Chris O'Dowd

Christopher O'Dowd (born 9 October 1979) is an Irish actor and comedian. He received wide attention as Roy Trenneman, one of the lead characters in the Channel 4 comedy The IT Crowd, which ran for four seasons from 2006 to 2010. He has starred in films including Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel, Gulliver's Travels (2010), Bridesmaids, Friends with Kids (both 2011), The Sapphires (2012) for which he won an AACTA Award, Cuban Fury (2014), Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016) and The Cloverfield Paradox (2018). He created and starred in the Sky 1 television series Moone Boy, which aired from 2012 to 2015 and brought him Irish Film and Television Award nominations for acting, writing and directing.

Since 2017, he has appeared as Miles Daly in the Epix comedy series Get Shorty. He had a recurring role on the comedy-drama series Girls. His performance in the British comedy TV series State of the Union won him a Primetime Emmy Award. He made his Broadway debut in the play adaptation of Of Mice and Men in 2014, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. In 2020, he was listed as #39 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

Early life and education O'Dowd was born and raised in Boyle, in County Roscommon. His father, Seán, is a sign designer, and his mother, Denise, a counsellor and psychotherapist. He is the youngest of five siblings.

He represented Roscommon in Gaelic football at under-16, minor and under-21 levels, the highlight being his performance as a goalkeeper in the 1997 Connacht Minor Football Championship final against Mayo, a game which RTÉ Sport covered and aired as part of its The Sunday Game highlights programme.

He studied politics and sociology at University College Dublin (UCD), and subsequently attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (leaving before graduating after 18 months). He told the UCD student newspaper the College Tribune: "I didn't finish my degree. The politics part of it was fine, but I was doing sociology as well and I could never bring myself to find an interest in it." He contributed to The University Observer and was active in the UCD Drama Society and the Literary and Historical Society. O'Dowd says of his character. "And then I called in different Irish DJs that would have been contemporaries of Tony Blackburn at the time, a guy called Larry Gogan and a couple of other people." He also appeared on panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks (season 21, episode 11), and starred in an ITV2 comedy series entitled FM. In 2010, he took part in Little Crackers, writing and directing a short film loosely based on his own childhood and Christmas in his family home from 1984 to 1988. In April 2011, he starred in the BBC adaptation of The Crimson Petal and the White as William Rackham, and in the May 2011 release Bridesmaids as Officer Nathan Rhodes.

O'Dowd had a supporting role in This Is 40. He described "fighting over Megan Fox in a pool" during filming as "one of the most fun things I've ever done".

He played Dave in Wayne Blair's 2012 debut feature Australian musical The Sapphires. Based on a popular stage show, it was shot across Australia and Vietnam and produced by Goalpost Australia. He is to write and executive produce a new American comedy series called Big Men, after NBC won the bidding war for it.

He co-wrote Moone Boy, a series based on his childhood, for Sky 1. It was filmed in his hometown of Boyle. Segments of it ran from 2012 to 2015. O'Dowd has also co-written some books based on the series: Moone Boy: The Blunder Years (published May 2015), Moone Boy: The Fish Detective (October 2015), Moone Boy: The Notion Potion (September 2017), and an activity book, Moone Boy: The Marvellous Activity Manual (May 2017).

From April to July 2014, O'Dowd starred in the Broadway revival of Of Mice and Men, directed by Anna D. Shapiro and co-starring James Franco and Leighton Meester, for which O'Dowd was nominated for a Drama Desk and Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. He starred as a Catholic school teacher in the 2014 film St. Vincent with Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy. He was also the narrator for the 2014 RTÉ documentary Man on Bridge.

From 2017 to 2019, O'Dowd played the lead role in three seasons of the MGM+ television show Get Shorty, created by Davey Holmes and co-starring Ray Romano, for which O'Dowd received a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role from the 2018 IFTA Film & Drama Awards.

In 2022, O'Dowd played Philip in the Netflix film Slumberland alongside Jason Momoa, Kyle Chandler and young actress Marlow Barkley.

O’Dowd created and starred in the television series Small Town, Big Story, which premiered 27 February 2025 on Sky.

In 2026 he voiced the character of Mopple, a Merino sheep, in The Sheep Detectives.

Personal life O'Dowd married Scottish writer, director and television presenter Dawn Porter in 2012. After their wedding, Dawn changed her surname to O'Porter. In February 2015, it was announced on Twitter that O'Porter had given birth to their son. In July 2017, O'Porter gave birth to their second son. In 2024, the family relocated back to the UK, following a decade long stay in Los Angeles, they currently divide their time between homes in Bermondsey in London, and Margate in Kent.

O'Dowd says he has developed an antitheist philosophy, and believes religion is "going to be like racism" in terms of social unacceptability and condemnation.

In April 2014, he presented at the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet Competition with Leighton Meester and James Franco, after raising donations for their Broadway show Of Mice and Men.

Performances and works

Film Year Title Role Notes 2003 Conspiracy of Silence James Matthews 2004 Vera Drake Sid's Customer 2005 Festival Tommy O'Dwyer BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in a Scottish Film 2007 Liam 2008 How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Post Modern Review staff2009 The Boat That Rocked "Simple" Simon Swafford AKA Pirate Radio Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel Ray 2010 Hippie Hippie Shake Felix Dennis Dinner for Schmucks Marco Gulliver's Travels General Edward Edwardian 2011 Bridesmaids Wisconsin State Patrol Officer Nathan Rhodes IFTA Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting EnsembleNominated—Phoenix Award for Best Ensemble Acting Friends with Kids Alex 2012 3,2,1... Frankie Go Boom Bruce The Sapphires Dave AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role This Is 40 Ronnie 2013 Epic Grub (voice) The Double Nurse Cameo Thor: The Dark World Richard 2014Calvary Jack Brennan Cuban Fury Drew St. Vincent Brother Geraghty 2015 The Program David Walsh 2016 Mascots Tommy 'Zook' Zucarello Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Franklin Portman 2017 The Incredible Jessica James Boone Love After Love Nicholas Loving Vincent Postman Roulin Voice and reference footage for animation Molly's Game Douglas Downey 2018 Juliet, Naked Duncan Thomson The Cloverfield Paradox Mundy Mary Poppins Returns Shamus the Coachman Dog (voice) 2019 How to Build a Girl Alan Wilko Wilkinson 2021 The Starling Jack Maynard 2022 My Father's Dragon Kwan the Macaque (voice) Slumberland Philip 2026 The Sheep Detectives Mopple (Voice) Artificial Post-production

Television

Theatre

Books Moone Boy: The Blunder Years, Chris O'Dowd and Nick V. Murphy (2014) Moone Boy: The Fish Detective, Chris O'Dowd and Nick V. Murphy (2015) Moone Boy: The Notion Potion, Chris O'Dowd and Nick V. Murphy (2017)