Chris O’Donnell

It seems that the years have not taken their toll on his face, that he still has a certain adolescent appearance, but the truth is that he is more than forty. Born in Winnetka, Illinois, on June 26, 1970, and raised in Chicago, Chris Eugene O’Donnell is the kind of downbeat, optimistic young American who doesn’t hesitate to smile at whatever life throws at him. But perhaps the traits that best suit his character are discretion and sympathy. Nothing is more contrary to his way of being than strutting before the cameras like a shining star of the increasingly immense cinematographic firmament. “My image doesn’t worry me at all, maybe that’s what sets me apart from other actors,” he says convinced.

In the world of movies, Chris carries the label of not being too conventional. Raised in a Catholic family, he studied at the Loyola Academy of Chicago and later at the prestigious Boston College, before studying Marketing at the University of California. He is a practicing Catholic and assures that he loves having a large family. He already knows what that means since he was a child, because he is the youngest of seven siblings. He married his longtime girlfriend, Caroline Fentress, who works as a daycare teacher in April 1997. During the first years of married life, what surprised him the most “are the things you learn from the person you are with. My wife and I never lived together before we got married. So you discover each other’s little hobbies, idiosyncrasies of the type covering the toothpaste and those things ”, and adds gracefully: “but I’ve been married for four years now and I’m over it.” In 1999, coinciding with the filming ofVertical Limit , their first daughter, Lilly Anne, was born. Now the couple have five children. She assures that being a father is something very big: “Sometimes it surprises you how much you can love that little person you have by your side. It is the most extraordinary thing that has ever happened to me and I am delighted”.

Chris O’Donnell’s career does not include many titles. Before he did his first steps as a model (he participated in a McDonald’s advertisement serving Michael Jordan ), until he made his screen debut with Men Don’t Leave , alongside Jessica Lange . Later he had a small but intense appearance in Jon Avnet ‘s hit Fried Green Tomatoes . But it was his role as Al Pacino ‘s guide in Essence of a Woman that brought him fame: he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and won the Chicago Critics’ Breakthrough Actor award. Later he took part in smaller films, such as The Three Musketeers orCircle of Friends , until his stellar appearance as Robin in Batman Forever confirmed his budding stardom. He later played Hemingway in the discreet On Love and War , alongside Sandra Bullock , and had similar luck with The Bachelor , a comedy that didn’t quite work, where he was accompanied by the then diva of the moment Renée Zellweger . At last the definitive turning point in his career came with the notorious Vertical Limit and a role that then turned him into what seemed like life insurance for the producers. O’Donnell embodies a mountaineer who, traumatized by the death of his father in the mountains, must face the rescue of his sister in the K-2.

But something happened then. Incomprehensibly, since that action movie, and after the discreet thriller Runaway Money (2002), O’Donnell’s career faded and it was no longer the same. He occasionally took part in television series, such as The Lawyer (2003), Grey’s Anatomy (2006) or The Company (2007), but his roles did not have much impact. In 2004 he “returned” to the big screen in Kinsey , an dispensable not exactly white film, which narrated the shady investigations of that famous American sociologist about human sexuality. He also worked on the estimable drama The Sisters(2005), but later his secondary roles were lost in low-quality films, such as Max Payne (2008), adaptation of a well-known video game, or the Kit Kittredge family: Journalist dreams (2008), with Abigail Breslin , or Like dogs and Cats: Kitty Galore’s Revenge (2010), clearly minor.

However, the actor could rise from his ashes. It seems that his career began to pick up thanks to a television series that gradually consolidated. It’s about NCIS: Los Angeles , about the special criminal investigation services. O’Donnell is accompanied by LL Cool J and for the moment the audience is going from strength to strength. So moviegoers hope to have Chris O’Donnell for a while. He, meanwhile, enjoys with his family at his Chicago residence, cheering on the Chicago Bulls when he can, and playing golf, his favorite sport.