Biography
Fresh-faced Austin O'Brien made his mark as a movie child star before settling into the TV series
Promised Land in the latter half of the 1990s. Oregon-born O'Brien began acting as a child in TV commercials. By his pre-teens, O'Brien made the jump to films in the virtual reality thriller
The Lawnmower Man (1992). O'Brien soon earned the dubious distinction, however, of starring as the boy who gets to join his action idol onscreen in the notorious
Arnold Schwarzenegger flop
Last Action Hero (1993). Less tarnished by the experience than his muscle-bound co-star, O'Brien soon moved on to fill Macauley Culkin's shoes as Anna Chlumskey's male foil/friend in the sequel
My Girl 2 (1994). Despite appearing as the Whiz Kid in
Ron Howard's esteemed space blockbuster
Apollo 13 (1995), O'Brien was back to roles in young teen fare with The Babysitters' Club (1995). After starring as a young hacker pitted against the evil title character in the sequel Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1996), O'Brien moved to series television when he was cast as
Gerald McRaney's son in the Christian family drama
Promised Land. During the series' 1996-1999 run, O'Brien also guest starred several times as his
Promised Land character Josh on the hit series
Touched By an Angel. After
Promised Land ended, O'Brien headed to college to study his other creative passion, music.
~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide