Tom O’Neill ‘05

Alumni Voices

Tom O’Neill ‘05

Beaver Reflections:
I graduated from Beaver in 2005 and enjoyed my time there. I gravitated toward the theater program and loved Ms. Yolles’ classes. Her classes allowed me to explore my talents as a performative artist and made me believe that I could be an actor when I grew up. I participated in around sixteen plays in high school and went to the Drama Guild Festival. I also enjoyed the history department at Beaver and the classes about globalization and revolutions. Beaver’s progressive thinking inspired me to really care about social justice and equality.

What is #happeningnow in your life:
Currently, I work as an actor for television and film. I’ve had many day jobs in New York, including running an art gallery, teaching yoga, bartending, gardening, and helping other actors. As a working actor, I think streaming networks are very beneficial because they provide more opportunities for people. It used to be that TV was shot in LA. Now there are many shows in New York and other parts of the country. I’ve acted in FBI, NCIS, The Blacklist, and other television shows and films. I was fortunate enough to perform in Mindhunter, which is on Netflix. I have always wanted to work with David Fincher, the director because he shoots 360 coverage of every setup. It creates a theater-like atmosphere which makes the scenes flow well.

“Beaver taught me how to think critically and how to survive in a media-saturated world.”
– Tom O’Neill ‘05

Advice to Beaver students:
Try to meet new people. Make an effort to get out of your comfort zone and hang out with people that are different from you.

Beaver Country Day School admits qualified students of any race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, handicap status, national origin or ethnicity to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, handicap status, national origin or ethinicity in the administration of its educational, admission, financial aid, athletic or other school-administered programs or policies.