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Keir O'Donnell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Keir O'Donnell
Keir O'Donnell in 2016
NationalityAustralian, American
OccupationActor
Years active2002–present

Keir O'Donnell is an Australian–American actor, best known for his roles in the films Wedding Crashers (2005), The Break-Up (2006), Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) and American Sniper (2014), as well as numerous television appearances.

Early life

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O'Donnell attended high school at The Bromfield School, and was involved in numerous productions both on the festival circuit and in community theater.[1] 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 in Hartford, Connecticut. 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 opposite Hannah Mello. He graduated in 2000 and was accepted to the Hartford Stage Co. Regional Theatre, where he appeared in Macbeth and A Christmas Carol. 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.[citation needed]

Feature films

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After several student and independent films, O'Donnell landed the role of Todd Cleary in Wedding Crashers. The film went on to become the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time. Not long after Crashers, Vince Vaughn 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.[citation needed]

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 The Break-Up. O'Donnell costarred in the indie comedy Flakes with Zooey Deschanel, which premiered at the 2007 South By Southwest Film Festival. O'Donnell also appeared in Henry Bean's film Noise, 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 and Josh Duhamel. The same year he had a cameo in The Mother of Invention.[2]

O'Donnell had his directorial debut in 2024, with Marmalade.

Television work

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O'Donnell made guest appearances on Lost, CSI, The Closer, and United States of Tara. He made several appearances on the first season of the FX series Sons of Anarchy. He appeared in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which aired on 2 October 2008. He was part of the ensemble cast of the short-lived ABC documentary-style dramedy, My Generation (2010), developed by Noah Hawley, and later had recurring roles on Hawley's other series Fargo and Legion.[3] 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 playing Ramsey Boone.[2]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2002 In Your Face Todd Jarvis
2004 Starkweather Bob Von Buch
2005 Wedding Crashers Todd Cleary
2006 The Break-Up Paul Grant
2007 Flakes Stuart
What We Do Is Secret Chris Ashford
After Sex David
Deadbox Tucker
2008 Bar Starz Dick
Pathology Ben Stravinsky
Amusement The Laugh
2009 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Veck Simms
Taking Chances Digger Morris
The Mother of Invention Tears of a Child Villain
2010 The Runaways Rodney Bingenheimer
When in Rome Father Dino
Miss Nobody L.J. Feffer
2012 Free Samples Danny
Complacent Thomas Pulchek
2013 Worm Dustin (voice)
A Case of You Eliot Also writer & producer
2014 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Finney
American Sniper Jeff Kyle
2015 Return to Sender Tony Desantos
2016 Incarnate Oliver
2017 Gifted Bradley Pollard
Heart, Baby Randy
2020 The Dry Greg Raco
2022 Ambulance FBI Agent Anson Clark
2024 Marmalade Writer & director

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2004 8 Simple Rules Derek Episode: "Mall in the Family"
Lost Thomas Episode: "Raised by Another"
2005 Killer Instinct Chester Episode: "Shake, Rattle, and Roll"
2006 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Ken Richmond Episode: "Up in Smoke"
The Closer Gerald Curtis Episode: "No Good Deed"
Introducing Lennie Rose Harper TV film
2007 It's a Mall World Dennis TV miniseries
2008 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Jan Episode: "Mac and Charlie Die: Part 2"
Sons of Anarchy Lowell Harland Jr. Recurring role
2009 FlashForward Ned Ned Episode: "Black Swan"
2010 Ghosts/Aliens Mike Stevens TV film
My Generation Kenneth Finley Main role
2011 United States of Tara Evan Recurring role
2012 The Tin Star Daniel Flynn TV film
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Stuart Episode: "Street Revenge"
2013 NCIS Ramsey Boone Episode: "Prime Suspect"
Californication Beckett Fetch Episode: "Blind Faith"
Maron Matt Episode: "Mexican Angel"
2014 Rizzoli & Isles Craig Johnson Episode: "Tears of a Clown"
2015 Masters of Sex Vincent Episode: "Two Scents"
Fargo Ben Schmidt Recurring role
2016 The Crossroads of History Niccolò Machiavelli /
John Wilkes Booth
Episodes: "Mona Lisa" & "Lincoln"
2017 Sun Records Dewey Phillips TV series
2017–2018 Ray Donovan George Winslow Recurring (season 5)
2017–2019 Legion Daniel 3 episodes
2018 Drunk History Mullen Episode: "Death"
2019 Into the Dark Larry Adams Episode: "I'm Just F*cking With You"
2020 Project Blue Book Evan Blake 4 episodes
2023 High Desert Stewart 2 episodes
2024 FBI: Most Wanted William Barlowe Episode: "Powderfinger"[4]
Mayor of Kingstown Macon Episode: "Rag Doll"

References

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  1. ^ "archivenew.html". Harvard Theatre. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b Keir O'Donnell at IMDb
  3. ^ "ABC Unveils 2010–11 Primetime Schedule". The Futon Critic. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
  4. ^ ""FBI: Most Wanted" Powderfinger (TV Episode 2024) - IMDb". IMDb.
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