Daniel was born in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, and made his professional theatre debut at the tender age of 12. Throughout his teenage years, he continued to hone his acting and writing skills, graduating with Honors and the Golden Key from the University of Alberta's BFA Conservatory Acting Program.
This multi-award winning actor and writer has received numerous accolades for his work on stage and screen. He has been nominated for three Leo Awards for "Best Performance", a Leo Award for "Best Screenplay", a Canadian Comedy Award for "Best Screenplay", four Jessie Theatre Awards, and two Sterling Theatre Awards for "Outstanding Actor". Additionally, he has won three Mayor's Awards for "Emerging Artist of the Year", a VTXIFF Jury Award for "Best Actor", two Sterling Awards for "Outstanding Actor" and "Outstanding Writing", and the prestigious $100,000 "Siminovitch Prize" alongside his collaborator Medina Hahn.
Daniel has had a diverse range of roles in film, television, and theatre. He has guest starred and recurs as Jed Campbell on the popular show "When Calls the Heart" (2014). He co-stars in the award-winning film "Be Still" (2021),which won "Best Feature Film" at the Toronto's Female Eye Film Festival, and was nominated for a Leo Award. His performance in "Dark Nature" (2022) received critical acclaim, with the Hollywood News praising his portrayal of the abusive Derek.
Daniel also starred as Holloman in the film "Lawrence & Holloman" (2013),which he co-wrote with director Matthew Kowalchuk. For this role, he won "Best Actor in a Comedy" at the Victoria Texas IFF and was nominated for a Leo Award. The film itself won 13 jury awards, including the Canadian Comedy Award for "Best Feature Film", before being released theatrically.
On stage, Daniel has had the opportunity to showcase his talents in the critically acclaimed production of "Any Night", which he co-wrote and performed with Medina Hahn. Prior to its Off-Broadway debut, the play had won numerous awards, including "Outstanding New Play" at Toronto's Summerworks and five awards in Toronto Now. The feature screenplay version of "Any Night" won the nation-wide $50k "CFF Super Channel Screenplay Award" and is currently in development with 3 Legged Dog Films.
Daniel has also co-written and performed the stage play "Tuesdays & Sundays", which toured nationally and internationally for over 7 years. The play was listed as one of the "Best Shows of the Year" in New York, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto, and was published twice, broadcast as a radio play on CBC and BBC, and optioned as a feature film by Slate Films of London UK and Clarity Films in Canada.
In addition to his many stage and screen credits, Daniel won the National Screen Institute's "Drama Prize" to make the 35mm short film "The Janitors" (2006),which he co-wrote and directed with Matthew Kowalchuk. The film screened at numerous festivals, was broadcast on CBC's Canadian Reflections, and attained world-wide distribution from 'interfilm Berlin - Short Film Distribution'.
