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Who is Chris O’Dowd?
Irish actor and comedian Christopher ‘Chris’ O’Dowd was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, on 9 October 1979, making Libra his zodiac sign. He has 64 acting credits, and is perhaps known best for portraying Rhodes in the 2011 romantic comedy movie “Bridesmaids”, which starred Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig, and was directed by Paul Feig. It follows a bridesmaid and the maid of honor as they’re competing to become the bride’s best friend – the film won 25 of its 97 award nominations, including two Oscar nominations for Best Writing and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Melissa McCarthy).
As of 2023, Chris is currently shooting and recording for the upcoming movies “Adventures of Super Frank”, and “Puffin Rock and the New Friends” (voice role).
Education and early life
Chris was raised in Boyle alongside his four older siblings, by their mother Denise who was a psychotherapist and counsellor, and father Sean who’s a sign designer.
Chris grew up being interested in Gaelic football and played for the Roscommon team, competing in the U-16 and U-21 leagues; the peak of his football career was being a goalkeeper in the finals against Mayo at the 1997 Connacht Minor Football Championship, which was covered by Irish public broadcaster RTE.
Chris studied at a local high school in Boyle, and became interested in acting during his time there, as he appeared in a couple of school and community theatre plays. He matriculated in 1998, and then enrolled at University College, Dublin, from which he eventually transferred to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in England; Chris revealed in an interview for the newspaper “The College Tribune” that he dropped out before he could graduate, mostly because studying sociology was too much for him.
Roles in TV series
Chris’ debut TV series role was playing Bernie Maddox in the 2003 episode “Crush” of the crime drama “Red Cap”, and from 2003 through 2005, he played Brendan Davenport in 18 episodes of the drama “The Clinic”, which starred Dominic Mafham and Gary Lydon, and was created by Orla Bleahen-Melvin and Lilie Ferrari. It follows the employees of a clinic in Dublin, the series aired from 2003 through 2009 and won five of its 24 award nominations.
The remainder of the 2000s saw Chris appear in an episode or two of the comedy “The Amazing Mrs Pritchard”, the romantic comedy “Doc Martin”, and the comedy mini-series “Roman’s Empire”.
He starred as William Rackham in all four episodes of the 2011 romantic mini-series “The Crimson Petal and the White”, which also starred Romola Garai and Amanda Hale; set in London in the 1870s, it follows a prostitute who’s begun working for a powerful patriarch, and the mini-series won four of its 19 award nominations. Some of Chris’ following roles were in the animated comedy “Family Guy” (voice role), the comedy “Girls”, and another comedy “Family Tree”.
From 2006 through 2013, Chris starred as Roy Trenneman in all 25 episodes of the comedy “The IT Crowd”, which also starred Richard Ayoade and Katherine Parkinson, and follows a group of friends working at an IT support company; the series won nine of the 27 awards for which it was nominated.
Some of Chris’ most recent TV series roles have been in five episodes of the 2022 animated romantic comedy “Big Mouth” (voice role), 10 episodes of the 2023 science fiction comedy “The Big Door Prize”, and three episodes of the animated romantic comedy “Human Resources” also in 2023.
Roles in movies
Chris’ debut film role was playing James in the 2003 crime thriller “Conspiracy of Silence”, and some of his following roles were in the 2004 crime drama “Vera Drake”, the 2005 comedy “Festival” and also in 2005 the documentary “The Year London Blew Up: 1974”.
What marked the 2000s for Chris was perhaps playing Post Modern Review Staff in the 2008 biographical comedy “How to Lose Friends & Alienate People”, which starred Kirsten Dunst and Simon Pegg, and was directed by Robert B. Weide; it follows a British writer as he’s working for a popular magazine in New York City.
A couple of Chris’ following roles were in the 2011 romantic comedy “Friends with Kids”, the comedy “3, 2, 1… Frankie Go Boom” and the biographical comedy “The Sapphires” both in 2012. The year 2013 heard him voice Grub in the popular animated action adventure “Epic”, which starred Beyonce, Josh Hutcherson and Amanda Seyfried, and was directed by Chris Wedge. It follows a teenager who’s been mysteriously teleported into a deep forest where the final battle between good and evil is about to take place – the film won two of its 23 award nominations.
Some of Chris’ most recent film roles have been in the 2021 comedy “The Starling”, the 2022 animated comedy “My Father’s Dragon” and also in 2022 the adventure comedy “Slumberland”.
Chris O'Dowd on Slumberland, Bridesmaids, and that Cloverfield Paradox line https://t.co/z58zOSeNuU pic.twitter.com/Q2KER85AEm
— The A.V. Club (@TheAVClub) November 17, 2022
Other credits
Chris received special thanks for the critically acclaimed 2010 romantic comedy movie “Submarine”.
He wrote the 2010 episode “Chris O’Dowd’s Little Cracker: Capturing Santa” of the comedy series “Little Crackers”, and all 17 episodes of the comedy series “Moone Boy” from 2012 through 2015.
Some of Chris’ recent talk-show appearances have been in “The Morning Show”, “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and “New Mexico Rising!”
Awards and nominations
Chris has won seven of his 33 award nominations, including a 2019 Primetime Emmy win for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, for his performance in “State of the Union”.
Some of his other wins include a 2005 BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in a Scottish Film, for “Festival”, and in 2013 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Award for Best Lead Actor for “The Sapphires” and an International Emmy for Best Comedy, for “Moone Boy”.
Love life and wife
Chris hasn’t shared many details about his love life with the public, but it’s known that the popular actor is today a married man. He and British screenwriter, director and TV presenter Dawn O’Porter (nee Porter) exchanged vows in a small and private ceremony on 26 August 2012, and she then changed her surname to O’Porter instead of becoming ‘Dawn O’Dowd’; she’s perhaps still known best for starring in the documentary show “How to Look Good Naked”, which featured her following a strict diet so that she could slim down to a size zero.
Dawn gave birth to her and Chris’ son Art O’Porter in January 2015, and their second son Valentine followed on 1 July 2017; the family of four splits their time between Margate in England, London in England and Los Angeles in California USA.
There are no other women whom Chris has been with, that we know about; he’s married to Dawn O’Porter as of June 2023, and they have two sons together.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Prior to making it in the film industry, Chris worked at a call center, and was in charge of making solicitation calls for a charity organization working with wildlife; he invented fake endangered animals so that people would be more interested in donating to the charity, including his ‘some kind of flying dolphin’ and a ‘Tiger Swan’.
He’s a collector of chocolate bar wrappers.
Chris and his wife met at her 30th birthday party in 2009.
He’s a huge lover of animals, and he and Dawn have a pet cat Lilu and a pet dog Potato.
More than 250,000 people are following Chris on Instagram today, and he’s posted over 100 pictures and videos onto the network.
Cillian Murphy’s one of his favorite actors, and some of his favorite movies include “In Time”, “Anna” and “Red Eye”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Chris’ age is 43. He has blue eyes and brown hair, is 6ft 3ins (1.91m) tall and weighs around 195lbs (88kgs).
Chris’ net worth’s been estimated at over $6 million, as of June 2023.
