Chris O'Dowd
9 October 1979
Sligo, Ireland
6' 3" (1,91 m)
Chris O'Dowd was born on October 9, 1979 in Sligo, Ireland.
He has been married to Dawn O'Porter since August 26, 2012. They have one child.
Trivia
Has a collection of over a thousand chocolate bar wrappers.
Engaged to Dawn O'Porter [December 30, 2011].
As an Irishman, he says he felt an unexpected kinship with Aboriginals while making The Sapphires (2012).
Lives in Los Angeles with Dawn O'Porter and her dog (potato) and cat (lilu).
In a 2014 interview on the NPR interview program "Fresh Air with Terry Gross," O'Dowd told Gross that before he was an actor he worked at a call center, and one of his jobs was making solicitation calls for a well known wildlife charity. He said that the endangered animals that he was supposed to tell potential donors about--like New Guinean bats or newts from New Zealand--were unappealing to people, so he started making up fake endangered animals that he thought would be more attractive to them. One was a "tiger swan," which he described as "essentially a swan with the markings of a Bengal"; one was "some kind of flying dolphin".
Personal Quotes
[on not pitching his TV show Moone Boy (2012) to Ireland's national broadcaster RTE] A show like this is expensive. It just never came up. I don't think RTE even have a comedy department. I wouldn't know who the f**k to pitch it to.
[re his role in The Sapphires (2012) with Aboriginal girl singers] I was really surprised by how similar Aboriginals and Irish people are, like in their mentality, particularly coming from that time [1960s]... I think it's why the character as an Irish guy works quite well, because we're all part of the same team.
When I say I hate nostalgia, I hate things set in the recent past where everything is shiny and new.
A guy who's actually self destructive is quite fun to play.
After 'Bridesmaids,' women know who I am.
All of this talk of recession offends me. I am delighted that bankers have less money.
Being at the genesis of the creative process is definitely something I want to keep doing. It's just such a great buzz.
Beyonce is the most amazing woman in the world.
Comedy writing is taking the brief thought and going with it.
For some reason, I find that in the course of my career I've worked with more women than most men have.
Going out with other actors is never good; actresses are neurotic, and actors are horrendous egotists.
Hey, I think comic actors are the best actors.
When I was about 13 I realised girls weren't going to kiss me because I was a gigantic, weird looking creature from the depths. I was like 6 ft. aged 11.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be serious, like Daniel Day-Lewis. No one really dreams of being a comic actor, do they? Now I realise how stupid that is - and it's because comic acting isn't taken seriously enough. It's a discipline. You know instantly - either you're funny and getting the laughs, or you're not.
Well, when you're the youngest of five, parents kind of lose interest more and more through the children. I think my eldest brother was under loads of pressure to do something amazing with his life, but by the time I came around they were like, 'Well, let's hope he doesn't kill a guy.'
L.A. is fun, but it feels like one of those towns in the north of Scotland where there's an oil rig just off the coast and whether or not you work for the oil rig, everyone is connected to it.
I've gone up for loads of jobs in the past that I knew were going to be terrible, and I've done my best, and I still haven't got them. So I think I've been lucky in who's decided I'd be worthy of their time.
I've always been conscious of the fact that there aren't enough Irish voices on British television compared to the amount of Irish people who live there.
I'm never overawed by a situation and I think that's because I've always looked several years older than I am. So because people were treating me like I was 40 when I was 29, I've always felt in control of a situation. People used to say, when you're 32, you'll look 32. I'm still waiting for that moment, where my age catches up with my appearance.
I think there's something in the fact that it's hard to be good looking and funny. You have to have an oddball quality; people have to sympathise with you to find you funny.
I get asked all the time if I want to do more dramatic acting, and I really doubt that dramatic actors get asked if they want to do more comedies. I don't really know why that is.
I feel like I need to start wearing a T-shirt saying 'This is not a photo opportunity'. People are so lovely but you do find that when you're out you spend 40% of your time posing for photographs.
I don't know if I'd do an action movie because I don't know if I could keep a straight face; honestly, I just think it's so silly. Like, I love watching them but I can't imagine me doing one.
What I think improv is great for is making dialogue more natural.
There tends to be a jealousy in England towards countries that are successful.
The fame thing has happened very gradually, so I've been kind of lucky.
The bottom line is that female writers aren't being given enough opportunities by male producers.
Social media is great, I guess, but it feels like technology is the sapper of innocence.
Reviewers are the worst laughers in the world.
Put it this way: singing is not my day job.
People in England talk about stupid Hollywood idiots, but the industry attracts some of the cleverest people in the world.
Louis C. K. makes me laugh, I must say.
In comedy it helps if there's a friendly atmosphere on the set.
I'd like my super power to be puns; I'd like to be great at puns: pun power. Then I could go on loads of panel shows and live off that forever.
I would be nothing if it wasn't for the town where I grew up and the people who gave me my inspiration.
I think I'm going to keep my Irish accent forever now in any movie I make, because chicks dig it and that's all I care about now!
