‘Circle’ boy wonder takes leap into ‘Batman Forever’ as Robin

‘Circle’ boy wonder takes leap into ‘Batman Forever’ as
Robin

By Lael Loewenstein

Daily Bruin Staff

His latest role is the most recent in a long line of clean-cut
Golden Boys, but come this summer Chris O’Donnell will be in for a
major image overhaul.

Currently playing the idealistic, athletic Irish youth Jack
Foley in the well-received drama Circle of Friends, O’Donnell, 24,
will make the jump to action films as Robin in Batman Forever. His
neo-punk Robin, sporting an earring with his hair cut short and
dyed dark, is quite a departure from the prep school students
O’Donnell has patented in films like Scent of a Woman and School
Ties.

O’Donnell attributes the similarities in those roles to
Hollywood typecasting, not any career design of his own.

"If they see you a certain way that works, they kind of want to
see you do that again," he says. "But I plan on trying all sorts of
roles."

The Irish variation of that Golden Boy role, Jack Foley is a
kind-hearted, attractive young man who falls in love with Benny
(Minnie Driver), his vivacious but plain-looking classmate.

O’Donnell is now a sizable enough star to be offered big budget
movies like Batman Forever. But he signed on to do Circle of
Friends, a low-budget coming-of-age film, because he was lured by
the script, based on Maeve Binchy’s best-selling novel of the same
name.

"I think there are some scripts that you can tell when you read
them that they’re going to be quality films, and this was one of
them," he says.

Filming Circle of Friends also brought the actor two new
experiences: the chance to do an accent and the opportunity to
visit Ireland, from which his his forebears hail.

"I’d always heard people talking about how great Ireland was,
but I never understood why," he recalls. "Then I got there and I
met the people, and they were so genuine and so sincere, I could
see why people love it."

The youngest of seven children, O’Donnell was raised in
Winnetka, Ill. He describes his family as "solid and close-knit."
Those values were reinforced in his Catholic school education,
where he was unknowingly preparing for many of his future
roles.

As a boy, O’Donnell would fantasize about being in films. "I’d
watch movies like Star Wars and I just wanted to run around a space
ship. I thought that was great, but guess I was realistic at a
young age. I thought I was going to be an architect so I started
drawing. And then I thought I was going to be a Wall Street guy
which I went to college (Boston College) to do, because I thought
the acting thing was so far-fetched. I didn’t know what I wanted to
do, I just knew I wanted to be successful."

At 14, O’Donnell started doing commercials to make money after
school. That led to a successful audition for the Jessica Lange
film Men Don’t Leave. "And then I got bitten by the bug."

His steady work has made him not only one of today’s most
visible young actors but also one of the most popular with young
female fans. O’Donnell is good-humored but ambivalent about his
heartthrob status.

"As long as I get a few centerfolds in Teen Beat and Tiger Beat,
that’s OK by me," he jokes. "When I was growing up we used to see
the Cassidys on TV. At least I’m not up on stage in some jump suit
singing songs. It’s weird, though. You get your friend’s sister
who’s eight years old and she thinks you’re great."

Whenever his ego starts to get too inflated, however, his six
older siblings are there to keep him in line. "They give me such a
hard time. They always go, ‘Oh, the little movie star doesn’t want
to do that.’"

His siblings may be teasing him a lot this summer, after Batman
Forever is released with much fanfare. With the trailer’s release
in theaters, the publicity blitz has already started, and O’Donnell
is beginning to sense how big a deal it’s going to be.

"It’s starting to sink in now that a lot of people have been
asking me about it," he says.

He is enthusiastic about the cast, which includes Val Kilmer as
Batman, Tommy Lee Jones as TwoFace, Jim Carrey as the Riddler and
Nicole Kidman as the love interest. "It’s great to have all new
blood in there. It’s worked out really well."

O’Donnell had to get his physique in tune for the part. "I did
work out quite a lot to get in shape, but it wasn’t any more than
what I had to do for The Three Musketeers," in which he played the
idealistic D’Artagnan. His workouts were facilitated by the
personal trainer that Warner Bros. provided. "I get kinda lazy when
I’m on my own, but if they’re gonna pay for a trainer every day,
why the hell not?"

After Batman, O’Donnell will be seen opposite Drew Barrymore in
the contemporary love story Mad Love. If his career trajectory
continues the way it has been going, O’Donnell projects with a
laugh, "I should be on the moon in a few years."