Bellows' performance as an I Ching-tossing Texas crazy in "Love and a .45" (1994) helped him land the "Shawshank" role, after which he essayed leads as the mysterious recruit in the Showtime movie "The Silver Strand" and as the zoologist fiance of Sarah Jessica Parker in "Miami Rhapsody" (both 1995). Landing the role of Billy in David E Kelly's hot comedy-drama "Ally McBeal" (from 1997-2000), however, took his career to an entirely new level. Married to Georgia but still attached to old flame Ally, Billy by TV comedy standards is a multi-dimensional character with lots of room for growth during the coming years. Prior to the series, Bellows had worked in a flurry of small pictures, acting in Daniel Petrie's "The Assistant", renouncing corporate mediocrity for the eccentric Parker Posey and family in "Dinner at Fred's" and appearing as leader of the scruffy captor/saviors of Showtime's "Snow White: A Tale of Terror" (all 1997). Though being a series regular preempts a lot of feature opportunities, Bellows has worked during his breaks, playing opposite his wife Rya Kihlstedt in "Say You'll Be Mine" and appearing as a tech expert in "Judas Kiss" (both 1999).