Christopher O'Dowd (born 9 October 1979) is an Irish actor and comedian. He received wide attention as

Roy Trenneman The following is a list of fictional characters from the British television sitcom ''The IT Crowd'', which was broadcast by Channel 4 from 2006 to 2013. Main characters Roy Trenneman * Chris O'Dowd Roy is a work-shy Irish IT technician and gee ...

, one of the lead characters in the Channel 4 comedy ''

The IT Crowd ''The IT Crowd'' is a British sitcom originally broadcast by Channel 4, written and directed by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry. Set in the offices of the fict ...

'', which ran for four series between 2006 and 2010. He has also starred in several films, ''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

'' (2010), '' Bridesmaids'', '' Friends with Kids'' (both 2011), '' Cuban Fury'' (2014), '' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'' (2016) and '' The Cloverfield Paradox'' (2018). He created and starred in the Sky 1 television series '' Moone Boy'', which aired between 2012 and 2015 and brought him Irish Film and Television Award nominations in acting, writing, and directing. Since 2017, he has appeared as Miles Daly in the Epix comedy series '' Get Shorty''. He had a recurring role on the comedy-drama series '' Girls''. His performance in the British comedy TV series ''

State of the Union The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditio ...

'' won him a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

. He made his Broadway debut in the play adaptation of '' Of Mice and Men'' in 2014, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. In 2020, he was listed at number 39 on '' The Irish Times'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors. In November 2022, he appeared as the character Philip in the Netflix film '' Slumberland''.

Early life

O'Dowd was born and raised in Boyle, in

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

on 9 October 1979. His father, Seán, is a sign designer, and his mother, Denise, a counsellor and psychotherapist. He is the youngest of five siblings. He represented Roscommon in

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

at under-16, minor and under-21 levels, the highlight being his performance as a goalkeeper in the 1997 Connacht Minor Football Championship final against Mayo, a game which

RTÉ Sport RTÉ Sport is a department of Irish public broadcaster RTÉ. The department provides sporting coverage through a number of platforms including RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Player Sport and RTÉ Mobile. RTÉ holds the television ...

covered and aired as part of its '' The Sunday Game'' highlights programme. He studied politics and sociology at University College Dublin (UCD), and subsequently attended the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. It is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. LAMDA's Principal is ...

. He told the UCD student newspaper the '' College Tribune'': "I didn't finish my degree. The politics part of it was fine, but I was doing sociology as well and I could never bring myself to find an interest in it." He contributed to '' The University Observer'' and was active in UCD Dramsoc and the Literary and Historical Society.

Career

O'Dowd starred in the United Kingdom in Channel 4's comedy ''

'',

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

's '' Roman's Empire'', '' Red Cap'', and the award-winning documentary-drama ''The Year London Blew Up''. He has also appeared on Irish television, having starred in the RTÉ One drama '' The Clinic'' and the drama ''Showbands'' alongside Kerry Katona. He has appeared in '' How to Lose Friends & Alienate People'' in a minor role. He has also had roles in a number of films, including the 2005 film '' Festival'' where he played stand-up comedian Tommy O'Dwyer, a role for which he won a Scottish BAFTA award, and a small role in '' Vera Drake''. He appears in '' Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel'', a comedy sci-fiction film with Marc Wootton, Dean Lennox Kelly, and Anna Faris. He played Liam in the 2007 German film '. He starred in the 2009 film '' The Boat That Rocked'', inspired by the story of offshore pirate broadcasters Radio Caroline, which was released in Canada and the U.S. as ''Pirate Radio''. O'Dowd plays Simon, the station's breakfast DJ. "The breakfast jock on Radio Caroline at the time was Tony Blackburn, so there's definitely an element of him in it," O'Dowd says of his character. "And then I called in different Irish DJs that would have been contemporaries of Tony Blackburn at the time, a guy called Larry Gogan and a couple of other people." O'Dowd starred opposite Sienna Miller in the film '' Hippie Hippie Shake'', about the groundbreaking '60s magazine '' Oz'', the precursor to a whole generation of lad mags. O'Dowd plays Felix Dennis, who later became the publisher of '' Maxim'', and his landmark indecency trial. In preparation for the role, O'Dowd met with Dennis, and said, "He was an incredibly charismatic man." In April 2009, it was announced that O'Dowd was cast in a remake of ''

'' as General Edward Edwardian. "It's shooting in Pinewood from the end of April", he said, shortly after his participation was announced. "I'm just going back to England to learn how to ride a horse... I'm a general in the army, so there's going to be a little bit of horse riding. I think it's going to be really fun though, we're all kind of learning together." O'Dowd appeared in the 2010 film '' Dinner for Schmucks'', an American version of the French farce ''

Le Dîner de Cons ''Le Dîner de Cons'' () is a French comedy play by Francis Veber. Story Pierre Brochant, a Parisian publisher, attends a weekly "idiots' dinner", where guests, who are prominent Parisian businessmen, must bring along an "idiot" whom the other ...

