Former Nickelodeon child star Chris O’Neal was arrested after an alleged attempted burglary, Us Weekly can confirm.
O’Neal, 31, was booked at the Los Angeles-Lost Hills police station on Monday, March 16, according to jail records viewed by Us. The actor was subsequently released without bail as there were “insufficient grounds to file a complaint,” per TMZ.
TMZ further reported that local law enforcement officers had responded to a call about a potential burglary early on Monday morning. In the report, the caller claimed to have seen security camera footage where three adults entered a residence in Malibu.
Additional details about the alleged incident have not been revealed. Us Weekly has reached out for comment.
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O’Neal rose to fame on Nickelodeon’s How to Rock in 2012, playing Kevin Reed for 25 episodes of the sitcom. He also appeared on the network’s TV movie Swindle, as well as Disney Channel’s KC Undercover. He portrayed Daniel Hayward on Netflix’s Greenhouse Academy from 2017 to 2020. O’Neal most recently appeared in 2024’s Amp House Massacre.
“What made you start acting? It all started when I was a little boy,” O’Neal said in a 2020 YouTube video, looking back on his Hollywood career. “My family would get together every night and watch Fresh Prince [of Bel-Air]. It was, like, a big thing for us. We watched Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, when I noticed everyone was laughing — no matter what was going on at your work or anything.”
After noticing how Will Smith’s character could always lighten the mood, O’Neal wanted to do the same.
“When I was young, I would see this guy on the screen, Will Smith, and I’m like, ‘Wow, all I know is he is doing something that’s making everyone happy.’ I wanted to do that [and] make people happy,” O’Neal recalled. “I wanted to make people feel.”
O’Neal further revealed that playing a character provides the “excitement” of stepping into someone else’s shoes.
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“One of the things that I love most about acting … [is] the out-of-body experience of playing someone else,” he said. “I love leaving Chris and taking on something else — whether that’s Daniel [on Greenhouse Academy] or whether that’s another character — that’s almost what sold acting for me. It’s like I can be anyone in everyone I want or no one.”
O’Neal continued, “I’ve only wanted to be an actor my whole life, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to be. The fact that I get to do it is more than a pleasure.”
