Elizabeth Zanghi/The Ram O’Donnell, an aspiring actor, has received many phonecalls after his debut.

By CONNOR RYAN
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Since appearing on a recently-aired episode of the critically-acclaimed HBO series ‘Girls,’ Jeff O’Donnell, GSB ’14, has caught the eyes of many around campus.

“This week has been a little crazy,” O’Donnell said in an interview Monday evening. “I’ve gotten some phone calls from people who’ve seen the show.”

The scene O’Donnell may most be remembered for is one that could have come straight out of a cautionary commercial about the dangers of driving drunk or high.

It is a warm summer night and the car radio is booming. The road is windy and the boyish driver erratically swerves to the left and right as he teases the double-yellow line. The car’s three other passengers innocently pass around an empty can of whipped cream in hopes of getting high.

Even the driver, Tyler, who is played by O’Donnell, sucks in some compressed air.

In the backseat are actors Lena Dunham (who created the series and stars in the show as Hannah) and Nick Lashaway (who plays Frank). Next to O’Donnell is actress Jemima Kirke (who plays Jessa).

“It was a little intimidating at first because right when I got there, we did the car scene,” O’Donnell said. “I was the leader of that scene, on my first day on set, with all these real, established actors and actresses.”

O’Donnell appeared on screen for roughly two minutes in two scenes of the half-hour episode, entitled “Video Games,” which first aired on Feb. 24. It was the seventh episode of season two. And it was the first time he appeared on “Girls.”

“This is probably the biggest thing I’ve done,” O’Donnell said.

He has appeared in over twenty television commercials and print advertisements for companies such as MasterCard, Comcast, Disney and Powerade. O’Donnell has also appeared on MTV’s show, “Totally Clueless.”

Last summer, O’Donnell was on a train from his home in New Jersey to Manhattan to meet a friend and see Ghost the Musical when he found out that he would appear on “Girls.” It was June 27, a Wednesday.

Prior to that moment, O’Donnell had attended one audition and two callbacks with the casting director of “Girls,” Jennifer Euston. On Thursday he was in costume fittings and on Friday he was on set in Long Island.

O’Donnell filmed both in Long Island and Westchester, for a total of one and a half weeks, with some days off.

“They put us up in a hotel, so I was ordering room service,” O’Donnell said. “They had parties for us in the hotel bar with karaoke — it was fun.”

While working on set, O’Donnell said he greatly enjoyed talking with his castmates — particularly Dunham.

“She’s awesome,” O’Donnell said. “She is one of the coolest people I’ve ever met — totally creative, [she] totally let us do whatever we wanted to do with the part and the script. We were allowed to make up our own lines after the script was over, we did a lot of [improvisation], which they used in the show.”

Because his scenes were filmed so many times, O’Donnell said he was not sure what would ultimately be included in the episode and what would fall short of the final cut.

The first time he saw the episode was when he gathered 20 or so friends for a viewing party in his Salice-Conley dorm room when it premiered.

“I was actually really nervous watching it,” O’Donnell said. “I had never seen the final product so I didn’t know what edits and which cuts of takes they were going to use. Very suspenseful.”

Brendan Francolini, GSB ’14 and vice president of Operations in Fordham’s United Student Government (USG), said he sees an acting future for O’Donnell.

“Jeff is one of those people that, when you meet him, you just get this sense that he’s going to be famous,” Francolini said. “He just really fits being on camera and I am so proud of him.”

Aileen Reynolds, FCRH ’14 and executive vice president of USG, similarly expressed a sense of pride when talking about O’Donnell’s recent role.

“Thinking my friend who I went to Umai with on Arthur Avenue was also in upstate New York with Lena Dunham filming for HBO was really cool,” Reynolds said.

O’Donnell said that along with his friends, his family was excited that he scored the role, but given the at times explicit nature of the show, “my mom was a little worried about the content of what I’d have to do.” He later added, “She was happy I kept my clothes on.”

The Monday morning after the episode aired, producers from the soap opera “All My Children” called O’Donnell’s manager and he was in for an audition Monday afternoon. O’Donnell said the producers from The Hangover had also called.

As he pursues his passion for acting, O’Donnell said it sometimes gets difficult balancing his schoolwork with auditions in Manhattan. He commutes into the city for two or three auditions every week. O’Donnell said last week was busy with four.

“Mondays I’m in class from 10 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. and for the past three or four weeks a lot of my auditions have been on Monday,” O’Donnell said. “I’ve been missing class and coming to class late, but I’ve been pretty good at juggling it.”

Despite his strong passion for the arts, O’Donnell is a marketing major in Gabelli.

“I decided it was most practical to get a business degree in case it doesn’t work out,” O’Donnell said. “I wanted a back-up plan so I’m not a starving artist. It is really hard to work consistently and make it [as an actor], so I wanted something to fall back on.”

At one point last year, O’Donnell said, he had just been turned down roles on four big commercials (one for Best Buy, another for Comcast) and was questioning the future of his acting career.

“I didn’t get either [commercial role] and it was in the span of two weeks and I was just real frustrated, but the highs definitely make up for the lows.”

Despite the many rejections, O’Donnell said that he remains confident and optimistic in his acting abilities and hopes his “Girls” credit will prove to be valuable going forward.

“I’ve always had a pretty good amount of confidence — you need to in this business because there’s just so much rejection,” O’Donnell said. “But [my part on “Girls”] made it real. I still don’t think it’s a real thing sometimes.”

Aside from juggling auditions and homework, O’Donnell sings at Fordham’s 9 p.m. masses and has appeared on stage in various Fordham productions.

When asked what he will remember most about filming “Girls,” O’Donnell returned to his driving scene.

“[During filming breaks] I had to reverse up this huge hill—multiple times,” O’Donnell said. “And I was like, ‘So help me God if anything happens or if I crash, I am in deep s–t.’”

Turns out, his driving skills did him proud.

“While I was doing it I made [the cast] laugh, which I think is a big accomplishment, especially making Lena laugh because she’s like the ‘Queen of Comedy’ these days,” he said. “It was a good night.”

Categories: News

Tags: connor ryan