He’s been a Commie and a cop, a goon and a grieving father, a hitman and he’s been hit a few times. Welcome to the world of character actor James Andrew O’Connor ’98, a guy who growls like a grizzly bear before the camera, but chuckles like a teddy bear when you meet him in person.
“I’m a big, six-foot-five, 300-pound guy,” he says with a laugh. “I’m not going to play Bob Dylan. But I’d love to play Orson Welles, a person I get compared to all the time.”
O’Connor, who was a theatre major at Holy Cross, has built his career playing nuanced supporting characters on television shows, including “The Americans,” “Chicago P.D.,” “Gotham” and “The Blacklist,” and in movies, like “St. Vincent.” But don’t let his steely on-camera stare fool you — at home, his favorite role is playing dad to his kids, Stephanie, 3, and James, 1, with his wife and audition coach, Tammy.
Loved seeing a fellow classmate pop up in “The Affair”. Nice work.