Chris O'Dowd
| Chris O'Dowd | |
|---|---|
 O'Dowd in London, November 8, 2012 |
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| Born | 9 October 1979 County Roscommon, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian, film director |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Spouse(s) | Dawn Porter (m. 2012) |
Chris O'Dowd (born 9 October 1979)[1] is an Irish actor and comedian best known for his role as Roy Trenneman in the Channel 4 comedy The IT Crowd. He has appeared in several Hollywood films, including Gulliver's Travels and Bridesmaids and recently starred in the HBO drama series, Girls. As of 2013 he is the voice of Dr. Cockroach in the television series version of Monsters vs. Aliens.
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Early life [edit]
Chris O'Dowd was born and raised in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland. His mother, Denise, is a counsellor and psychotherapist, and his father, Seán O'Dowd, is a graphic designer.[2][3][4]
He represented Roscommon in Gaelic football at under-16, minor and under-21 level, the highlight being his performance as a goalkeeper in the 1996 Connacht Minor final against Mayo.[5]
He studied politics and sociology at University College, Dublin, and subsequently attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. O'Dowd did not obtain a degree from UCD, telling 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."[6] He contributed to The University Observer and was active in UCD Dramsoc and the Literary and Historical Society.[6]
Career [edit]
O'Dowd has starred in Britain in Channel 4's comedy The IT Crowd, BBC 2'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. O'Dowd has appeared in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People in a minor role. O'Dowd 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. O'Dowd 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 Hotel Very Welcome.
He starred in the 2009 film The Boat That Rocked, released in Canada and the U.S. as Pirate Radio. The film is inspired by the story of offshore pirate broadcasters Radio Caroline. 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,"[7] says O'Dowd 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."[7]
O'Dowd also starred opposite Sienna Miller in the film Hippie Hippie Shake, which is about the groundbreaking '60s magazine, Oz. The publication was the precursor to a whole generation of lad mags. O'Dowd plays Felix Dennis, who would later become the publisher of Maxim. The story centres on the landmark indecency trial. In real-life, O'Dowd's character was defended by John Mortimer who went on to write Rumpole of the Bailey. In preparation for the role, O'Dowd met up with Dennis. "He was an incredibly charismatic man," O'Dowd stated."[7]
In April 2009 it was announced that O'Dowd has been cast in a remake of Gulliver's Travels as General Edward. "It's shooting in Pinewood from the end of April,"[7] said O'Dowd, 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."[7]
O'Dowd appeared in the 2010 film Dinner for Schmucks, an American version of a French farce called Le Dîner de Cons.[8] He also appeared on panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks (Season 21, episode 11), and starred in an ITV2 comedy series entitled FM. In 2010, O'Dowd 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 adaptation of The Crimson Petal and the White as William Rackham and appeared in the May 2011 release Bridesmaids as Officer Nathan Rhodes.
O'Dowd has been announced as a cast member in the Knocked Up sequel This Is 40.[9][10][11] He based his character on people in Hoxton who "wear skinny jeans and hate the world, which comes from an inability to deal with women."[12] He described "fighting over Megan Fox in a pool" during filming as "one of the most fun things I've ever done".[13]
O'Dowd recently wrapped production on Wayne Blair's debut feature, Australian musical The Sapphires.[14] The musical powerhouse, based on a popular stage show, was shot across Australia and Vietnam and produced by Goalpost Australia.[15][16] He is to write and executive produce a new American comedy series called Big Men.,[17] after NBC won the bidding war for it.[18] He co-wrote a series based on his childhood called Moone Boy for Sky One.[19] Segments of the series, which will be aired on Sky 1 in June, were filmed in his hometown of Boyle. Chris O'Dowd did an ad for male breast cancer.[20]. He also does voice-over for adverts for Now TV.
