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

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

Early life edit

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 US 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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

Film edit

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
2007 What We Do Is Secret Chris Ashford
2007 After Sex David
2007 Deadbox Tucker
2008 Bar Starz Dick
2008 Pathology Ben Stravinsky
2008 Amusement The Laugh
2009 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Veck Simms
2009 Taking Chances Digger Morris
2009 Civil Everette Higgins Short
2009 The Mother of Invention Tears of a Child Villain
2010 The Runaways Rodney Bingenheimer
2010 When in Rome Father Dino
2010 Miss Nobody L.J. Feffer
2010 No Deal Kygan Video short
2011 The Man Who Never Cried Ralph Winston Short
2012 Free Samples Danny
2012 Complacent Thomas Pulchek
2013 Worm Dustin (voice)
2013 A Case of You Eliot Also writer & producer
2014 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Finney
2014 Bound for Greatness Darren Meadows World Music & Independent Film Festival Award - Best Lead Actor in a Short Film
2014 Speed Dating Ricky Short
2014 American Sniper Jeff Kyle
2015 Return to Sender Tony Desantos Video
2015 David Ramirez: Rock and a Hard Place Ben Short
2015 In the Night A.P. Short
2016 Incarnate Oliver
2017 Gifted Bradley Pollard
2017 Heart, Baby Randy
2020 The Dry Greg Raco
2022 Ambulance FBI Agent Anson Clark
2024 Marmalade Writer & director

Television edit

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

References edit

  1. ^ "archivenew.html". Harvardtheatre.org. 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.

External links edit