Connor Paolo

Connor Paolo
Paolo in 2009
Born	(1990-07-11) July 11, 1990 (age 34) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2002–present

Connor Paolo (born July 11, 1990^[1]) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Eric van der Woodsen on The CW's teen drama series Gossip Girl and Declan Porter on the ABC drama series Revenge. He has also appeared in two Oliver Stone films, Alexander (2004) and World Trade Center (2006).

Personal life

Paolo was born in New York City, the son of Julia Mendelsohn, a vocal coach and classical pianist, and Colin Paolo, a writer and screenwriter.^[2]

He attended, beginning in 2006, the Professional Performing Arts School alongside Sarah Hyland, Paul Iacono and Taylor Momsen. He took acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Paolo also attended Appel Farm Arts and Music Center Summer Arts Camp located in Elmer, New Jersey for several summers. He attended New York University for one semester in fall 2008.^[3][4]

Career

He played a preteen murderer-rapist in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.^[5] He made his motion picture debut in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated Mystic River, playing young Sean. In 2004, Paolo was on One Life to Live as Travis O'Connell, a recurring character. Paolo also made a return appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing a disturbed teenager based on the real case of Justin Berry.^[6] Other films include World Trade Center for Oliver Stone in 2006; Snow Angels, directed by David Gordon Green; and Favorite Son, his first leading role.

Paolo has a background in theatre and commercials. He has appeared on the Broadway stage in the hit musical The Full Monty^[7] and off-Broadway in the New York public theater production of Shakespeare's Richard III.^{[citation needed]} He played Nick Bottom in an abridged production of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.^{[citation needed]}

From 2007 to 2011, Paolo had a supporting role on The CW's series Gossip Girl, where he played Eric van der Woodsen, the brother of lead Serena van der Woodsen's character. His last appearance was in the sixth season.

In 2010, he starred in the vampire apocalypse film Stake Land directed by Jim Mickle.^[8]

In April 2011, Paolo joined the cast of ABC's dramatic series Revenge. In August 2011, Paolo stated that he would be taking on the new series Revenge full-time and his character Eric van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl would no longer appear on the show.^[9] He, however, returned to Gossip Girl for a brief appearance during the series finale.^[10] Paolo exited Revenge in May 2013, after his character was written off the second season finale.^[11]

In 2020, Variety announced Paolo was joining the cast of the Chris Blake quarantine comedy Distancing Socially. The film was shot at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, using remote technologies and the iPhone 11. The film was acquired and released by Cinedigm in October 2021.^[12]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Mystic River	Young Sean Devine
2004	Alexander	Young Alexander
2006	World Trade Center	Steven McLoughlin	Nominated—Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actor[13]
2007	Snow Angels	Warren Hardesky
2008	Favorite Son	Ross
2009	The Winning Season	Damon
2010	Camp Hell	Jack
	Stake Land	Martin
2016	Friend Request	Kobe
	Like Lambs	Mick Springfield
	Outlaw	Connor
	Stake Land II: The Stakelander	Martin
2017	Flock of Four	Tony Pacarelli
2021	Distancing Socially	Paul
2023	Fire Island	Troy
	Ambush	Ackerman
	The Young Wife		Post-production
TBA	Viral		Post-production
TBA	Better Half		Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Zachary Connor	Episode: "Juvenile"
2004	One Life to Live	Travis O'Connell	16 episodes
2006	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Teddy Winnock	Episode: "Web"
2007–2012	Gossip Girl	Eric van der Woodsen	Recurring (seasons 1–4); special guest (season 6 episode 10: "New York, I Love You XOXO")
2010	Mercy	Everett Cone	Episode: "I Did Kill You, Didn't I?"
2011	Stake Land: Origins	Martin	Episode: "Martin"
2011–2013	Revenge	Declan Porter	Main cast (seasons 1–2)
2016	Rush Hour	Henry	Episode: "Welcome Back, Carter"
	Swedish Dicks	Tim	Episode: "When Ingmar Met Axel"
2017	The Brave	Nate	Episode: "Break Out"
	Business Doing Pleasure	Jason	Season 1 episodes 1-6
2018	Electric Dreams	Ethan	Episode: "Safe & Sound"
2020	The Resident	Isaac Morgan	Episode: "Support System"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Bully	Tom Gurney

Music videos

Year	Artist	Song
2012	The Pretty Reckless	"My Medicine"

References

1. "Connor Paolo Biography". TV Guide. Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
2. "Kids' stuff: Do's and don'ts for young performers. (Spotlight on Young Performers)". Highbeam Business. Archived from the original on May 23, 2015.
3. "Connor Paolo Biography". TVLine. January 26, 2014. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
4. "Connor Paolo Biography". Rotten Tomatoes. January 26, 2014.
5. "Juvenile". Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Season 4. Episode 9. November 22, 2002. NBC.
6. "Web". Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Season 7. Episode 21. May 9, 2006. NBC.
7. League, The Broadway. "Connor Paolo – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB".
8. Behind-the-Scenes Images: Stake Land from dreadcentral.com
9. Gelman, Vlada (August 8, 2011). "Connor Paolo Confirms Gossip Exit: 'I'm Done'". TV Line. Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2011.
10. "Taylor Momsen Returning To 'Gossip Girl' Along With Connor Paolo". The Huffington Post. AOL. October 16, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
11. Keck, William (May 27, 2013). "Keck's Exclusives: Revenge Isn't So Sweet". TV Guide. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
12. Malkin, Marc (October 7, 2020). "Schitt's Creek Actor Sarah Levy Cast in COVID-Inspired Indie Distancing Socially (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
13. "28th Annual Young Artist Awards – Nominations". Young Artist Awards. Retrieved June 25, 2010.

External links

• Connor Paolo at IMDb