Scent of a Woman

Background:

Model-turned-actor Chris O’Donnell is one of Hollywood’s leading men from his generation whose flair covers the assortment from action and adventure to romance, comedy and drama. A Golden Globe nominee, O’ Donnell’s claim to fame was character Charlie Simms, a student reluctantly shanghaied into accompanying a belligerent blind military officer (Al Pacino) to NYC, in Martin Brest multi-Academy Award winning Scent of a Woman (1992), in which he earned a nomination at the Golden Globes. Coupled with his fine performance as a preppie rooming with a Jewish student in School Ties (1992), O’Donnell was named the Chicago Film Critics Association Most Promising Actor.

Receiving his breakthrough debut screen role as Jessica Lange’s rebellious son Chris McCauley in the drama Men Don't Leave (1990), O’Donnell continued to make impressions with his performances in the Oscar-nominated Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), The Three Musketeers (1993), the romantic comedy Circle of Friends (1995), James Foley big-screen adaptation of John Grisham’s The Chamber (1996) and Robert Altman’s critically acclaimed Cookie’s Fortune (1999). He is also well-known to international fans for playing daredevil acrobat and fledgling superhero Dick Grayson/Robin in the highly successful Batman series, Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), where he won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award.

Already popular as a film star, O’Donnell also tried his hand at producing by forming a production company called George Street Pictures, in 1997. Two years later, he debuted as an executive producer with the romantic comedy The Bachelor (1999), which also saw him starring as a reluctant groom, forced to marry within a one-day period in order to inherit millions.

O’Donnell’s admirers could also watch his acting in the recent and upcoming action adventure Vertical Limit (2000), the drama/thriller 29 Palms (2002), the biopic Kinsey (2004), the drama The Sisters (2005) and Matt Nix’s comedy Cock & Bull (2006). Recently, the actor also costarred in the short-lived TV series Head Cases (2005).

Off screen, Chris O’Donnell was listed as one of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in the World” (1996) and was chosen as one of John Willis’ Screen World’s 12 “Promising New Actors” (1992). An ardent golfer who belongs to a number of clubs including Pine Valley and The Bel Air Country Club, O’Donnell participated in a golf event and raised $500,000 for the Motion Picture and Television Fund in 2000. As for his private life, O’Donnell enjoys his life out off spotlight with his wife of eight years, Caroline Fentress, and their three children, Lily Anne (born in 1999), Eugene O’Donnell Jr. (born in 2000) and Charles McHugh O’Donnell (born in 2003).


Family Man

Childhood and Family:

In Winnetka, Illinois, Christopher Eugene O’Donnell, whose stage name is Chris O'Donnell, was born on June 26, 1970. He was raised in an Irish Catholic family by his father, William O’Donnell, a radio manager, and his mother, Julie O’Donnell, a realtor. Chris is the youngest of the family and he has four sisters and two brothers.

As a teenager, Chris was very interested in modeling. Inspired by his friend who received $60 a session, Chris began taking jobs by age 13. By the time he was 16, the blond, blue-eyed Chris had appeared on TV commercials. A year later, he considered leaving modeling and acting, but was asked to audition for the film Men Don’t Leave (1990). After some protests, young Chris eventually went to the audition after his mother promised to buy him a new car if he got the role.

A native of Illinois, Chris attended the Loyola Academy in Chicago, Illinois, and was a law student at the University of California in Los Angeles. He graduated from Boston College in Boston, Massachusetts, with a B.A. degree in Marketing.
“It’s the most amazing feeling to hold your child in your arms.” Chris O’Donnell

At age 27, on April 19, 1997, Chris happily tied the knot with Caroline Fentress, a school teacher whose brother was Chris’ college roommate. The couple’s first baby, daughter Lily Anne, was born on September 3, 1999, while they were in New Zealand filming Vertical Limit. Their second child, a son named Eugene O’Donnell Jr., was born a year later, on October 30, 2000. Chris and his wife welcomed their third child, Charles McHugh O’Donnell, on July 11, 2003.


Batman & Robin

Career:

13-year-old Chris O’Donnell got his start as a model. Shortly after, his face was recognized as a print model for Marshall Field’s department stores. By the time he was 16, O’Donnell had appeared in several commercials for local TV. The same year, he also landed his professional acting debut in an episode of the ABC series “Jack and Mike,” which was shot in Chicago. After a commercial gig for McDonald’s, 17-year-old O’Donnell considered leaving modeling and acting, but his mother convinced him to join in an audition for the film Men Don't Leave.

Young O’Donnell finally kicked of his film career when he won the role of Jessica Lange’s seditious son Chris McCauley in Paul Brickman’s drama film Men Don't Leave (shot in 1988, released in 1990). His performance was liked by many critics and received praise. Following the success, O’Donnell’s career began to take flight.

