Alexx O'Nell

His performance as a spurned lover and sadistic police commissioner in 1940s colonial south India attracted praise from critics and audiences alike.

Critics commented "Alex O'Neill as the menacing Robert Ellis provides the ample antagonism and evokes sympathy...".

Madrasapattinam was re-released as "1947 - A Love Story" in Telugu in the south east of India in August 2011 to positive reviews from critics.

Following work on Madrasapattinam, O'Nell completed filming for a supporting role in the Hindi language feature Jo Dooba So Paar, a contemporary drama in which O'Nell plays an American whose Italian girlfriend (Sita Spada) gets kidnapped in the Indian state of Bihar.

The film also stars notable Indian actors Vinay Pathak and Rajat Kapoor.

Alexander Leonard O'Neill (born July 26, 1980) is an American actor and musician who is based in India and has appeared in films, series, and music videos in English and Indian languages.

He is best known for Khufiya, Golondaaj, Roohi, Aarya, Main Aur Charles, Cheeni Kum, Madrasapattinam, Joker, Yeti Obhijaan, Chittagong and Urumi (Ek Yodha Shoorveer).

It was a marketing firm called Lester Inc. that sent him abroad and first introduced him to India by way of its partner company Enlink Infotech in 2003, a second firm would extend his experience in India and expand it to South Africa, the Philippines and the UK.

After working in theater, and then briefly as a fashion / print model for brands like Hyundai and Lenovo, O'Nell's onscreen career began with acting in advertisements.

His most notable campaigns included Roma Switches, Panasonic Air Conditioners and Esys Computers as well as being the brand ambassador for Moulin Glaciere perfumes from 2006 to 2009.

O'Nell began his acting career with community and regional theater in the United States, later working in television advertisements in India and internationally, and finally landing character roles and appearances in films such as the Hindi feature Cheeni Kum (2007) and the English feature Loins of Punjab Presents (2007).

He later gained recognition as a contestant on the hugely popular Indian celebrity dance competition Nach Baliye (season 3, 2007).

O'Nell's film career began with the English comedy Loins of Punjab Presents (2007), in which he played the minor but memorable role of a flabbergasted New Jersey hotel manager (Wesminton) in the midst of a chaotic Indian American-Idol-like competition.

Though Loins was his first film shot, his first cinematic release would be the dry Hindi comedy Cheeni Kum (2007), in which he appeared as a bumbling English waiter who takes the brunt of the boss's (Amitabh Bachchan) ire.

In the same year, O'Nell gained recognition as a contestant on the hugely popular Indian celebrity dance competition Nach Baliye (season 3), where he participated with Indian actor Sweta Keswani (whom he would later marry in 2008) and enjoyed widespread praise for his effort, dancing and lipsync, The Times of India commenting "when Shweta Keswani and beau Alexx O'Nell perform on stage all eyes naturally are on Alexx".

He is the first non-Indian participant seen in a significant capacity on Indian national primetime television.

O'Nell's first leading role in a big-budget production came with Madrasapattinam (2010).

Following Madrasapattinam, O'Nell returned to television to star in the Indian primetime historical drama Jhansi Ki Rani in mid-2010, and in early 2011 he also appeared in a guest role on the drama Dhoondh Legi Manzil Humein.

Following Nach Baliye, O'Nell appeared in a cameo in the 2010 Hindi-language feature Malik Ek, which, despite a cast of well-known and well-respected actors, including Jackie Shroff (in the title role), Smriti Irani, Rajeshwari Sachdeva, Shakti Kapoor, and Divya Dutta, was almost unanimously regarded as a "miserable" film with "shoddy script, bad direction, [and] poor camerawork".

Among the few positive mentions, critics commented about the supporting cast: "Alex O'Neil ... and the rest lend fair support."

O'Nell's first leading role in a big-budget production came in 2010 with the Tamil-language 1940s period drama Madrasapattinam, in which he starred opposite Amy Jackson (Miss Teen World) and well-known south Indian actor Arya.

Madrasapattinam became the 4th highest grossing and the 8th most profitable film in its industry in 2010.

Despite its critical acclaim and commercial success in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Madrasapattinam did not fare well outside its region, (perhaps due to the lack of subtitling) despite releasing in Hindi speaking markets in India, and internationally in English speaking markets in Europe and the United States, and therefore did not in itself further O'Nell's career outside south India.

In early 2010, O'Nell also completed shooting for the critically acclaimed and Indian National Award-winning Chittagong, a period drama based on historical events surrounding the East Indian Chittagong armoury raid of 1930.

O'Nell plays Charles Johnson, the British Official in charge of law and order, who is pitted against a school teacher named Surya Sen (played by Indian actor Manoj Bajpai) and a group of students who go on to famously defeat the imperial force for the first time in the history of British India.

Late 2011 saw the release of the Hindi Language feature Jo Dooba So Paar (2011), with O'Nell in a supporting role.

O'Nell appeared in a double-lead role in the multilingual Urumi (2011), and the unreleased English-language Vasco Da Gama, (in which he plays a triple role) directed by acclaimed Indian director Santosh Sivan.

Urumi released in select markets (Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu) in 2011 and 2012, which was the second most expensive Malayalam film of all time.

The stage of completion and expected release date for the English-language Vasco Da Gama are unknown.

Jo Dooba So Paar released October 2011 to extremely mixed reviews.

On one hand, Daily News and Analysis gave the film 1 of 5 stars commenting "Jo Dooba So Paar is nothing you should waste your money on."

And CNN IBN called it "as boring as watching paint dry."

On the other hand, The Times of India awarded it 3 of 5 stars and asserted "The film holds up a charming mirror on the small town milieu... the niche audience will enjoy the integrity of tone and character.

Simultaneously while shooting for Jo Dooba So Paar, O'Nell appeared with then real-life wife Sweta Keswani as her husband in a cameo for friend-director Rohit Roy's made-for-television film Chaar Mulakatein.

Due to similar subject matter, Chittagong was compared to the Abhishek Bachchan-starrer Khele Hum Jee Jaan Sey, which received a lukewarm reception in 2011.

After almost a year's gap, O'Nell was seen in a lead role in Shirish Kunder's Joker (2012) followed shortly thereafter by a cameo in A. L. Vijay's Thaandavam (2012) released in late August and late September 2012 respectively.

Finally, O'Nell starred in Bedabrata Pain's Chittagong (2012), released on October 12, 2012.

O'Nell's next releases were the Malayalam films Gangster and Manglish, releasing in April and July 2014, respectively.

He was recently seen in the 2016 release Ek Yodha Shoorveer (2016) (a Hindi dubbed and re-edited version of Urumi (2011) ), Tigmanshu Dhulia's Raag Desh (2017), Inside Edge (2018), Bose: Dead/Alive (2018), and Doctor Rakhmabai, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, Trial of Satyam Kaushik and Banarasi Jasoos

O'Nell began working at various jobs from an early age and continued to change his career frequently throughout his adult life including working in counselling marketing and modelling.