Dan Payne was born in Victoria, BC, Canada. Growing up, Dan and his family moved a great deal. His family’s nomadic life enabled Dan and his siblings, brother Josh and sister Cathy, to become the best of friends. It provided Dan with a sense of resourcefulness, independence and humour, which he used as a tool to adapt to his new surroundings.
Dan is an athletic man, 6’4 and 225 pounds, but despite being built for sports, education has always ranked highly for Dan who was an excellent student. Upon graduating from high school, he had earned several university scholarships and chose the University of Calgary (U of C) for his post-secondary education. At U of C he embarked on his first career path as an athlete, playing volleyball for the U of C Dinosaurs. Sport at this level enabled him to travel throughout Canada and nurture a love for his country as well as need to travel. During his years at university, Dan says he “…truly learned the most about himself…” and found great satisfaction in dealing with people, including coaching volleyball camps for special needs children. His volleyball career was very successful and came to an end, professionally, in Holland.
From Holland, Dan moved to Australia for four years to join his brother Josh. In Australia, he became a professional photographer and reawakened his love of the creative arts. Photography quickly became an excellent ‘side job’ while he and his brother actively began to pursue their childhood dream of acting; starting with stand-up comedy and performing in shows that were co-written and co-directed by him and his brother. Inspired by his entrepreneurial-minded brother and ever-growing love of all things creative, Dan chose to take the next step, and moved to London, England, to pursue his acting career even further.
Being in the UK for Dan marked the start of having the traditional agent and audition trail as well as an awaking to the tremendous learning process involved with the entertainment industry. While in London, Dan continued to study acting as well as perform on stage and in film. Dan realized that his unique size and accent were assets, and towards the end of his five years in London, found success which gave him the confidence and desire to return home to Canada.
Dan’s career has blossomed since moving back to Canada. He has become a familiar face on television and can be seen in the CTV sitcom Alice I Think in a series lead role. He can also be seen in guest starring roles on Primeval: New World, Fairly Legal, Tower Prep, The Haunting Hour, Dead Like Me, Just Cause and many more. Dan has had several appearances on Stargate SG1, Stargate: Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, The Chris Isaac Show and two Muppet movies: A Very Muppet Christmas and The Muppets Wizard of Oz as well. Dan is also not a stranger to feature films; recently he completed roles in the feature films Cabin In The Woods (directed by Drew Goddard/Joss Whedon), Watchmen (directed by Zack Snyder), and John Tucker Must Die (directed by Betty Thomas). Dan is very proud of his series lead role on the webseries “Divine” which can be viewed at www.divinetheseries.com. He can also be seen in many TV movies as lead cast such as A Family Thanksgiving, Thomas Kincade’s A Christmas Miracle and Temptations.
Dan continues his efforts to constantly expand on his experiences in both comedy and drama, which only strengthens his life long passion for acting. His career has enjoyed growing success and the future looks promising for Dan with his leading-man good looks and sense of humor.
