller series House of Cards.

Who is Michel Gill?

Michel Gill was born on 16 April 1960 in New York City, USA. He has three siblings – sisters Kitty Gill, Nina Gill, and Natasha Gill

After graduating from Aiglon College in 1978, he studied Languages/International Diplomacy at Tufts University. He also attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1980 before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater from The Juilliard School in 1985. While at The Juilliard School, he won the 'Joseph Papp Stage Combat Award' in 1984.

Gill initially rose to prominence after playing President Garrett Walker on House of Cards (2013). His other notable television series credits included Ray Donovan (2013), Mr. Robot (2015), The Get Down (2016), and The Gilded Age (2022).

Career as an Actor

Gill has been an actor since his childhood. He began his professional career as an actor appearing in a bit uncredited part as a college boy in the 1984 comedy film Protocol. He later appeared in films like The Palermo Connection (1990), Condemned (2015), and Patient 001 (2019). 

Though having some film credits, Gill primarily gained recognition as a television actor. He made guest appearances in multiple television series in the 1990s and 2000s before landing his breakout role as President Garrett Walker in the Netflix series House of Cards. He appeared in the series from 2013 to 2017. 

According to The New York Post, Gill had mostly been happy with his career as a stage actor until he rose to prominence with his House of Cards role. Gill told The Post in 2014 that he was grateful to the series’ executive producers Kevin Spacey and David Fincher for awarding him the role of President Garrett Walker. 

“They’ve changed my life. Every now and then I feel like writing a little e-mail to David, Bo and Kevin, saying, ‘Thank you.’ Everything that’s happening, whether I get a job or not, it’s changed the way that I look at this business, the way I work, the way I prepare. It’s been a really, really great ride,” Gill said.

According to Gill, Spacey told him that he was cast in the role because Spacey wanted an unfamiliar face, and his background also became advantageous over other theater actors.

Portraying the role of a president on House of Cards was a suitable role for Gill, who described himself as “a bit of a political junkie.” In an interview with Dr. Nancy Berk for her iTunes podcast Whine At 9, Gill said he had been obsessed with presidential behavior his whole life.

He said he was called Michel for the first couple of weeks, but Fincher suddenly started calling him Mr. President following the inauguration shoot of the series. Subsequently, everybody on set would start calling him the same, which he believed to be helpful from an actor’s point of view. He also shared an incident of a stranger calling him Mr. President at Whole Foods.

Gill also notably appeared as Gideon Goddard in the USA Network thriller crime drama series Mr. Robot from 2015 to 2017. In addition, he appeared as Mr. Gunns in the Netflix musical drama series The Get Down from 2016 to 2017. 

In 2017, the actor appeared as Doug Landry in the Showtime crime drama series Ray Donovan. The following year, he played the role of Robert Haywood in the NBC medical drama series Chicago Med.

Gill is presently playing the recurring role of Patrick Morris in the HBO historical drama series The Gilded Age. Patrick Morris is a banker and New York City alderman who is forced to cope with a swiftly increasing class of new wealthy elites. Created by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, The Gilded Age is set in the boom years of 1880s New York City, and it features extensive shots of the city’s historic mansions. The series premiered on 24 January 2022.

In addition, he will appear as Chris Holmes in the upcoming biographical drama miniseries The Dropout, set to premiere on 3 March 2022 on Hulu. The Dropout chronicles the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes (played by Amanda Seyfried) as the founder of the blood-testing startup called Theranos. Gill portrays the role of Holmes’ father, who himself had a rough history as a former vice president of the scandal-plagued Enron.

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Wife

The House of Cards actor is married to his wife, Jayne Atkinson. His wife is a stage, television, and film actress born on 18 February 1959 in Bournemouth, Dorset. She was nominated for Broadway's 'Tony Award' twice for 'Best Actress (Play) — one for her portrayal of Lizzie in a revival of The Rainmaker in 2002 and the second for her performance of Lottie Wilton in Enchanted April in 2003. 

She is famous for her appearances in films like Free Willy (1993) as Annie Greenwood and The Village (2004) as Tabitha Walker. She is also known for her roles in television series like 24 (2001) as FBI agent Karen Hayes and Criminal Minds (2005) as BAU section chief Erin Strauss. 

The actress co-starred with her husband on House of Cards (2013), portraying the role of Secretary of State, Catherine Durant. In an interview with The New York Post in March 2014, Gill revealed that the series’ executive producers and other cast members initially didn’t know that he and Atkinson were husband and wife. 

“I had four auditions. All on tape. Never met Kevin, never met David [Fincher]. We both got it within four or five days of each other. And then towards the end [of the audition process], they realized we were married. When we got to set none of the cast knew we were married,” Gill said.

Getting a job on House of Cards became a family affair for him as his wife was also cast in the series, which allowed them to stay together on the same set.

Most recently, his wife appeared in the television series Carice (2021) as Ruth Martin.

Gill met Atkinson at the 1989 production of The Heiress at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, Connecticut. He told The New York Post that they “quickly had a connection that they could not act upon at the time.” Atkinson was dating another person at that time. However, the connection between Gill and Atkinson remained strong when the two met again a year later at a production of As You Like It at the Old Globe in San Diego, California, and they fell deeply in love.

Despite having strong feelings for each other, Gill and Atkinson couldn’t start their relationship because both of them were involved with other people at the time. However, they finally began dating in 1992 and then tied the knot on 3 October 1998.

The couple has one child together. Gill lives in Berkshire with his wife and their son, Jeremy. 

Family

Gill is a first-generation American born to Nadine (née Racine) and James Vladimir Gill. His parents narrowly escaped the Holocaust in the early 1940s. Before moving to the United States, they lived in Moscow, Odesa, and Kyiv. His father lived in Switzerland until he died in 1995. 

Gill has three sisters named Nina, Kitty, and Natasha.