Morning Man Encore: Chris O’Donnell!

Originally posted Sept. 1, 2009

Who hasn’t had a crush on Chris O’Donnell since first setting eyes on him as Jessica Lange’s son in 1990’s Men Don’t Leave?

If you weren’t instantly smitten you either don’t have a pulse or you’re lying!

Anyway, Chris was going to follow that breakthrough with the role of Barbra Streisand’s son in The Prince of Tides until he was replaced by her real-life son Jason Gould (who was actually quite good!). Chris, now 39, became a star the next year anyway starring opposite Al Pacino in 1992’s Scent of a Woman, the film that won Pacino the Oscar.

Next came a batch of high-profile films including one of my absolute faces: Circle of Friends opposite Minnie Driver. There was also The Three Musketeers, Mad Love with Drew Barrymore, the drama In Love and War opposite Sandra Bullock, The Chamber and Chris’s debut as Boy Wonder Robin in 1995’s Batman Forever. Two years later, his character made the title with Batman and Robin also starring George Clooney as the Caped Crusader. That pretty much killed the franchise for a decade or so and O’Donnell”s movie career lost some heat.

The the still boyishly handsome star began to take some television roles in 2003 with a four-episode stint on The Practice. He then starred in the short-lived series Head Cases before moving on to a well-received nine-episode stint on Grey’s Anatomy.

Chris starred in the TNT miniseries The Company last year but should be settled in for the long haul with his new series: NCIS: Los Angeles which premieres later this month.

That is definitely a face I look forward to seeing every week!