A veteran of over ten years of professional experience in New York theater and commercials, O'Connell made an auspicious feature film debut at age 11 playing the chubby, winsome Vern Tessio of Rob Reiner's "Stand By Me" (1986). While he held his own against such future feature heavyweights as River Phoenix and Kiefer Sutherland, O'Connell found much of his subsequent employment in TV.

After several TV-movies, including a lively adaptation of humorist Jean Shepherd's twisted nostalgic story "Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss" (Disney Channel/PBS, 1988), O'Connell landed the lead in the fantasy