Personal life [edit]
O'Dowd proposed to Dawn Porter on St Stephen's Day (26 December) 2011 in Guernsey. They were married in August 2012.[3]
Filmography [edit]
Film [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Conspiracy of Silence | James | |
| 2004 | Vera Drake | Sid's customer | |
| 2005 | Festival | Tommy O'Dwyer | BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in a Scottish Film |
| 2007 | Hotel Very Welcome | Liam | |
| 2008 | How to Lose Friends & Alienate People | Post Modern Review staff | |
| 2009 | The Boat That Rocked | "Simple" Simon Swafford | |
| 2009 | Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel | Ray | |
| 2010 | Hippie Hippie Shake | Felix Dennis | |
| 2010 | Dinner for Schmucks | Marco | |
| 2010 | Gulliver's Travels | General Edward | |
| 2011 | Bridesmaids | Officer Nathan Rhodes | IFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated—Critic Choice Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated—Phoenix Award for Best Ensemble Acting |
| 2011 | Friends with Kids | Alex | |
| 2012 | 3,2,1... Frankie Go Boom | Bruce | |
| 2012 | The Sapphires | Dave | AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role |
| 2012 | This Is 40 | Ronnie | |
| 2013 | Epic | Grub | Voice |
| 2013 | Cuban Fury | TBA | |
| 2013 | Calvary | TBA | |
| 2013 | Thor: The Dark World | TBA |
Television [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Red Cap | Bernie Maddox | Episode: "Crush" |
| 2003-2005 | The Clinic | Brendan Davenport | Appeared in 18 episodes Nominated—IFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in Television |
| 2005 | The Year London Blew Up: 1974 | Dowd | TV Movie |
| 2006 | Showbands II | Mervin Mooney | TV Movie Nominated—IFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Television |
| 2006 | The Amazing Mrs Pritchard | Headmaster | Appeared in 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Doc Martin | Jonathan Crozier | Episode: "On the Edge" |
| 2006–2010 | The IT Crowd | Roy Trenneman | Main Role Appeared in 24 episodes |
| 2007 | Roman's Empire | Jase | Appeared in 5 episodes |
| 2009 | FM | Lindsay | Main Role Appeared in 6 episodes |
| 2010 | Little Crackers | Himself Santa Claus |
Episode: "Chris O'Dowd's Little Cracker: Capturing Santa" |
| 2011 | The Crimson Petal and the White | William Rackham | TV Miniseries Nominated—IFTA Award for Best TV Actor |
| 2011–2012 | Family Guy | Butler Contestant Guard |
Voice Episodes: "Lottery Fever" and "Viewer Mail #2" |
| 2012–2013 | Girls | Thomas John | Recurring Role Appeared in 5 episodes |
| 2012–present | Moone Boy | Sean Murphy | Creator, writer and actor. Appeared in 6 episodes Nominated—Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Multichannel Programme Nominated—IFTA Award for Best Script Drama Nominated—IFTA Award for Best Supporting TV Actor |
| 2013 | Monsters vs. Aliens | Dr. Cockroach | Voice |
| 2013 | Family Tree | Tom Chadwick | Main Role |
References [edit]
- ^ Biography for Chris O'Dowd at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Laura Barton (2011-06-16). "Chris O'Dowd: From cult IT geek to Hollywood antihero". Evening Standard.
- ^ a b Stuart Husband (2011-06-20). "Chris O'Dowd Interview". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
- ^ "Boyle: Boyle actor in television debut". The Sligo Champion. 2003-01-08.
- ^ http://www.farmersjournal.ie/site/farming-Roscommon%E2%80%99s-IT-guy-9440.html
- ^ a b editor (2012-04-04). "Standing out from the Crowd". College Tribune. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
- ^ a b c d e Nicole Powers (2009-05-09). "Chris O'Dowd: The IT Man From The IT Crowd". SuicideGirls.com. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
- ^ "Chris O'Dowd Interview". Sky TV.
- ^ "Chris O'Dowd for Knocked Up sequel". RTÉ Ten. 2011-06-08.
- ^ "'IT Crowd' star to join 'Knocked Up' spin-off". NME. 2011-06-08.
- ^ "O'Dowd joins Knocked Up spin-off". The Belfast Telegraph. 2011-06-08.
- ^ Gordon Smart (2011-10-19). "Chris O’Dowd is a little too honest". The Sun.
- ^ Gordon Smart (2011-09-22). "Chris O’Dowd’s pool frolics with Megan Fox: IT Crowd geek's scene with sexy star". The Sun.
- ^ "Chris O'Dowd Joins Aussie Musical 'The Sapphires'". IFTN. 2011-08-16.
- ^ "On location and finally acting the part". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2011-10-08.
- ^ "O'Dowd heads to Vietnam for new movie". RTÉ Ten. 2011-08-16.
- ^ "O'Dowd set for US comedy series". RTÉ Ten. 2011-10-27.
- ^ Daniel Frankel (2011-10-26). "NBC Wins Bidding War for Chris O'Dowd Comedy 'Big Men'". Reuters.
- ^ Caroline Crawford (2011-11-26). "O'Dowd hunts twins for his new TV series". Evening Herald.
- ^ "Irish actor Chris O'Dowd supports male cancer awareness". Male Cancer Awareness Campaign. 2012-04-23.
External links [edit]
- Chris O'Dowd at the Internet Movie Database
- Chris O'Dowd on Twitter
- Dan Collacott & Imran Mirza (2010-11-23). "When LF met CHRIS O’DOWD". liberationfrequency.co.uk.
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