O'Connor first came to the attention of executive producers Rob Tapert and Sam
Raimi when an audition won her the role of the young Deianeira in their two-hour "Action
Pack" adventure "Hercules and the Lost Kingdom. " They were so impressed by her
performance opposite "Hercules" star Kevin Sorbo, they signed her for a starring role in
"Darkman II: The Return of Durant," a feature released on home video in July 1995.
Prior to "Darkman II," she co-starred with Ellen Burstyn and Sheryl Lee in the ABC-TV movie "Follow the River," portraying a young woman captured by Shawnee Indians. Set in the year 1755, the drama was based on a true story. In her next role, she starred opposite James Garner as a self-obsessed actress who hires Rockford as her bodyguard in "The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise," the second of Garner's two recent "Rockford" reunion movies for CBS-TV which was broadcast in May 1995.
Born in Katy, Texas, O'Connor began studying acting at the age of twelve at
Houston's Alley Theatre, and later attended Houston's High School of the Performing and
Visual Arts. She made her professional acting debut in 1989 starring in the "Teen Angel"
series, which was featured on the Disney Channel's "Mickey Mouse Club," and went on to
star in "Match Point," another series for the popular children's show. That same year,
O'Connor moved to Los Angeles and soon landed a featured role in the episode of "Tales
from the Crypt" that marked Arnold Schwarzenegger's directing debut.
O'Connor went on to portray Cheryl Ladd's daughter in Danielle Steel's "Changes," and starred as one of a group of students whose lives are suddenly endangered in the NBC movie "The Flood. " Her most recent theatrical film role was that of Julia Wilkes in Disney's "The Adventures of Huck Finn," starring Elijah Wood. She also guest- starred as the daughter of a murdered couple in an episode of the acclaimed television series "NYPD Blue."
Renee is single and enjoys jazz dancing, horseback riding and many other sports. When not in Auckland, New Zealand, where the series is filmed, she makes her home in Los Angeles.