Colin O'Donoghue (born 26 January 1981) is an Irish actor and musician, best known for portraying Captain Killian "Hook" Jones on the ABC TV show ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

''. He appeared in the horror thriller film '' The Rite'' (2011) as a skeptical novice priest, Michael Kovak. He portrayed the character of Douxie Casperan in the

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

animated series '' Tales of Arcadia'' for Netflix''.'' He is also portraying

Gordon Cooper Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr. (March 6, 1927 – October 4, 2004) was an American aerospace engineer, test pilot, United States Air Force Aviator, pilot, and the youngest of the Mercury Seven, seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the f ...

on Disney+ Original Series '' The Right Stuff''. He starred in '' Dolly Parton's Heartstrings'' as J.J. Sneed.

Early life and education

Colin O'Donoghue, the son of Con and Mary O'Donoghue, was born and raised in

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

, in a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family. He has an older brother named Allen. He is the cousin of musician Harry O'Donoghue. He attended Dundalk Grammar School, and later

The Gaiety School of Acting ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

in Dublin. At age 16, he went to Paris for a month to learn French.

Career

O'Donoghue's early career was mainly split between theatre and television work in Ireland and the UK. In 2003, he won the Irish Film and Television Award for "Best New Talent" for his role as Norman in "Home For Christmas". In 2009, he appeared as Duke Philip of Bavaria in an episode of season 3 of the Showtime historical-fiction series ''

The Tudors ''The Tudors'' is a historical fiction television series set primarily in 16th-century England, created and written by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series was a collaboration among ...

''. He made his Hollywood film debut alongside

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins ha ...

in the horror

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

'' The Rite'' (2011). He made an audition video for ''The Rite'' in a friend's home studio in Drogheda and sent it to the United States. He plays guitar and sings in a band called The Enemies, formed in 2003 in Ireland. In 2012, O'Donoghue was cast as

Captain Hook Captain James Hook is the main antagonist of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play ''Peter and Wendy, Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' and its various adaptations, in which he is Peter Pan's archenemy. The character is a pirate captain of the br ...

/Killian Jones, love interest of the main heroine

Emma Swan Emma Swan is a Character (arts), fictional character and the protagonist of American Broadcasting Company, ABC's Television program, television series ''Once Upon a Time (TV series), Once Upon a Time''. She is portrayed by Jennifer Morrison as a ...

, in the second season of the hit ABC series ''

''. In 2014, O'Donoghue was cast as the main character in ''The Dust Storm'', an independent film set in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

as a musician named Brennan. Christina Perri wrote a song, "The Words", which she dedicated to Colin's character (

) in ''

''. In December 2018, O'Donoghue was cast in an episode of 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 ...

anthology drama series, '' Heartstrings''. The series premiered on 22 November 2019.

The Enemies

O'Donoghue was part of the five-piece Irish band, "The Enemies", which was formed in 2003 by O'Donoghue and a close friend, Ronan McQuillan. The Enemies released their self-titled debut EP on 7 March 2011 prior to their self-funded first album on track. He played guitar and sang backing vocals on the band's first EP and debut album. Although the band was unsigned, it was commissioned by

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

to record tracks for their "Chevy route 66" online campaign. The band worked on the music for

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

's "5BY20" project. Their debut album ''Sounds Big on the Radio'' was to be released in March 2013, which was later scheduled for 2014. In May 2013, he announced he was leaving the band due to the filming schedule of ''Once Upon a Time''.

Awards

For his role in ''Home for Christmas'', he was awarded Best New Talent at the 1st Irish Film & Television Awards, held on 1 November 2003.Staff
"Winners of the 1st Annual Irish Film & Television Awards"
ifta.ie; retrieved 1 February 2012.

Podcast host

O'Donoghue has been the co-host of The Sync Report podcast since 2022, his first episode airing in February 2022 and featuring

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...

as guest. His fellow co-hosts are American film producer Rose Ganguzza and music supervisor Jason P. Rothberg.

Personal life

O'Donoghue married his wife Helen, a schoolteacher, in 2009, shortly after his appearance on ''

''. The couple have been together since they were eighteen and have two children: a son and a daughter.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonoghue, Colin Living people 1981 births 21st-century Irish guitarists 21st-century Irish male actors 21st-century Irish male singers Irish male film actors Irish male soap opera actors Irish male stage actors Irish male television actors Irish male guitarists Male actors from County Louth Musicians from County Louth People from Drogheda