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Christopher O'Dowd (born 9 October 1979) is an Irish actor and comedian. He received wide attention as Roy Trenneman, one of the lead characters in the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
comedy ''
The IT Crowd ''The IT Crowd'' is a British television sitcom originally broadcast by Channel 4, created, written, and directed by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry. Set in th ...
'', which ran for four seasons from 2006 to 2010. He has starred in films including ''
Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', originally titled ''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 clerg ...
'' (2010), '' Bridesmaids'', '' Friends with Kids'' (both 2011), '' Cuban Fury'' (2014), '' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'' (2016) and ''
The Cloverfield Paradox ''The Cloverfield Paradox'' is a 2018 American science fiction horror film directed by Julius Onah and written by Oren Uziel, from a story by Uziel and Doug Jung, and produced by J. J. Abrams and Lindsey Weber. It is the third film in the ...
'' (2018). He created and starred in the Sky 1 television series '' Moone Boy'', which aired from 2012 to 2015 and brought him Irish Film and Television Award nominations for acting, writing and directing. Since 2017, he has appeared as Miles Daly in the Epix comedy series ''
Get Shorty ''Get Shorty'' is a 1990 novel by American novelist Elmore Leonard. In 1995, the novel was adapted into an eponymous film, and in 2017 it was adapted into a television series of the same name. Plot summary The story is about Ernesto "Chili ...
''. 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, joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning ...
'' 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. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
. He made his Broadway debut in the play adaptation of ''
Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a 1937 novella written by American author John Steinbeck. It describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant worker, migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California ...
'' in 2014, for which he was nominated for a
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
. In 2020, he was listed as #39 on ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors.


Early life and education

O'Dowd was born and raised in Boyle, in
County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...
. 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 Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...
in
Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
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, RTÉ Player Sport and RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Mobile. RTÉ h ...
covered and aired as part of its '' The Sunday Game'' highlights programme. He studied politics and sociology at
University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...
(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. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...
(leaving before graduating after 18 months). He told the UCD student newspaper the ''
College Tribune The ''College Tribune'' is a student newspaper which serves Ireland's largest third level institution, University College Dublin. It was established in 1989 with the assistance of journalist and broadcaster Vincent Browne who was attending the ...
'': "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 ''The University Observer'' is a broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the campus of University College Dublin, Ireland, once four three weeks. Launched in 1994 by University College Dublin Students' Union, the newspaper was an immediat ...
'' and was active in the UCD Drama Society and the Literary and Historical Society.


