Chris O'Dowd has become a staple name, recognised for something different in every place: probably for The IT Crowd here, Bridesmaids in the US or for Moone Boy in his home country of Ireland. However, his newest role in Black Mirror is one for everyone.
In the season's first episode, titled 'Common People', he stars opposite Rashida Jones, the daughter of the late Quincy Jones – the pair play a married couple who resort to a risky technological solution to save her from a medical emergency. See the trailer for the season below...
Though Chris was living in Toronto, Canada for the filming of the episode, he told GQ, he had been living in Los Angeles with his writer wife Dawn O'Porter and their two children: Art, 10, and Valentine, seven.
However, the family moved to London in summer 2024 for various reasons, and now split their time between Bermondsey and Margate, Kent.
Chris and Dawn's LA lifestyle
The famous couple had lived in LA for 16 years, living a relatively normal life there, as far as California goes.
"Honestly, I feel so disappointing. Most of our friends aren't in the public eye here, and we do most of our socialising at home," Dawn told The Sunday Post in 2023.
© Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty IShe continued: "A lot of things, just by saying it's in LA, people presume are glamorous, but I don't feel like I live a very glamorous life here. I mean, Chris and I are going out tonight, but we're just going to the Hollywood Improv and we're going to watch comedy, eat chicken wings and drink beer."
Chris seemed to be a much bigger fan, telling Radio Times this year that it felt like "being on holiday all the time", also admitting that he now missed the weather more than the proximity to Hollywood, in a chat with GQ.
Chris and Dawn returned to London last year
In the summer of 2024, Chris and Dawn moved back to London with their family, which the family had always seen coming. He told Radio Times: "Dawn is English so we always knew we were going to come back. We thought we would wait until the kids were in secondary school but then Covid hit and we suddenly felt very far away."
© Getty Images for SkyChris also noted that with the couple's parents getting older, being closer to home was a comfort, adding that the family goes back to Ireland "a good bit".
On the potential of his children developing English accents, he joked: "I don't know how I'd feel about [it] – there's a lot of generational trauma there! Them having American accents I can live with, but they are a bit of a mish-mash at the moment – let's see how it plays out!"