O’Donnell was then offered the small part of the hopeless brother of Mary Stuart Masterson’s Idgie Threadgoode in Jon Avnet’s Oscar-nominated Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) before delivering a well turn as Chris Reece, the WASPy roommate of a Jewish student (Brendan Fraser) in School Ties (1992). The sport-themed film also starred Matt Damon, Ben Affect and Amy Locane.
His big beak arrived that same year when Martin Brest cast O’Donnell in the supporting role of a student named Charlie Simms, who is assigned to accompany a loud-mouthed blind military officer (Al Pacino) to NYC, in his drama film Scent of a Woman (1992). The film was a huge victory as it nabbed many Oscars. As for O’Donnell, his brilliant acting handed him a Chicago Film Critics Association for Most Promising Actor (tied with his performance in the 1992 School Ties), as well as a Golden Globe nomination.

Moving to the action genre, O’Donnell received offers to play one of the swordsmen in the successful remake of The Three Musketeers (1993). Though he was overshadowed by his more flamboyant co-stars Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland, O’Donnell impressed the public with his turn as naïve D'Artagnan. As a result, he was named the NATO/ShoWest Male Star of Tomorrow in 1994. The rising star rejoined Jessica Lange in Blue Sky, where he portrayed the boyfriend of Lange’s onscreen daughter Amy Locane. He next adopted an Irish dialect to play the lead of Jack Foley, a big man on campus who catches the attention of an obese dreamer, in the romantic comedy sleeper Circle of Friends (1995), opposite Minnie Driver. O’Donnell further cemented his position as a romantic leading man when he was teamed with wild girl Drew Barrymore in Antonia Bird’s Mad Love (1995).

Returning to the action genre, O’Donnell won over audiences worldwide with his stand-out supporting turn as circus acrobat Dick Grayson/Robin to Val Kilmer’s Bruce Wayne/Batman in Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever (1995). The movie became the highest grossing film of 1995. He followed the triumph with a memorable starring role of inexpert attorney Adam Hall, who is trying to save his racist grandpa from Death Row, in the big-screen version of John Grisham’s The Chamber (1996), helmed by James Foley. In the biographical romance In Love and War (1996), O’Donnell costarred as young Ernest Hemingway, opposite Mackenzie Astin and Sandra Bullock. A year later, the actor reprised Dick Grayson/Robin, this time opposite George Clooney’s Bruce Wayne/Batman, in the box-office smash hit Batman & Robin (1997), in which he took home a 1998 Blockbuster Entertainment for Favorite Supporting Actor. After the film, O’Donnell took a hiatus to get married.

O’Donnell made his way back to film in 1999 when he landed the supporting role of a ridiculous deputy romancing Liv Tyler in Robert Altman’s Southern Gothic comedy Cookie’s Fortune. The critically acclaimed movie also starred Glenn Close, Julianne Moore and Charles Dutton. The same year, he was the leading man in The Bachelor, a romantic comedy loosely based on the 1925 Buster Keaton film Seven Chances, where he was cast as a single man who must marry within a 24-hour period to inherit his grandfather’s multi-million dollar estate. The film was produced by his production company, George Street Pictures, in connection with New Line.

Starring as Peter Garrett, a mountain climber who must rescue his sister who is trapped in a vertical cave in the Himalayas, in the action adventure Vertical Limit was O’Donnell’s opening picture in the new millennium. He next left the screen to participate on stage in Arthur Miller’s production of “The Man Who Had All the Luck” (2001) at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and recreated his role on Broadway in the spring of 2002. Also in 2002, O’Donnell returned to the silver screen with a small part in the Leonardo Ricagni-directed film 29 Palms (2002). He then had a recurring performance in the ABC drama “The Practice” in 2003 before appearing as a guest star in the hit sitcom “Two and a Half Men” the following year. On the wide screen, O’Donnell was seen as researcher Wardell Pomeroy in the biopic Kinsey (2004), starring Liam Neeson. Recently, the actor found himself acting with Mario Bello and Eric McCormack in The Sisters (2005), a drama by Arthur Allan Seidelman. O’Donnell then teamed up with Adam Goldberg to star in the FOX series Head Cases (2005), but it was axed after two episodes. Chris will be back on the big screen in 2006 with the Matt Nix-helmed comedy Cock & Bull (2006), opposite Sarah Polley.


Awards:

- Blockbuster Entertainment: Favorite Supporting Actor - Sci-Fi, Batman & Robin, 1998
- ShoWest: Male Star of Tomorrow, 1994
- Chicago Film Critics Association: Most Promising Actor, Scent of a Woman and School Ties, 1992