Chris O'Donnell is an American actor who is remembered for his starring roles in "Batman Forever", "Batman and Robin", "The Bachelor", "Vertical Limit". Currently, the actor prefers to work in television projects, in particular, shooting in the multi-season crime detective series "NCIS: Los Angeles".
Biography of Chris O'Donnell
Christopher Eugene O'Donnell was born on June 26, 1970 in Winnetka, Illinois, USA, into a large wealthy family of Julia Ann and William Charles O'Donnell. Chris was the youngest of 7 children. The actor has Irish, German, English and Swiss roots.
Chris was a teenager, at the age of 13, got into the modeling business, and at 16 he already appeared in McDonald's commercials on TV. At the age of 17, Chris was invited to audition for the series "Jack and Mike", and later - for the film "Men Don't Leave" and approved of his candidacy. He didn't want to go to the casting, but his mother insisted and promised to buy him a new car if Chris got the role.
Chris O'Donnell's early career
In 1995, the handsome young Chris O'Donnell was the dream of many girls. The actor's popularity grew from film to film. At the very beginning of his career, Chris was remembered for his cameo role in the film Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) with Katie Bates. This was followed by a supporting role in the drama with Brendan Fraser and Matt Damon "School Ties" (1992).
In 1993, Chris was already nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in Al Pacino's Scent of a Woman. In the same year, the actor starred in the film adaptation of the novel by Alexandre Dumas "The Three Musketeers" (1993) in the role of D'Artagnan. The film turned out to be light, funny and adventurous, which did not become something outstanding in the career of a young actor.
In the mid-90s, Chris starred in the drama Wild Love (1995), full of emotional and love experiences of the protagonist for his mentally unhealthy darling, played by Drew Barrymore.
In contrast to this motion picture, the actor embodied the image of the main character on the screen in the touching, melancholic and vital melodrama Circle of Friends (1995).
Chris O'Donnell in Batman
For most actors, a role in big-budget films, especially superhero ones, marks a major breakthrough in their film careers. This happened to Chris when he played Batman's partner (Val Kilmer) in Batman Forever (1995). The film was a commercial success at the box office, recouping production costs three times.
The film franchise followed two years later when the sequel to Batman and Robin (1997) was released. The director did not invite Val Kilmer to play Batman due to disagreements on the set, so George Clooney was cast instead of the main character. Despite the fact that the film paid off twice at the box office, the film turned out to be an absolute flop for comic book fans and the worst embodiment of the superhero image of the Marvel Universe. It was the release of this film that negatively affected Chris's career.
Such a stunning failure removed from the agenda Chris's upcoming idea of releasing his own franchise, where the hero Robin would become a full-fledged character on a par with Batman.
In 1999, the actor starred in the romantic comedy "The Bachelor" with Renee Zellweger. The film flopped at the box office and received a low rating from film critics, but was warmly received by the audience.
Missed career opportunities
Chris could have played the lead role of Jay's secret agent in Men in Black (1997). At the time, Steven Spielberg was the executive producer of the fantasy action movie Men in Black and insisted that director Barry Sonnenfeld take on the lead role of O'Donnell. However, the interests in the selection of actors turned out to be of different polarities. Sonnenfeld saw only Will Smith in the guise of a secret agent. As a result, Barry Sonnenfeld did his best and resorted to deception so that Chris would not agree to participate in the motion picture, saying: “I am not a very good director and I don’t think the script for the film is good enough. If you have any other invitations to the films, use them better. As a result, the fantastic action movie Men in Black became incredibly popular and successful both at the box office (grossed $ 589 million with a budget of $ 90 million) and in positive reviews from film critics and viewers. Young actor Will Smith became mega-famous, while Chris gradually faded into the shadows.
The next blunder in the actor's career was the film "Titanic". Chris and Leonardo DiCaprio had known each other for a long time from the early film works of the 90s, moreover, even outwardly they were similar, and they were often offered samples for the same role. DiCaprio could play the character of Robin in "Batman", but refused, considering his image unsuitable for himself. Chris was considered for the role of Jack Dawson, but James Cameron still preferred to see DiCaprio. Today the melodrama "Titanic" ranks second among the highest-grossing films in the history of cinema (the first is "Avatar"), and the name "Leonardo DiCaprio" has become a household name.
Chris O'Donnell's career after the 2000s
The actor's film career in the zero years began to decline. The most significant work of the actor at this time - the main role in the drama "Vertical Limit" (2000), dedicated to the theme of the survival of freight forwarders in the extreme conditions of Mount Everest.
Then Chris starred in several passing films and moved on to participate in television projects. At the moment, the actor does not intend to return to the big screen, preferring the main role in the series NCIS: Los Angeles.
Personal life of Chris O'Donnell
Chris is one of the few actors who can boast of both Hollywood fame and a strong family. The actor himself admits that he was very lucky: “When I decided to connect my life with the acting business, I realized that it would hardly be possible to have a successful career and a happy family at the same time. Something will have to be sacrificed. Career was in the first place in my plans, and I was planning to start a family after 30 years”.
However, fate turned out to be more than favorable to the actor. Back in his student years, Chris met his future wife Caroline Fentress - the sister of his roommate, who at that time worked as a primary school teacher. The couple got married in 1997, and for almost 22 years now, the couple have been proud of their strong and happy family. The actor has five children: three sons and two daughters.
In addition to filming TV shows, the actor is actively involved in charity work, in particular, helping certain social strata of the population in finding work (physically limited and conditionally convicted).
Because of his great love for pizza, Chris even hired his own chef to cook his family's favorite meal in the backyard of the house. And in 2017, the actor opened an Italian restaurant-pizzeria "Pizzana" in the USA.
