Bellows also earned critical acclaim for his stage performances in The Snake and the Vein (1990–1992), Flaubert's Latest (1992), and his first starring role in Love and a .45 (1994).

On television, Bellows is best known for playing Billy Thomas, the romantic lead in the popular Fox ’s legal dramedy series Ally McBeal (1997–2002).

Bellows was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and attended Magee Secondary School with fellow future actor Carrie-Anne Moss.

After graduation, he pursued a career in acting, studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, California.

In 1990, he earned notice for his performance in a one-act play by Alan Bowne, A Snake in the Vein, with The New York Times writing: "Mr. Bellows is physically magnetic as the boy who believes he is tougher than he is and whose sense of bravado is so pathetically susceptible to manipulation.

In 1994, Bellows played the pivotal role of Tommy in Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.

[11] Also that year, he played his first lead role as Watty Watt, a holdup artist on the run in the indie crime drama Love and a .45 with Renée Zellweger.

"[12] In 1995, Bellows played one of the leads in J. S. Cardone's crime thriller Black Day Blue Night, alongside Michelle Forbes and Mia Sara.

"[20] Also that year, he co-starred opposite Sarah Jessica Parker in the romantic comedy Miami Rhapsody directed by David Frankel.

In his review of the film, Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave it an A- and wrote that "the cast is uniformly fetching.

[23] The film had an ensemble cast which included Ron Rifkin, Sarah Jessica Parker, Timothy Hutton, Tony Goldwyn, and more.

Ella Taylor in her review for LA Weekly said of the cast that they were "so comfortable around one another that they breathe rich life into the often glib one-liners that are the hazard of theatrical dialogue.

[27] In 1997, Bellows played Billy Thomas, the former flame of the title character in Ally McBeal, opposite Calista Flockhart.

[29] After two years, for the episode when the character of McBeal and Thomas finally unite the show reached a record number of viewership according to the Nielsen rating system of nearly 17 million viewers.

There are a lot of other characters on the show who can be considered flashier or more funny but I don't think there's a story line that's more compelling than Billy and Ally.

I think their relationship anchors Ally as a human being as opposed to her character as a wacky figment of (producer David E.) Kelley's imagination.

[31][32][33] During his tenure on the show he reprised his role in the spin-off series Ally (1999),[34] and "Axe Murderer" a crossover episode withThe Practice (1998).

At the end of the first season, Bellows was dissatisfied with the direction of the story,* and chose to leave the show after a mutual agreement with the producers.

[57] On television, he played roles in A Bear Named Winnie,[58] Cooking Lessons, Zeyda and the Hitman,[59] and one episode of Karen Sisco.

[60] 2005 in films, Bellows played the lead in Keep Your Distance,[61] co-produced Ali Selim's Sweet Land,[62] and acted in Gore Verbinski's The Weather Man.

"[65] At the Gemini Awards, Bellows received a nomination for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role".

In 2010, Bellows co-starred in the movie Unthinkable,[74] A Night for Dying Tigers,[75] and played the lead villain in Steve Austin's action film Hunt to Kill.

On television that year, Bellows had a recurring role in FlashForward,[76] True Justice, and appeared as Maxwell Lord on Smallville in the Season 9 episodes "Charade" and "Hostage".

[77][78] He also played roles in the television film Goblin,[79] and one episode of Criminal Minds, Also that year, as an executive producer, he released Mick Jackson’s HBO biographical drama Temple Grandin, which earned him both a Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Made for Television Movie" and a Peabody Award.

[82] !n 2011, he co-starred in the films The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom,[83] Girl Walks into a Bar,[84] and The Maiden Danced to Death.

[101] From 2015 to 2018, he had a recurring role as Lawrence Lacroix, on Patriot, the Amazon Prime Video series of which he was also the executive producer and received story credits.

David Wiegand of SFGate described it as "a competent procedural with well-drawn characters", and that Bellows and Nicholson gave "solid performances.

[115] Clark Collis of Entertainment Weekly wrote that it was "blessed with some firm hands on the terror tiller and a winning cast, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a handsome, and deliciously horrible, horror movie.

[120] In 2021, Bellows appeared in several episodes of the series American Gods,[121][additional citation(s) needed], was part of the main cast of the mini-series V.C.

[123] In 2022, Bellows played Gerald Chatham in the critically acclaimed mini-series Women of the Movement, based on the true story of Emmett Till.