Peggy Sue Got Married

Background:

An American actor who originally wanted to become a cartoonist before switching gears to acting, Kevin O' Connor first came to prominence with his role as Michael Fitzsimmons on the Francis Ford Coppola-directed “Peggy Sue Got Married” (1986), his film debut. Since then, he has played supporting roles in many films, including Alan Rudolph's “The Moderns” (1988) and “Love at Large” (1990), Herbert Ross' “Steel Magnolias” (1989), “F/X2” (1991), Stephen Frears' “Hero” (1992),“Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions” (1995), Steven Spielberg's “Amistad” (1997), “Chill Factor” (1998), “Seraphim Falls” (2006) and others. He also costarred in the films “Flight of the Living” (2007) and Paul Thomas Anderson's “There Will Be Blood” (2007). O'Connor is the favorite of director/writer Stephen Sommer, who has cast him in such films as “Deep Rising” (1998), “The Mummy” (1999) and “Van Helsing” (2004, as Igor). On the small screen, O'Connor has played roles in the short-lived series “The Others” (2000) and “Gideon's Crossing” (2000).

Off screen, O'Connor is divorced from his former wife Jane Elizabeth Unrue. He now divides his time between Los Angeles, California and his hometown, Chicago, Illinois.

Fan of Schulz

Childhood and Family:

Kevin James O'Connor was born in Chicago, Illinois, on November 15, 1963. His father is James O'Connor, a retired Chicago police officer, and his mother is Patricia Connelly, a retired school teacher. He has two brothers, David (older) and Christopher (younger). Kevin grew up idolizing such cartoonists as Chester Gould and Charles Schulz, and dreamed of becoming a cartoonist himself someday. He graduated from St. Laurence High School in 1981 and then trained as an actor at the DePaul/Goodman School of Drama.

In 1998, Kevin was married to Jane Elizabeth Unrue, but they later divorced.

There Will Be Blood

Career:

An aspiring cartoonist, Kevin J. O'Connor got his first taste of performing in front of public in a St. Laurence High School production of “Oliver!”, in which he portrayed 'Bill Sykes.' He later changed his goal, and after high school graduation, he trained for a career in theater. The Chicago-born and bred performer appeared in Raphael Lima's production of “El Salvador” at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater and then broke into the New York stage with the Off-Broadway “The Colorado Catechism,” by Vincent J. Cardinal, at the Circle Repertory Company.

O'Connor was living in New York when he received a call from Los Angeles for an audition with Francis Ford Coppola. A few weeks later, he kicked off his film career with his role as a leading love interest, Michael Fitzsimmons, on “Peggy Sue Got Married” (1986), starring Kathleen Turner in the title role. He then moved to Hollywood, and has since got steady jobs in the entertainment industry.

O'Connor starred as Julius on the independent drama “Candy Mountain” (1988), played the supporting role of Hemingway in Keith Carradine's starring vehicle “The Moderns” (1988), helmed by Alan Rudolph, appeared with Beau Bridges, Vincent D'Onofrio and Arthur Kennedy in “Signs of Life” (1989) before having a prominent supporting role as Sammy Desoto in the Herbert Ross-directed “Steel Magnolias” (1989), opposite Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah and the Oscar nominee Julia Roberts. Meanwhile, on television, he played Taggerty Hayes on the comedy series “Tanner 88” and Lt. Thomas Keefer on Robert Altman's “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” (both 1988).

After appearing in the romance/thriller “Love at Large” (1990), again directed by Rudolph, O' Connor continued to have supporting parts in such films as “F/X2” (1991), Stephen Frears' “Hero” (1992), “Color of Night” (1994), starring Bruce Willis as a color-blind psychiatrist named Bill Capa, the comedy “Canadian Bacon” (1995, opposite John Candy and Alan Alda), the Denzel Washington vehicle “ Virtuosity” (1995), “Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions” (1995), “Hit Me” (1996) and Steven Spielberg's “Amistad” (1997). It was in 1998 that the industrious actor began his partnership with filmmaker Stephen Sommer, when he was cast opposite Treat Williams, Famke Janssen and Anthony Heald in the science-fiction adventure film “Deep Rising” (1998), playing Joey 'Tooch' Pantucci. They reunited a year later for the Oscar-nominated for Best Sound, “The Mummy,” which starred Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. The same year, O'Connor also acted in Hugh Johnson's “Chill Factor” and “If... Dog... Rabbit...,” written and directed by and starring Matthew Modine.

Entering the new millennium, O'Connor found himself playing supporting roles in two short-lived television series. In “The Others” (2000), a supernatural show which was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, he portrayed Warren Day, opposite Julianne Nicholson as Marian Kitt, Gabriel Macht as Dr. Mark Gabriel, and John Billingsley as Prof. Miles Ballard, while in the ABC drama “Gideon's Crossing” (2000-2001), he appeared as Dr. Michael Pirandello. After the unsuccessful attempts, he disappeared from the screen for a few years.

In 2004, O'Connor made a bright return with his famed portrayal of Dr. Frankenstein's assistant Igor on the Sommers big-budget horror-actioner “Van Helsing.” The film starred Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale and Richard Roxburgh. The following year, he appeared as Dr. Evan Chapel on an episode of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”

Next up for O' Connor, he supported Matthew Modine and Gina Gershon for the comedy/romance “Kettle of Fish” (2006), appeared with Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan on the Western film “Seraphim Falls” (2006) and played Frank in the horror “Flight of the Living” (2007), costarring David Chisum and Kristen Kerr. His new film, “There Will Be Blood” (2007), directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, was shown on the Fantastic Fest on September 27, 2007 before its theatrical release on January 11, 2008. There he stars as Henry Brands, opposite Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview.

Awards:
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