''. He also appeared on panel show '' Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' (season 21, episode 11), and starred in an

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...

comedy series entitled '' FM''. In 2010, he took part in '' Little Crackers'', writing and directing a short film loosely based on his own childhood and Christmas in his family home from 1984–88. In April 2011, he starred in the BBC adaptation of '' The Crimson Petal and the White'' as William Rackham, and in the May 2011 release '' Bridesmaids'' as Officer Nathan Rhodes. O'Dowd had a supporting role in '' This Is 40''. He described "fighting over Megan Fox in a pool" during filming as "one of the most fun things I've ever done". He played Dave in Wayne Blair's 2012 debut feature Australian musical '' The Sapphires''. Based on a popular stage show, it was shot across Australia and Vietnam and produced by Goalpost Australia. He is to write and executive produce a new American comedy series called ''Big Men'', after NBC won the bidding war for it. He co-wrote '' Moone Boy'', a series based on his childhood, for Sky 1. It was filmed in his hometown of Boyle. Segments of it ran from 2012 to 2015. O'Dowd has also co-written some books based on the series: ''Moone Boy: The Blunder Years'' (published May 2015), ''Moone Boy: The Fish Detective'' (October 2015), ''Moone Boy: The Notion Potion'' (September 2017), and an activity book, ''Moone Boy: The Marvellous Activity Manual'' (May 2017). From April to July 2014, O'Dowd starred in the Broadway revival of '' Of Mice and Men'', directed by

Anna D. Shapiro Anna Davida Shapiro (born March 10, 1966) is an American theater director, was the artistic director of the Steppenwolf Theater Company, and a professor at Northwestern University. Throughout her career, she has directed both the Steppenwolf The ...

and co-starring James Franco and

Leighton Meester Leighton Marissa Meester (; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is best known for her starring role as the devious socialite Blair Waldorf on ''Gossip Girl'' on The CW (2007–2012). She has also appeared in films ...

, for which O'Dowd was nominated for a Drama Desk and Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. He starred as a Catholic school teacher in the 2014 film ''

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

'' with Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy. He was also the narrator for the 2014 RTÉ documentary ''Man on Bridge''. In 2022 Chris played Philip in the Netflix film '' Slumberland'' alongside Jason Momoa, Kyle Chandler and young actress Marlow Barkley.

Personal life

O'Dowd married British writer, director, and television presenter Dawn Porter in 2012. After their marriage, Dawn changed her surname to O'Porter. O'Dowd says he has developed an

antitheist Antitheism, also spelled anti-theism, is the philosophical position that theism should be opposed. The term has had a range of applications. In secular contexts, it typically refers to direct opposition to the belief in any deity. Etymology The ...

philosophy, and believes religion is "going to be like racism" in terms of social unacceptability and condemnation. In April 2014, he presented at the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet Competition with

and James Franco, after raising donations for their Broadway show '' Of Mice and Men''. On 1 February 2015, it was announced on Twitter that O'Porter gave birth to their son, Art O'Porter, a week earlier. On 1 July 2017, O'Porter gave birth to their second son, Valentine. The family divide their time between homes in Los Angeles, California; Bermondsey, London; and Margate, Kent.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Books

*''Moone Boy: The Blunder Years'', Chris O'Dowd and Nick V. Murphy (2015) *''Moone Boy: The Fish Detective'', Chris O'Dowd and Nick V. Murphy (2016) *''Moone Boy: The Notion Potion'', Chris O'Dowd and Nick V. Murphy (2017)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:ODowd, Chris 1979 births 20th-century Irish male actors 21st-century Irish male actors Living people Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Alumni of University College Dublin Audiobook narrators Best Actor AACTA Award winners Critics of religions Former Roman Catholics Gaelic football goalkeepers Irish atheists Irish former Christians Irish male comedians Irish male film actors Irish male stage actors Irish male screenwriters Irish male television actors Irish male video game actors Irish male voice actors Irish screenwriters Irish television producers People from Boyle, County Roscommon People from Sligo (town) Primetime Emmy Award winners Roscommon Gaelic footballers Theatre World Award winners