I play very sweet characters, so people look at me like I'm the kid from 'The Wonder Years,' rather than Brad Pitt.
I often talk to myself while walking down the street. I did it as a kid.
I'm probably working on three different scripts at any time, so there's never a time where I've got nothing to do.
I'm more like a spoon symbol. I think women just want to spoon me.
I'm a huge, huge believer in love. Huge!
I'm a Hawaiian shirt guy. I've made that life decision.
I'd like to think that I'm getting slightly more mature as time goes on, but I don't know if my fiance would necessarily agree.
I never go to these showbiz parties. I avoid them with a 10-inch pole.
I mean, I'm an uncle of seven or eight, and I don't mind it at all! Kids are great. Kids are the best six-hour experience you can have!
I just am so tired of really badly written women. It's so boring.
I grew up in a house of forthright women.
I grew up among strong women so I know what it's like to be loved and humiliated in a heartbeat.
I don't think the public here buy this idea that women and men speak different comedic languages.
I don't mind being slightly fat-ish, I just don't want to be fat.
I definitely want to keep working in Ireland, and without being too worthy about it, if it's possible to bring work into the country, that's no harm.
I cook rarely, but I've kind of got two or three dishes that I stick to. I do a great sweet potato and lentil curry.
I come from a musical kind of family.
I've no interest in fame. Absolutely none. Now okay, when you start doing well, there's a novelty to it that's kind of exciting. It's like nothing you've ever experienced. It's great. But now, it's not something that attracts me in anyway. The shriekers, I have no time for shriekers. It all feels so fucking fake. 'Yeah, I tell jokes on television, fucking relax.' There's so many shriekers. Like, generally, 13-year-old girls tend to shriek. And I want to be nice about it, I do, because they are excited but you think, 'just fucking calm down'. Everybody has gone fame mad. If somebody said to me I didn't have to be famous, I'd be delighted. But I love my job so much that it's one of the consequences of it.
We have half-acre or so of land behind our house, and my dad worked from home, so we bought him a donkey for this fiftieth birthday. We had enough money for a donkey but not enough for a fence. So the donkey would just leave, and it was my job to go into town and find it. At exactly the time when you're starting to appreciate girls and feel very self-conscious, the worst thing that you could do is walk a donkey through the town.
[on what he eventually plans to read to his three-month-old son] Right now the only one that we're reading is "Go the Fuck to Sleep". I'm looking forward to Roald Dahl.
I think Ireland, pound for pound, is the funniest country in the world. The thing I miss being away is the banter in the pubs - it is so strong and oddly civilized, smart.
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(Gifs and photos: source_Tumblr)
birthdays_OFFmag
Has a collection of over a thousand chocolate bar wrappers.
Engaged to Dawn O'Porter [December 30, 2011].
As an Irishman, he says he felt an unexpected kinship with Aboriginals while making The Sapphires (2012).
Lives in Los Angeles with Dawn O'Porter and her dog (potato) and cat (lilu).
In a 2014 interview on the NPR interview program "Fresh Air with Terry Gross," O'Dowd told Gross that before he was an actor he worked at a call center, and one of his jobs was making solicitation calls for a well known wildlife charity. He said that the endangered animals that he was supposed to tell potential donors about--like New Guinean bats or newts from New Zealand--were unappealing to people, so he started making up fake endangered animals that he thought would be more attractive to them. One was a "tiger swan," which he described as "essentially a swan with the markings of a Bengal"; one was "some kind of flying dolphin".
[on not pitching his TV show Moone Boy (2012) to Ireland's national broadcaster RTE] A show like this is expensive. It just never came up. I don't think RTE even have a comedy department. I wouldn't know who the f**k to pitch it to.
[re his role in The Sapphires (2012) with Aboriginal girl singers] I was really surprised by how similar Aboriginals and Irish people are, like in their mentality, particularly coming from that time [1960s]... I think it's why the character as an Irish guy works quite well, because we're all part of the same team.
When I say I hate nostalgia, I hate things set in the recent past where everything is shiny and new.
A guy who's actually self destructive is quite fun to play.
After 'Bridesmaids,' women know who I am.
All of this talk of recession offends me. I am delighted that bankers have less money.
Being at the genesis of the creative process is definitely something I want to keep doing. It's just such a great buzz.
Beyonce is the most amazing woman in the world.
Comedy writing is taking the brief thought and going with it.
For some reason, I find that in the course of my career I've worked with more women than most men have.
Going out with other actors is never good; actresses are neurotic, and actors are horrendous egotists.
Hey, I think comic actors are the best actors.
When I was about 13 I realised girls weren't going to kiss me because I was a gigantic, weird looking creature from the depths. I was like 6 ft. aged 11.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be serious, like Daniel Day-Lewis. No one really dreams of being a comic actor, do they? Now I realise how stupid that is - and it's because comic acting isn't taken seriously enough. It's a discipline. You know instantly - either you're funny and getting the laughs, or you're not.
