How NCIS: LA’s Chris O’Donnell Has Made His Over 20-Year Marriage Work
NCIS: Los Angeles star Chris O'Donnell and his wife have been married since 1997.
They now share 5 kids together.
Here's how they've made their romance last.
Some people unwind at the end of the day by lighting a candle and perusing a new book, but there’s no denying that plopping down on the couch or cuddling up in bed with the latest episode of NCIS: LA can be just as satisfying. Sure, the crime drama plotline plays a major role but we’d be lying if we said it had nothing to do with heartthrob star Chris O’Donnell aka G. Callen.
The 49-year-old actor has been a series lead since NCIS: LA debuted in 2009. While his on-screen relationship with LL Cool J keeps us tuning in, it’s his off-screen marriage and family life that makes us admire Chris even more.
He met his wife, Caroline Fentress in the early ‘90s. "The first time I kissed her, I was like, Wow," Chris recalls in an interview with Redbook Magazine. "But she was the sister of a good friend, so my next thought was, 'Oh, God—Andrew's going to be really pissed off!'"
But that didn’t stop him from thinking about her. Three years later Chris asked his friend to call up his little sister to come hang out and the rest was history. The couple got married in April 1997; Chris was 26 years old at the time.
When asked in his Redbook interview why he got married so young, he laid it out straight.
“I was being offered these huge films that would have taken my career to a different level, and I decided to put on the brakes,” he said. “I knew if I continued on that track, I probably wouldn't have gotten married…I was in the right place earlier than I thought. I would think to myself, 'Could I imagine not marrying her?' And there was just no way.”
While he acknowledged that there’s nothing wrong with opting for a playboy lifestyle (as so many actors do), he grew up as the youngest of seven children in a Catholic household where family came first, so he wanted to continue that tradition while starting his own family with Caroline.
The two now have five children: Lily, 20, Christopher Jr., 19, Charlie, 16, Finley, 13, and Maeve, 12. Five kids in such close age proximity can make for a pretty chaotic home life, but Chris and Caroline work together to have it all figured out. Chris even brings them on the show sometimes!
“I know I have shortcomings—like a short fuse—but I've learned you can't come home from a long day of work and snap at the kids,” he said. “Caroline is really laid-back, so she's helped me with that. I'm lucky. I think we balance each other out.”
Beyond complementing each other’s parenting styles, Chris says that having the same morals is a major reason for why the couple’s stood the test of time.
“Our families have the same values and traditions, and I think that goes a long way because when the excitement and heat of romance wear off, those are the things you fall back on,” he said.
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