Keir O'Donnell is an Australian–American actor, best known for his roles in the films ''

Wedding Crashers ''Wedding Crashers'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by David Dobkin, written by Steve Faber and Bob Fisher, starring Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Christopher Walken with Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Bradley Cooper and ...

'' (2005), ''

The Break-Up ''The Break-Up'' is a 2006 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Peyton Reed, based on a story by Jay Lavender, Jeremy Garelick, and Vince Vaughn, with a screenplay by Lavender and Garelick. The film stars Vince Vaughn and Jennifer An ...

'' (2006), '' Paul Blart: Mall Cop'' (2009) and ''

American Sniper ''American Sniper'' is a 2014 American Biographical film, biographical War film, war drama film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood and written and executive-produced by Jason Hall (screenwriter), Jason Hall, based on the memoir American ...

'' (2014), as well as numerous television appearances.

Early life

O'Donnell attended high school at The Bromfield School, and was involved in numerous productions both on the festival circuit and in community theater. In 1996, he was awarded a Massachusetts High School Drama Guild Acting Scholarship. Upon graduation he joined the first class of the newly created four-year classical theatre acting conservatory at

The Hartt School The Hartt School is the performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford, a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and Moshe Paranov, Hartt has been part of the University of Hartford since it ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. The Hartt School of Theatre was established by Malcolm Morrison and Alan Rust (North Carolina School of the Arts). At the Hartt School he performed in numerous plays including ''Three Sisters'', ''Lysistrata'', ''Twelfth Night'', ''Philadelphia Here I Come'', and played Romeo in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' opposite Hannah Mello. He graduated in 2000 and was accepted to the Hartford Stage Co. Regional Theatre, where he appeared in ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' and ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

''. In the fall of 2001 he was cast as a lead in the U.S. premiere of ''The Man Who Never Yet Saw Woman's Nakedness'' by Moritz Rinke, at The Odyssey Theatre in

West Los Angeles West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped ...

Feature films

After several student and independent films, O'Donnell landed the role of Todd Cleary in ''

''. The film went on to become the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time. Not long after ''Crashers'',

Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. He is known for starring as a leading man in numerous comedy films during the late 1990s and 2000s. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award ...

invited O'Donnell to join him on the road for his Wild West Comedy Tour, a tour that hit 30 cities in 30 days across the country. O'Donnell would appear on stage with Vaughn as a special guest doing improv skits. The tour was filmed and can be seen as the documentary: '' Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show''. In 2002, he played the role of Todd Jarvis in the movie ''Splat!'', a troubled teen who played paintball to help him succeed. O'Donnell re-teamed with Vaughn for ''

''. O'Donnell costarred in the indie comedy ''Flakes'' with

Zooey Deschanel Zooey Claire Deschanel ( ; born January 17, 1980) is an American actress and musician. She made her film debut in ''Mumford (film), Mumford'' (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film ''Almost Famous'' (2000). Deschanel is known f ...

, which premiered at the 2007 South By Southwest Film Festival. O'Donnell also appeared in Henry Bean's film ''

Noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

'', which was featured at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. He appeared as the villain Veck Simms in '' Paul Blart: Mall Cop'' and appeared in the 2010 romantic comedy, '' When in Rome'', with

Kristen Bell Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. List of Kristen Bell performances, Her work includes both film and television, and List of awards and nominations received by Kristen Bell, h ...

and

Josh Duhamel Joshua David Duhamel ( ; born November 14, 1972) is an American actor. After various modeling work, he made his acting debut as Leo du Pres on the ABC daytime soap opera ''All My Children'' for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award and later starr ...

. The same year he had a cameo in '' The Mother of Invention''. O'Donnell had his directorial debut in 2024, with ''

Marmalade Marmalade (from the Portuguese ''marmelada'') is a fruit preserves, fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It also has been made from lemons ...

.''

Television work

O'Donnell made guest appearances on '' Lost'', '' CSI'', ''

The Closer ''The Closer'' is an American police procedural television series starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department Chief of police#United States, deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator originally from Atlanta, G ...

'', and '' United States of Tara''. He made several appearances on the first season of the FX series ''

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American Action film, action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX (TV channel), FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008, to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-k ...

''. He appeared in an episode of ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', also known colloquially simply as ''Always Sunny'', is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and co-developed by Glenn Howerton for FX (TV channel), FX. It premiered on August 4, 2005, and stars Charl ...

'', which aired on 2 October 2008. He was part of the ensemble cast of the short-lived

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

documentary-style

dramedy Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

, ''

My Generation "My Generation" is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend. One of the band's most recognizable songs, it was placed number 11 by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the " 500 Greatest S ...

'' (2010), developed by Noah Hawley, and later had recurring roles on Hawley's other series '' Fargo'' and ''

Legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Aviazione Legionaria, Italian air force during the Spanish Civil War * A legion is the regional unit of the Italian carabinieri * Spanish Legion, ...

''. In 2011, he had a recurring role on the Showtime series '' United States of Tara'', appearing for the second half of the third season as Evan, Kate's love interest. In 2013, he made a guest appearance on ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'' playing Ramsey Boone.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Keir 21st-century American male actors 21st-century Australian male actors American male film actors American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors Australian male film actors Australian male television actors Australian male video game actors Australian male voice actors University of Hartford Hartt School alumni Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)