Daniel Durant: 5 Things To Know About The Deaf Actor Competing In ‘DWTS’ Season 31

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Boss on Sep 23, 2022 - 11:47PM

On the 19th of September, the launch of Dancing With the Stars season 31 will include Daniel Durant’s first ever ballroom dance performance. The next season of the competition, which will be shown on Disney+, has the 32-year-old as one of the celebrity contestants.

After winning the Oscar for Best Picture in 2022 with his highly acclaimed picture, Daniel’s year has continued to be one of the most eventful of all time. Because of his participation on Dancing With the Stars, Daniel will be only the third deaf contestant the show has ever had. Find out more information about this up-and-coming star.

Daniel Durant

1. Daniel is deaf.

“I’m entirely deaf. He stated this while appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show in March of 2022. “I can’t hear anything at all, but I enjoy feeling the vibration through my body,” he remarked. He went into detail about the early experiences that shaped his appreciation for music. “There were moments when I would come to my mother and ask, ‘Can you turn it up so I can feel the bass?’ “And my mom was like, ‘Yeah,’ but my sister and I had a hard time hearing that,” he continued. “Consequently, my mother went ahead and purchased a new sound system, and I was really pleased with it. You could really get a sense of the bass. It had such a powerful effect. There was a trembling in the windows. It was such a nice experience.

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2. Daniel rose to fame in CODA.

Marlee Matlin, a former cast member of Dancing With the Stars, co-starred with Daniel in the Apple TV+ original movie as Leo Rossi. At the Academy Awards in 2022, this movie took home the statues for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor.

Prior to his involvement with CODA, Daniel’s most notable part was that of Matthew in the television series Switched at Birth. Additionally, he was seen on an episode of You from 2019 as well.

3. Daniel is paired with Britt Stewart.

During the 31st season, Daniel and Britt Stewart will dance together. Their team is called “Team Sign to Shine,” after their team name. Before joining Johnny Weir and Martin Kove, Britt danced with both of them.

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4. Daniel grew up in Minnesota.

According to his official biography, Daniel was born in Detroit, Michigan, even though he spent the majority of his childhood in Duluth, Minnesota. Beginning in the eighth grade, he received his education at the Minnesota State School for the Deaf. After graduating high school, he attended the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York and Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. He makes his home in Los Angeles at the moment.

Daniel Durant with pro Britt Stewart

5. Daniel is also a stage actor.

In the year 2021, Daniel made his debut on stage in a performance of Cyrano. He gained widespread recognition for his portrayal of Moritz Stiefel in the Spring Awakening revival that took place on Broadway in 2015.

Daniel Durant Bio

Daniel N. Durant is a well-known stage and movie actor who was born in the United States on December 24, 1989. His breakout performance as Moritz Stiefel in the 2015 Broadway revival of Spring Awakening was considered to be his main role. The film CODA, in which Durant starred, was nominated for an Academy Award (2021). At the world premiere of the film, which took place at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, he and the cast were awarded the Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast in the United States Dramatic Competition. They also won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards. On the small screen, he is best recognized for his recurrent part in the television series Switched at Birth, which airs on ABC Family (2013–2017).

Early life

He was adopted as a child by his paternal aunt Lori Durant, and later by her wife Mary Engels. Durant was born deaf in Detroit, Michigan, to parents who were also deaf and struggled with addiction. His parents were all deaf. He spent his childhood in the city of Duluth, Minnesota. He received his diploma from the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf in Faribault in 2008 after attending classes there. In 2011, he graduated with an associate’s degree in applied computer technology after completing his studies at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, which is located within the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New York. After that, he continued his education at Gallaudet University and received his degree in 2014.