Well, when you're the youngest of five, parents kind of lose interest more and more through the children. I think my eldest brother was under loads of pressure to do something amazing with his life, but by the time I came around they were like, 'Well, let's hope he doesn't kill a guy.'
L.A. is fun, but it feels like one of those towns in the north of Scotland where there's an oil rig just off the coast and whether or not you work for the oil rig, everyone is connected to it.
I've gone up for loads of jobs in the past that I knew were going to be terrible, and I've done my best, and I still haven't got them. So I think I've been lucky in who's decided I'd be worthy of their time.
I've always been conscious of the fact that there aren't enough Irish voices on British television compared to the amount of Irish people who live there.
I'm never overawed by a situation and I think that's because I've always looked several years older than I am. So because people were treating me like I was 40 when I was 29, I've always felt in control of a situation. People used to say, when you're 32, you'll look 32. I'm still waiting for that moment, where my age catches up with my appearance.
I think there's something in the fact that it's hard to be good looking and funny. You have to have an oddball quality; people have to sympathise with you to find you funny.
I get asked all the time if I want to do more dramatic acting, and I really doubt that dramatic actors get asked if they want to do more comedies. I don't really know why that is.
I feel like I need to start wearing a T-shirt saying 'This is not a photo opportunity'. People are so lovely but you do find that when you're out you spend 40% of your time posing for photographs.
I don't know if I'd do an action movie because I don't know if I could keep a straight face; honestly, I just think it's so silly. Like, I love watching them but I can't imagine me doing one.
What I think improv is great for is making dialogue more natural.
There tends to be a jealousy in England towards countries that are successful.
The fame thing has happened very gradually, so I've been kind of lucky.
The bottom line is that female writers aren't being given enough opportunities by male producers.
Social media is great, I guess, but it feels like technology is the sapper of innocence.
Reviewers are the worst laughers in the world.
Put it this way: singing is not my day job.
People in England talk about stupid Hollywood idiots, but the industry attracts some of the cleverest people in the world.
Louis C. K. makes me laugh, I must say.
In comedy it helps if there's a friendly atmosphere on the set.
I'd like my super power to be puns; I'd like to be great at puns: pun power. Then I could go on loads of panel shows and live off that forever.
I would be nothing if it wasn't for the town where I grew up and the people who gave me my inspiration.
I think I'm going to keep my Irish accent forever now in any movie I make, because chicks dig it and that's all I care about now!
I play very sweet characters, so people look at me like I'm the kid from 'The Wonder Years,' rather than Brad Pitt.
I often talk to myself while walking down the street. I did it as a kid.
I'm probably working on three different scripts at any time, so there's never a time where I've got nothing to do.
I'm more like a spoon symbol. I think women just want to spoon me.
I'm a huge, huge believer in love. Huge!
I'm a Hawaiian shirt guy. I've made that life decision.
I'd like to think that I'm getting slightly more mature as time goes on, but I don't know if my fiance would necessarily agree.
I never go to these showbiz parties. I avoid them with a 10-inch pole.
I mean, I'm an uncle of seven or eight, and I don't mind it at all! Kids are great. Kids are the best six-hour experience you can have!
I just am so tired of really badly written women. It's so boring.
I grew up in a house of forthright women.
I grew up among strong women so I know what it's like to be loved and humiliated in a heartbeat.
I don't think the public here buy this idea that women and men speak different comedic languages.
I don't mind being slightly fat-ish, I just don't want to be fat.
I definitely want to keep working in Ireland, and without being too worthy about it, if it's possible to bring work into the country, that's no harm.
I cook rarely, but I've kind of got two or three dishes that I stick to. I do a great sweet potato and lentil curry.
I come from a musical kind of family.
I've no interest in fame. Absolutely none. Now okay, when you start doing well, there's a novelty to it that's kind of exciting. It's like nothing you've ever experienced. It's great. But now, it's not something that attracts me in anyway. The shriekers, I have no time for shriekers. It all feels so fucking fake. 'Yeah, I tell jokes on television, fucking relax.' There's so many shriekers. Like, generally, 13-year-old girls tend to shriek. And I want to be nice about it, I do, because they are excited but you think, 'just fucking calm down'. Everybody has gone fame mad. If somebody said to me I didn't have to be famous, I'd be delighted. But I love my job so much that it's one of the consequences of it.
We have half-acre or so of land behind our house, and my dad worked from home, so we bought him a donkey for this fiftieth birthday. We had enough money for a donkey but not enough for a fence. So the donkey would just leave, and it was my job to go into town and find it. At exactly the time when you're starting to appreciate girls and feel very self-conscious, the worst thing that you could do is walk a donkey through the town.
[on what he eventually plans to read to his three-month-old son] Right now the only one that we're reading is "Go the Fuck to Sleep". I'm looking forward to Roald Dahl.
I think Ireland, pound for pound, is the funniest country in the world. The thing I miss being away is the banter in the pubs - it is so strong and oddly civilized, smart.
(Gifs and photos: source_Tumblr)
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