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

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), Doctor Rakhmabai and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy.

[4][10] 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)[5] 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.

[11] 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,[11][12] The Times of India commenting "when Shweta Keswani and beau Alexx O'Nell perform on stage all eyes naturally are on Alexx".

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[14] with "shoddy script, bad direction, [and] poor camerawork".

"[16] 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.

"[25] 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.

[26] 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.

[38][39][40] O'Nell appears to have incorporated the author's creative interpretation into his performance, commenting: "I'll be portraying the role of a British officer named Ellis who has an affair with an Indian Queen (Jhansi Ki Rani).

In early 2011, while continuing to shoot for JKR and DLMH, O'Nell completed filming for lead roles in the multilingual Urumi and the English language Vasco Da Gama, both simultaneously directed by acclaimed Indian director Santosh Sivan.

[42] According to Sivan both films have as their subject matter the travels of the 15th century explorer Vasco Da Gama and the Indian warriors that set out to assassinate him, but the two have very different plot lines and perspective.

"[46] Joker released August 31, 2012 to mixed but predominantly negative reviews, critics calling it everything from a "Total Fail",[47] to "disappointing",[48] to "amusing but predictable",[49] and finally a "one-time watch as it is a mass entertainer and delivers a lovely message.".

Apart from the 2016 release of Ek Yodha Shoorveer (2016), a Hindi dubbed and re-edited version of Urumi (2011), O'Nell was seen in what had previously been known as Pooja Bhatt's Hindi-language film Bad, re-titled as director Prawaal Raman's Main Aur Charles (2015).

[2][53][54] The film centers around the Tihar Jailbreak of 1986 during which O'Nell's Richard Thomas was the unwilling accomplice to Randeep Hooda's Charles Sobhraj, and eventually became his undoing as state's-witness in the trial that ensued.

ONell's reviews were excellent with the Times of India quoting Hollywood Director Michael Hoffman saying "I loved the performances of all actors, especially ... Alex O'Neil"[55] Filmfare.com called his contribution a "solid supporting performance"[56] l and Odisha News adding "Alex O’Neil as Richard Thomas... is impressive and worth a mention"[57] 2018's releases were Raag Desh (2018), Inside Edge (2018), Bose: Dead/Alive (2018), and 2019 saw the release of O'Nell's films Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy and Trial of Satyam Kaushik .