His classmates included Tara Reid, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Macaulay Culkin, and Ben Taylor.
O'Connell began his acting career at a young age. As a child, he did commercial work for Duncan Hines cookies. Shortly after at the age of eleven, he landed his first feature film role as the character Vern Tessio in Rob Reiner's Stand by Me. He also had a starring role in the hugely successful horror films Scream 2 and Piranha 3D.
O'Connell starred in the Canadian science fiction sitcom My Secret Identity from 1988 to 1991 as the teen hero who develops superhuman traits. During a summer break from NYU, Jerry starred in the feature film Calendar Girl alongside Jason Priestley and Gabriel Olds. He also appeared in the short-lived ABC sitcom, Camp Wilder with Jay Mohr and Hilary Swank in 1992. In his Junior year, O'Connell auditioned for the TV pilot Sliders (also filmed in Canada). He was offered the role of Quinn Mallory in the series, which ran for three seasons on Fox and two seasons on the Sci-Fi Channel. He served as producer during his fourth and final season, and is credited with writing and directing several episodes.
In 2007–08 Jerry O'Connell starred in ABC's Carpoolers, which ran from October 2, 2007 to March 4, 2008.
In early 2008, O'Connell acted in a widely circulated Internet video parody of the leaked Tom Cruise video on Scientology. He also co-wrote and appeared in a video parody called "Young Hillary Clinton," satirizing Hillary Clinton's 2008 primary campaign. On February 2, 2008, O'Connell hosted VH1's Pepsi Smash Super Bowl Bash, which aired the night before Super Bowl XLII and featured musical guests Maroon 5 and Mary J. Blige. On April 28, 2008, O'Connell appeared as a guest star on ABC's Samantha Who?.
In the fall of 2008 O'Connell starred in Fox's Do Not Disturb, co-starring Niecy Nash, but Fox cancelled the show after only three episodes.
Most recently, he appeared in the 2009 thriller film Obsessed as "Ben", the best friend and co-worker of the film's protagonist Derek Charles (Idris Elba).
Actor: (films) Stand By Me, 1986, Calendar Girl, 1993, Joe's Apartment, 1996, Jerry Maguire, 1996, Scream 2, 1997, Body Shots, 1999, Clayton, 2000, Mission to Mars, 2000, Tomcats, 2001, Buying the Cow, 2002, Kangaroo Jack, 2003, Fat Slags, 2004, Yours, Mine and Ours, 2005, Lies & Alibis, 2006, Man About Town, 2006, Room 6, 2006, Baby on Board, 2009, Obsessed, 2009, Piranha, 2010; (TV films) Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss, 1988, The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky, 1995, What the Deaf Man Heard, 1997, The '60s, 1990, Romeo Fire, 2002, Midnight Bayou, 2009; (TV series) My Secret Identity, 1988—91, Camp Wilder, 1992—93, Sliders, 1995—99, Las Vegas, 2004—06, Crossing Jordan, 2002—07, Carpoolers, 2007—08, Do Not Disturb, 2008, Eastwick, 2009—10, The Defenders, 2010