Connor Paolo
Best-known for his recurring roles in rich-kid TV dramas "Gossip Girl" (The CW, 2007-2012) and "Revenge" (ABC, 2011-15), Connor Paolo also impressed on the big screen with his performances in dark indie "Favorite Son" (2008) and vampire thriller "Stake Land" (2010). Born in New York City to a musician mother and writer father, Paolo attended several acting schools including his hometown's PPAS and Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, and made his on-screen debut playing a pre-teen murderer and rapist in crime spin-off "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC, 1999-) in 2002. After appearing as younger versions of Kevin Bacon's detective Sean in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated thriller "Mystic River" (2003) and Colin Farrell's titular king in historical epic "Alexander" (2004), Paolo enjoyed a 16-episode stint as Starr's chatroom friend Travis O'Connell in long-running daytime soap opera "One Life To Life" (ABC, 1968-2012). Paolo then reunited with director Oliver Stone when he played Nicolas Cage's son Steven McLoughlin in disaster drama "World Trade Center" (2006) and took on the part of pot-smoking schoolboy Warren Hardesky in "Snow Angels" (2007), the film adaptation of Stewart O'Nan's 1994 novel about the loss of innocence in a small town. Paolo secured his second recurring gig when he was cast as Serena's sensitive younger brother Eric van der Woodsen in teen phenomenon "Gossip Girl" (The CW, 2007-2012) and shortly after landed his first starring film role as disturbed and destructive teenager Ross in the unsettling family drama "Favorite Son" (2008). Following parts as high school jock Damon in basketball comedy "The Winning Season" (2009) and a pipe bomb terrorist in medical series "Mercy" (NBC, 2009-2010), Paolo ventured into the horror genre, as free-thinking student Jack in "Camp Hell" (2010) and as Martin, an apocalypse survivor taken under the wing of a vampire hunter, in "Stake Land" (2010). In 2011, Paolo joined the cast of soapy prime-time drama "Revenge" (ABC, 2011-15) as Declan Porter, the well-intentioned but troubled younger brother of Jack and on-off boyfriend of Charlotte. After exiting the show at the end of its second season, Paolo returned to the film world to play Connor in Tyler Shields' tale of betrayal, "Outlaw" (2015), anarchic student Mick Springfield in political thriller "Like Lambs" (2015) and Kobe in cyber horror "Friend Request" (2015).