Chris O'Dowd

Chris O’Dowd was born and brought up in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland. His father, Seán, works as a sign designer, while his mother, Denise, is a counsellor and psychotherapist. He is the youngest of five children.

As a teenager, O’Dowd represented Roscommon in Gaelic football at the under-16, minor, and under-21 levels. One of his notable moments was serving as goalkeeper in the 1997 Connacht Minor Football Championship final against Mayo, which was featured on RTÉ Sport’s The Sunday Game.

He studied politics and sociology at University College Dublin (UCD) but left before finishing his degree, later attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art for 18 months before dropping out. O’Dowd once admitted that he enjoyed the politics aspect but found sociology uninteresting. During his time at UCD, he wrote for The University Observer and was active in the Drama Society and the Literary and Historical Society.

O’Dowd gained recognition in the UK through his roles in Channel 4’s The IT Crowd, BBC Two’s Roman’s Empire, Red Cap, and The Year London Blew Up. In Ireland, he appeared in RTÉ One’s The Clinic and Showbands. His film career includes minor appearances in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People and Vera Drake, as well as a BAFTA Scotland-winning role as stand-up comic Tommy O’Dwyer in Festival (2005). He also starred in Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel and Hotel Very Welcome (2007).

In 2009, O’Dowd played DJ Simon in The Boat That Rocked (released in North America as Pirate Radio), inspired by the story of Radio Caroline. That same year, he portrayed publisher Felix Dennis in Hippie Hippie Shake alongside Sienna Miller. He was later cast as General Edward Edwardian in the Gulliver’s Travels remake, released in 2010.

O’Dowd’s later work included Dinner for Schmucks (2010), ITV2’s FM, and writing/directing a semi-autobiographical short for Little Crackers. In 2011, he appeared in The Crimson Petal and the White and the hit comedy Bridesmaids, playing Officer Nathan Rhodes.

He continued his success with supporting roles in This Is 40 and The Sapphires (2012), for which he received acclaim. O’Dowd later co-created and co-wrote Moone Boy, a semi-autobiographical series filmed in Boyle that ran from 2012 to 2015, and he published several companion books to the show.

From April to July 2014, he starred in the Broadway revival of Of Mice and Men with James Franco and Leighton Meester, earning Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations. That same year, he appeared in St. Vincent with Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy, and narrated RTÉ’s Man on Bridge documentary.

Between 2017 and 2019, O’Dowd led the MGM+ series Get Shorty opposite Ray Romano, earning an IFTA nomination for Best Actor. In 2022, he appeared in Netflix’s Slumberland with Jason Momoa and Kyle Chandler. He also created and stars in Small Town, Big Story, premiering on Sky in February 2025.

In his personal life, O’Dowd married Scottish writer and presenter Dawn Porter in 2012, who later changed her name to Dawn O’Porter. They have two sons, Art (born January 2015) and Valentine (born July 2017), and live between Los Angeles, Bermondsey, and Margate.

O’Dowd has described himself as an antitheist, stating that he believes religion will one day be viewed as socially unacceptable, similar to racism. In 2014, he joined James Franco and Leighton Meester in presenting at the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet Competition after raising funds through their production of Of Mice and Men.