| Chris O'Donnell | |
| Birth Name: | Christopher Eugene O'Donnell |
| Birth Date: | 26 June 1970 |
| Birth Place: | Winnetka, Illinois, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | Boston College (BS) |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 1986–present |
| Children: | 5 |
Christopher Eugene O'Donnell (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor who performs in film and television.
He has played numerous roles since Charlie Sims in Scent of a Woman. Others include Chris Reece in School Ties, D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers, Jack Foley in the drama film Circle of Friends, Dick Grayson/Robin in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, Jason Brown in Robert Altman's Cookie's Fortune, Peter Garrett in Vertical Limit, and Wardell Pomeroy in Kinsey.
O'Donnell also starred as Special Agent G. Callen on the CBS crime drama television series , a spin-off of NCIS from September 2009 to May 2023.
O'Donnell was born in the Chicago suburb of Winnetka, Illinois, the son of Julie Ann Rohs von Brecht and William Charles O'Donnell Sr., a general manager of WBBM-AM.[1] [2] He is the youngest of seven children, with four sisters and two brothers, and is of German and Irish descent.[3] [4] O'Donnell was raised in a Catholic family and attended Catholic schools.[5] He graduated from Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois in 1988.[6] [7]
O'Donnell attended Boston College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in marketing in 1992.[8] [9] He had begun modeling at the age of 13 so was comfortable in front of cameras, and also had already made commercials.[10] [9]
O'Donnell had already appeared in numerous commercials as a teenager, advertising Cap'n Crunch cereal and Fruit Roll-Ups snacks. In a McDonald's fast food commercial, he served NBA great Michael Jordan.
An early television series role was an appearance on the TV series Jack and Mike in 1986. In the early 1990s, he appeared in several films including Men Don't Leave (1990), starring Jessica Lange; Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), appearing again with Kathy Bates from Men Don't Leave; School Ties (1992); and Scent of a Woman (1992) with Al Pacino. For the latter he received two nominations: one for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor-Motion Picture (which was won by Gene Hackman for Unforgiven), and one for a Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor (which he won). He was also named one of the 12 Promising New Actors of 1992 in John Willis's Screen World, Vol. 44.
After appearing in the film Blue Sky (1994), reuniting him with Jessica Lange, he starred in Circle of Friends (1995) with Minnie Driver, Mad Love (1995) with Drew Barrymore, and In Love and War (1996) with Sandra Bullock.
O'Donnell played the character of Dick Grayson/Robin in Batman Forever, in which Barrymore also had a role. Reportedly the field of candidates for the role of Robin included Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Toby Stephens, and Scott Speedman.
Casting directors narrowed their choices to O'Donnell and DiCaprio, and finally selected O'Donnell. He reportedly was considered by 20th Century Fox studios to play the lead role of Jack Dawson in Titanic (1997), but that role was won by DiCaprio.[11]
O'Donnell had a starring role in 1996's The Chamber, based on the John Grisham novel of the same name. He reprised his role as Robin in 1997's Batman & Robin. Although it was a box-office success, the movie was critically panned. O'Donnell later said that he did not believe it turned out well.[12]
O'Donnell did not appear in another movie for two years. He was the choice of one of the producers for the role of James Darrell Edwards III/Agent J in Men in Black (1997), but he turned it down as being too similar to his role in Batman Forever. Will Smith played this role.[13] The subsequent films Cookie's Fortune (1999) and The Bachelor (1999) were moderately successful, while Vertical Limit (2000) was a box office hit.
Following a four-year hiatus, O'Donnell returned in 2004 with the widely praised Kinsey. He also appeared in the 2004 episode of Two and a Half Men, entitled "An Old Flame With A New Wick."
O'Donnell took a lead role in the Fox Network television series Head Cases in 2005. The show was the first of the fall 2005 season to be canceled, and only two episodes were aired. He was subsequently cast as veterinarian Finn Dandridge on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy.O'Donnell featured prominently in the TNT miniseries The Company as CIA case officer Jack McAuliffe, a character who progressed from spoonfed Yale elitist to jaded, post-Cold War cynic. In 2008 O'Donnell appeared in as the titular character's father Jack Kittredge, and in Max Payne as Jason Colvin.
Between 2009 and 2023, O'Donnell starred on , a spinoff of NCIS, as G. Callen,[14] an NCIS Special Agent in charge of the Office of Special Projects Team stationed in Los Angeles. CBS describes Callen as "a chameleon who transforms himself into whomever he needs to be to infiltrate the criminal underworld."[15]
In 2010, O'Donnell appeared in the sequel to the 2001 movie Cats & Dogs, The Revenge of Kitty Galore.
O'Donnell married Caroline Fentress in April 1997 at St. Patrick Church in Washington, D.C.[16] They have five children together.[17] [18] [19]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Men Don't Leave | Chris Macauley | ||
| 1991 | Fried Green Tomatoes | Buddy Threadgoode | ||
| 1992 | School Ties | Chris Reece | ||
| Scent of a Woman | Charlie Simms | Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor | ||
| 1993 | The Three Musketeers | |||
| 1994 | Blue Sky | Glenn Johnson | ||
| 1995 | Circle of Friends | Jack Foley | ||
| Mad Love | Matt Leland | |||
| Batman Forever | ||||
| 1996 | The Chamber | Adam Hall | ||
| In Love and War | ||||
| 1997 | Batman & Robin | Dick Grayson/Robin | ||
| 1999 | Cookie's Fortune | Jason Brown | ||
| The Bachelor | Jimmie Shannon | |||
| 2000 | Vertical Limit | Peter Garrett | ||
| 2002 | 29 Palms | The Hitman | ||
| 2004 | Kinsey | |||
| 2005 | The Sisters | David Turzin | ||
| 2008 | Jack Kittredge | |||
| Max Payne | Jason Colvin | |||
| 2010 | Shane | |||
| A Little Help | Bob Pehlke | |||
| 2016 | PG | Max | Short film |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Jack and Mike | Evan | Episode: "Cry Uncle" |
| 2003 | The Practice | Brad Stanfield | 4 episodes |
| 2004 | Two and a Half Men | Bill Shrader | Episode: "An Old Flame with a New Wick" |
| The Amazing Westermans | TV movie | ||
| 2005 | Head Cases | Jason Payne | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Grey's Anatomy | Dr. Finn "McVet" Dandridge | 9 episodes |
| 2007 | Jack McAuliffe | TV miniseries | |
| 2009 & 2023 | NCIS | 3 episodes | |
| 2009–2023 | 323 episodes Nominated – People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Crime Drama Actor (2017)[20] | ||
| 2010 | WWII in HD: The Air War | John Gibbons | Voice |
| 2012 | Hawaii Five-0 | G. Callen | Episode: "Pa Make Loa" |
| 2013 | Who Do You Think You Are? | Himself | Episode: "Chris O'Donnell" |
| 2014 | Robot Chicken | Mr. Fantastic / Commander Rex Kling | Voice; Episode: "Catdog on a Stick" |
| 2017 | American Dad! | G. Callen | Voice; Episode: "Casino Normale" |
| 2017 & 2021 | The Price Is Right | Himself | 2 episodes |
| 2023 | G. Callen | Episode: "Deep Fake" | |
| Bupkis | Pete's Agent | Episode: "Crispytown"; uncredited |