Daniel Durant is best known for his starring role as Leo Rossi in the CODA, a film that garnered three Oscars, including the top prize of Best Picture. Daniel received numerous accolades for his role, including a Screen Actor’s Guild Award (outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture), Sundance Award (Best Ensemble),  HCA Spotlight Award and the AFI Award for Best Ensemble. CODA was purchased by Apple TV for a record sum, and is now showing in theatres and on Apple TV+. 

Daniel was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in Duluth, Minnesota. He attended mainstream schools in Duluth before transferring to the Minnesota State School for the Deaf in 8th grade. Daniel graduated from MSAD in 2008 and attended RIT in Rochester, NY and Gallaudet in Washington, DC. 

Daniel moved to Los Angeles, CA in 2012 to join the Deaf West Theatre production of Cyrano. Shortly after Cyrano, Daniel landed a job as guest actor at Oakland University in Michigan working with Terp Theater. Daniel played, "Stinger," the lead role in their production of Police: Deaf: Near: Far. Daniel joined the cast of Switched at Birth (ABC Family Channel) in 2013 and continued in his co-starring role as the character of "Matthew" through the finale of the series aired in 2017. 

In the Fall of 2013, Daniel teamed up once again with Deaf West, playing the lead role of "Charlie" in their production of Flowers for Algernon. Daniel played the co-lead role of "Moritz" in the critically acclaimed 2014 Deaf West production of Spring Awakening, which opened in the Rosenthal Theatre and moved to the Wallis Annenberg Theatre (Beverly Hills) in 2015. In the Fall of 2015, Daniel made his Broadway debut as “Mortiz” at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. The show opened to rave reviews and ran until January 2016. 

In 2017, Daniel joined the Norwegian company of Teater Manu for the lead role of “Jonas” in Jonas and the Body, traveling for performances in Norway and France over a seven-month period. In 2019, Daniel also performed in Canada and France in the production of Black Drum. In the Spring of 2020 Daniel once again joined forces with Deaf West to star in Orpheé, a reimagining of the Greek myth by surrealist poet, playwright and filmmaker Jean Cocteau. 

Last season Daniel was cast as the recurring role of James in the Netflix series, You. While shooting You in Los Angeles, Daniel was also wrapping up shooting the lead in the indie feature, Silent Notes in New York. His ongoing work includes co-leading acting workshops for Deaf students and interpreting in area schools, serving as an acting teacher and coach for Deaf film camps as well as national speaking engagements for colleges and universities. 

The City of Duluth, Minnesota, proclaimed April 4, 2022 as Daniel Durant Day, stating in the proclamation: “CODA has changed the world by putting the Deaf experience in front of people of all abilities and has amplified the impact and importance of Deaf creators.  Before you were the world’s, you were ours.  Duluth is so proud of you and thrilled that millions of people around the world now know your work.”

Daniel has received numerous awards and recognition, including the 2016 Theatre Award (Outstanding 2016 Broadway Debut Performance), Broadway.com’s “Top 10 Show-Stopping Performances of the 2015-2016 Broadway Season,” Huffington Post’s “Top 10 Best Theatrical Performances of 2015,” Theatremania.com’s “12 Best Broadway Debuts of 2015” and a 2014 Robby Award nomination for Excellence in Theatre. Daniel was also the 2014 Deaf Awareness Month Honoree for the City of Los Angeles, honoring his outstanding contributions to the arts and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Communities of Los Angeles.