Career

O'Dowd starred in the UK in
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
's comedy ''
The IT Crowd ''The IT Crowd'' is a British television sitcom originally broadcast by Channel 4, created, written, and directed by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry. Set in th ...
'',
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
'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 A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...
'' where he played stand-up comedian Tommy O'Dwyer, a role for which he won a Scottish
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
award, and a small role in ''
Vera Drake ''Vera Drake'' is a 2004 British period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Daniel Mays and Eddie Marsan. It tells the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal ...
''. He appears in '' Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel'', a comedy sci-fiction film with
Marc Wootton Marc James Wootton (born 8 February 1975) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his role as Mr Poppy in the '' Nativity!'' film series. He also starred in the television series '' High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman'', ...
,
Dean Lennox Kelly Dean Lennox Kelly (born 30 November 1975) is an English actor and voice over artist. He is known for his television roles as Kev Ball in '' Shameless'' and Meredith Rutter in '' Jamestown''. Early life Kelly is from Lytham St Annes, Lancashir ...
, and
Anna Faris Anna Kay Faris ( ; born November 29, 1976) is an American actress. Known for playing comedic roles, she rose to prominence with the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the Scary Movie (film series), ''Scary Movie'' films (2000–2006). Her film credi ...
. 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 Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Allan Crawford, initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopol ...
, 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 Lad or lads may refer to: Lad * Lad, a term for a boy or young man * Lad culture, a British subculture Arts and entertainment * ''Lad'' (video game), 2012 iOS game * ''Lad, A Dog'', a collection of short stories by Albert Payson Terhune * The ...
. O'Dowd plays
Felix Dennis Felix Dennis (27 May 194722 June 2014) was an English publisher, poet, spoken-word performer, and philanthropist. His company, Dennis Publishing, pioneered computer and hobbyist magazine publishing in the United Kingdom. In more recent times, t ...
, who later became the publisher of ''
Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *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 ''
Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', originally titled ''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 clerg ...
'' 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''. He also appeared on panel show ''
Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...
'' (season 21, episode 11), and starred in an
ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, 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 fiv ...
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 to 1988. In April 2011, he starred in the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
adaptation of ''
The Crimson Petal and the White ''The Crimson Petal and the White'' is a 2002 novel by Michel Faber set in Victorian era, Victorian England. The title is from an 1847 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson entitled "Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal", the opening line of which is "Now slee ...
'' as William Rackham, and in the May 2011 release '' Bridesmaids'' as Officer Nathan Rhodes. O'Dowd had a supporting role in ''
This Is 40 ''This Is 40'' is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Judd Apatow and starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. A "sort-of sequel" to Apatow's film ''Knocked Up'', its plot centers on married couple Pete and Debbie, ...
''. He described "fighting over
Megan Fox Megan Denise Fox (born May 16, 1986) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the family film ''Holiday in the Sun (film), Holiday in the Sun'' (2001), which was followed by numerous supporting roles in film and television, such a ...
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 ''Of Mice and Men'' is a 1937 novella written by American author John Steinbeck. It describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant worker, migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California ...
'', directed by Anna D. Shapiro and co-starring
James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has starred in numerous films, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007), ''Milk (2008 American film), Milk'' (200 ...
and Leighton Meester, for which O'Dowd was nominated for a Drama Desk and
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a Broadway ...
. He starred as a Catholic school teacher in the 2014 film '' St. Vincent'' with Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy. He was also the narrator for the 2014 RTÉ documentary ''Man on Bridge''. From 2017 to 2019, O'Dowd played the lead role in three seasons of the ''
MGM+ MGM+ (formerly known as Epix; pronounced ''epics'' and stylized as eᴘix), is an American Pay television, premium cable television, cable and satellite television, satellite television network owned by the MGMPlus Entertainment subsidiary of M ...
'' television show ''
Get Shorty ''Get Shorty'' is a 1990 novel by American novelist Elmore Leonard. In 1995, the novel was adapted into an eponymous film, and in 2017 it was adapted into a television series of the same name. Plot summary The story is about Ernesto "Chili ...
'', created by
Davey Holmes Davey Holmes (born October 4, 1969, in Massachusetts) is an Americans, American screenwriter, Television producer, producer and Television director, director. He is the creator and executive producer of the television show ''Get Shorty (TV series ...
and co-starring Ray Romano, for which O'Dowd received a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role from the 2018 ''
IFTA Film & Drama Awards The IFTA Film & Drama Awards are awards given by the Irish Film & Television Academy for Irish television and film. The awards were first presented in 1999. The ceremonies recognise Irish creative talent working in film, drama, and television, a ...
''. In 2022, O'Dowd played Philip in the
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
film '' Slumberland'' alongside
Jason Momoa Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa (; born August 1, 1979) is an American actor. He made his acting debut as Jason Ioane on the syndicated action drama series '' Baywatch: Hawaii'' (1999–2001), which was followed by portrayals of Ronon Dex on the ...
, Kyle Chandler and young actress Marlow Barkley. O’Dowd created and will star in the upcoming television series '' Small Town, Big Story'', which premieres February 27th 2025 on
Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...
.


Personal life

O'Dowd married Scottish writer, director and television presenter Dawn Porter in 2012. After their wedding, Dawn changed her surname to O'Porter. On 1 February 2015, it was announced on Twitter that O'Porter had given 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,
Bermondsey Bermondsey ( ) is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, ...
in London, and
Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...
in
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
. O'Dowd says he has developed an antitheist 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 Leighton Meester and
James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has starred in numerous films, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007), ''Milk (2008 American film), Milk'' (200 ...
, after raising donations for their Broadway show ''
Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a 1937 novella written by American author John Steinbeck. It describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant worker, migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California ...
''.


Performances and works


Film


Television


Theatre


Books

*''Moone Boy: The Blunder Years'', Chris O'Dowd and Nick V. Murphy (2014) *''Moone Boy: The Fish Detective'', Chris O'Dowd and Nick V. Murphy (2015) *''Moone Boy: The Notion Potion'', Chris O'Dowd and Nick V. Murphy (2017)


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:ODowd, Chris 1979 births Living people Actors from County Roscommon Actors from the London Borough of Southwark Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Alumni of University College Dublin Audiobook narrators Best Actor AACTA Award winners Former Roman Catholics Gaelic football goalkeepers Gaelic games players from County Roscommon International Emmy Award–winning screenwriters Irish atheists Irish critics of religions Irish expatriate male actors in the United States Irish former Christians Irish male comedians Irish male film actors Irish male screenwriters Irish male stage actors Irish male television actors Irish male video game actors Irish male voice actors Irish screenwriters Irish sketch comedians Irish television producers Male actors from Los Angeles Male actors from Margate People from Bermondsey People from Boyle, County Roscommon People from Sligo (town) Primetime Emmy Award winners Theatre World Award winners 20th-century Irish male actors 21st-century Irish male actors