Chris O'Donnell

Chris O’Donnell is an actor best known for his leading roles in major ’90s films and his long-running turn on CBS’ NCIS: Los Angeles. Born in Winnetka, Illinois, O’Donnell was raised as the youngest of seven children. He attended Loyola Academy, a Jesuit high school in Wilmette, before enrolling at Boston College, where graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. While in school, he began booking modeling and commercial work, including ads for McDonald’s, which helped launch his entertainment career.

O’Donnell transitioned from commercials to film in the early 1990s, landing his breakout role opposite Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman (1992). His performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor and established him as a rising Hollywood star. He later landed prominent roles in School Ties (1992) and Circle of Friends (1995), becoming one of the decade’s most recognizable young actors. In the late 1990s, he starred as Robin in Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997) before shifting toward television.

O’Donnell went on to portray Special Agent G. Callen on NCIS: Los Angeles, which premiered in 2009 and ran for 14 seasons. Some of his later film appearances include Vertical Limit (2000) and Kinsey (2004). In 2025, he joined the cast of 9-1-1 Nashville as Don Hart.

O’Donnell married Caroline Fentress in 1997. The couple share five children: Lily (born in 1999), Christopher Eugene Jr. (born in 2000), Charles (born in 2003), Finley (born in 2006) and Maeve (born in 2007).