His father is of Scottish and Swedish descent, while his maternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Lithuania.
His father, Terry McDonell, is the editor of the Time Inc. Sports Group, directing editorial content and operations for Sports Illustrated, SI.com, GOLF Magazine, and GOLF.com.
Auditioned for the character of Ian for the movie 'The Host'. He didn't get the part.
Brother of Nick McDonell. He took an acting part in the film Twelve (2010), adapted from NIck's novel of the same name.
Born on exactly the same date as Emily Hart (of "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" fame).