Connor Paolo

Connor Paolo (born July 11, 1990 ) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Eric van der Woodsen on the CW's teen drama series Gossip Girl and Declan Porter on the ABC drama series Revenge. He has also appeared in two Oliver Stone films, Alexander and World Trade Center (2006).

Personal life Paolo was born in New York City, the son of Julia Mendelsohn, a vocal coach and classical pianist, and Colin Paolo, a writer and screenwriter.

He attended, beginning in 2006, the Professional Performing Arts School alongside Sarah Hyland, Paul Iacono and Taylor Momsen. He took acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Paolo also attended Appel Farm Arts and Music Center Summer Arts Camp located in Elmer, New Jersey for several summers. He attended New York University for one semester in fall 2008.

Career Paolo played a preteen murderer-rapist in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In 2004, he was on One Life to Live as Travis O'Connell, a recurring character. Paolo also made a return appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing a disturbed teenager based on the real case of Justin Berry.

He made his motion picture debut in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated Mystic River (2003), playing young Sean. Other films include World Trade Center for Oliver Stone in 2006; Snow Angels (2007), directed by David Gordon Green; and Favorite Son (2008), his first leading role.

Paolo has a background in theatre and commercials. He has appeared on the Broadway stage in the hit musical The Full Monty.

In 2010, he starred in the vampire apocalypse film Stake Land directed by Jim Mickle.

From 2007 to 2011, Paolo had a supporting role on the CW television series Gossip Girl, where he played Eric van der Woodsen, the brother of lead character Serena van der Woodsen. His last regular appearance was in the sixth season.

In April 2011, Paolo joined the cast of ABC's dramatic series Revenge. In August 2011, Paolo stated that he would be taking on the new series Revenge full-time and his character Eric van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl would no longer appear on the show. He, however, returned to Gossip Girl for a brief appearance during the series finale. Paolo exited Revenge in May 2013, after his character was written off the second season finale.

In 2020, Variety announced Paolo was joining the cast of the Chris Blake quarantine comedy Distancing Socially. The film was shot at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, using remote technologies and the iPhone 11. The film was acquired and released by Cinedigm in October 2021.

Filmography Film

Year Title Role Notes 2003 Mystic River Young Sean Devine 2004 Alexander Young Alexander 2006 World Trade Center Steven McLoughlin Nominated—Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actor 2007 Snow Angels Warren Hardesky 2008 Favorite Son Ross 2009 The Winning Season Damon 2010 Camp Hell Jack Stake Land Martin 2016 Friend Request Kobe Like Lambs Mick Springfield Outlaw Connor Stake Land II: The Stakelander Martin 2017 Flock of Four Tony Pacarelli 2021 Distancing Socially Paul 2023 Fire Island Troy Ambush Ackerman The Young Wife Geoffrey 2025 Chapter 51 The Critic TBA Viral Post-production TBA Better Half Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes 2002 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Zachary Connor Episode: "Juvenile" 2004 One Life to Live Travis O'Connell 16 episodes 2006 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Teddy Winnock Episode: "Web" 2007–2012 Gossip Girl Eric van der Woodsen Recurring (seasons 1–4); special guest (season 6 episode 10: "New York, I Love You XOXO") 2010 Mercy Everett Cone Episode: "I Did Kill You, Didn't I?" 2011 Stake Land: Origins Martin Episode: "Martin" 2011–2013 Revenge Declan Porter Main cast (seasons 1–2) 2016 Rush Hour Henry Episode: "Welcome Back, Carter" Swedish Dicks Tim Episode: "When Ingmar Met Axel" 2017 The Brave Nate Episode: "Break Out" Business Doing Pleasure Jason Season 1 episodes 1-6 2018 Electric Dreams Ethan Episode: "Safe & Sound" 2020 The Resident Isaac Morgan Episode: "Support System" 2025 Tracker Gunther Becker Season 3, episode 6: "Angel"

Video games

Year Title Role Notes 2006 Bully Tom Gurney

Music videos

Year Artist Song 2012 The Pretty Reckless "My Medicine" 2026 The Pretty Reckless "When I Wake Up"