Keir O'Donnell

Actor

• Born: November 8, 1978
• Place of Birth: Sydney, Australia

Contribution: Keir O’Donnell is an actor who is best known for his supporting roles in the comedy films Wedding Crashers (2005) and Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009). He has also appeared in FBI: Most Wanted and Mayor of Kingstown.

Background

Keir O’Donnell was born on November 8, 1978, in Sydney, Australia. His father is Irish Australian and his mother is English; his name is Gaelic for “little dark one.” He has an older brother named Patrick.

O’Donnell’s family moved to Harvard, Massachusetts, in 1986, and he began acting in children’s theater productions in the nearby town of Westford. He attended the Bromfield School, where he continued to study acting and participated in the annual Massachusetts High School Drama Festival.

After graduating from high school in 1996, O’Donnell studied classical theater acting at the Hartt School in Connecticut and earned a bachelor of fine arts in 2000. He then acted in several regional productions with the Hartford Stage Company before moving to Los Angeles in early 2001 to pursue a film career.

Career

After moving to Los Angeles, O’Donnell appeared in a number of student and independent films, many of which were never released. One such film that was released was In Your Face (2002), notable for being O’Donnell’s first starring role. The film bills itself as Hollywood’s first-ever paintball movie.

O’Donnell used his footage from those early films to compile a reel, which he then sent to numerous managers throughout Los Angeles. The one he ended up hiring took just four months to land O’Donnell an audition for the Vince Vaughn–Owen Wilson comedy Wedding Crashers (2005). O’Donnell won the role four days later after a single callback, and the movie went on to become a huge hit. In it, O’Donnell plays Todd Cleary, an angsty, closeted artist who tries to seduce Vaughn’s character, Jeremy, using progressively aggressive tactics. O’Donnell reprised his role as Cleary in a handful of onstage bits while on tour with Vaughn in 2005, as captured by the documentary Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days and 30 Nights—Hollywood to the Heartland (2006).

In 2006, O’Donnell appeared in another Vince Vaughn film, The Break-Up, costarring Jennifer Aniston. O’Donnell plays a sleazy tax accountant who goes on a date with Aniston’s character after her breakup with Vaughn’s character. He then landed a part in the action comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009), starring Kevin James. Produced by Adam Sandler's production company, the movie received poor reviews but was commercially successful. In between major films, O’Donnell continued to take roles in small and independent productions, including the comedy Flakes (2007), the punk biopic What We Do Is Secret (2007), and the horror film Amusement (2008).

O’Donnell developed a prolific television career as well, though his success in that area was mixed. In 2008, he had a recurring role in four episodes of the television show Sons of Anarchy. He was then cast in a main role in the ABC mockumentary-style television series My Generation (2010), about the adult lives of a group of friends who graduated from high school in 2000, but the show was canceled after only two episodes. In 2011, he had a recurring role on the series United States of Tara. Later that year, he filmed a pilot for a prospective western-themed television series called Tin Star, intended to premiere on TNT in 2012, but the network ultimately passed on the show. O’Donnell has also appeared as a guest star in a number of popular series, including 8 Simple Rules in 2004, his first television appearance; Lost, also in 2004; CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2006; It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia in 2008; Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2012; and NCIS and Californication in 2013.

In the late 2000s, O’Donnell began working on a script with brothers Justin Long, with whom he had appeared in The Break-Up as well as the 2009 film Taking Chances, and Christian Long. Director Kat Coiro joined the project in 2011, and after several years of writing followed by a relatively speedy production, A Case of You was released in 2013. Coiro has said she was attracted to the film’s sincerity as well as its simplicity. The romantic comedy, about a writer who searches his crush’s Facebook account for clues to becoming her ideal man, stars Justin Long and Evan Rachel Wood; O’Donnell plays Long’s roommate. The film also features appearances by Peter Dinklage, Brendan Fraser, Sienna Miller, and Vince Vaughn. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013.

After landing roles in 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and the Academy Award–nominated American Sniper, O'Donnell returned to television for a guest role in five episodes of the FX series Fargo in 2015 before appearing in the films Incarnate (2016) and Gifted (2017). Also in 2017, he was part of the cast of the CMT series Sun Records, which ran for one season of eight episodes. In addition to playing the recurring character George Winslow in several episodes of Showtime's Ray Donovan between 2017 and 2018, he appeared in three episodes of FX's Legion between 2017 and 2019 and four episodes of Project Blue Book in 2020. He also had roles in series High Desert (2023), FBI: Most Wanted (2024), and Mayor of Kingstown (2024).

He appeared in several films in the 2020s, including The Dry (2020) and Ambulance (2022). He wrote and produced the 2024 prison break film Marmalade, with which he made his directorial debut.

Impact

After finding success playing supporting roles in television shows, independent films, and big-budget comedies, O’Donnell took a turn behind the camera, collaborating with Justin and Christian Long to write a timely and self-aware romantic comedy. With his classical training, his facility with both comedic and dramatic roles, and his talent for screenwriting, he has established himself in Hollywood as a versatile and accomplished professional.

Bibliography

Coiro, Kat. “A Case of You Director Kat Coiro on Internet Stalking and the Brilliance of Evan Rachel Wood.” Interview by Karen Kemmerle. Tribeca. Tribeca Enterprises, 9 Apr. 2013. Web. 28 Aug. 2013.

Hughes, Kat. "Interview: Keir O'Donnell Discusses the Creation of His Debut Feature 'Marmalade.'" The Hollywood News, 8 Feb. 2024, www.thehollywoodnews.com/2024/02/08/interview-keir-odonnell-discusses-the-creation-of-his-debut-feature-marmalade/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.

"Keir O'Donnell." IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm1218757/?ref‗=fn‗al‗nm‗1. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.

Marksteiner, Kelsey. “Acting Alum Films Sandler Comedy in Boston.” Bromfield Mirror June 2008: 3. Print.

O’Donnell, Keir. “A ‘Conversation’ with Keir O’Donnell.” Interview by Lynda King. Harvard Post. GateHouse Media, 18 Aug. 2005. Web. 28 Aug. 2013.

O’Donnell, Keir. “The Lostpedia Interview: Keir O’Donnell.” Lostpedia: The Lost Encyclopedia. Wikia, 31 Aug. 2008. Web. 28 Aug. 2013.

Turchiano, Danielle. “Keir O’Donnell Says My Generation Will Tackle the BP Oil Spill.” Examiner.com. Clarity Digital Group, 2 Aug. 2010. Web. 28 Aug. 2013.