Dan Payne
| Sci-Fi/Fantasy | |
| IMDB.com | Dan's Website |
Daniel Boyd Payne, was born in Victoria, British Columbia,
Canada; however, he and his family were fortunate to have moved a
great deal while growing up. The moves included towns and cities of
all shapes and sizes. The travel afforded Dan and his siblings,
brother Josh and sister Cathy, to become best of friends. This
provided Dan with a sense of resourcefulness and independence that
he is proud of to this day. It also helped him discover humor as a
great tool to adapt to new surroundings.
Dan is a man of great stature and presence standing 6' 4" and
weighing nearly 230 pounds. Despite being built for sports,
education has always ranked highly for Dan who was an excellent
student. He earned Honor Roll in Matriculation throughout high
school years and was
awarded scholarships to universities across Canada. Eventually
settling at the University of Calgary, Dan 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 Canada
extensively and nurture a love for his country; as well as get
bitten by the travel bug. The volleyball career was very successful
and came to an end with a stint as a professional in Holland. During
his years at university, Dan says he truly learned the most about
himself and found great satisfaction dealing with people including
coaching volleyball camps for special needs children.
Dan then moved from Holland to Australia for 4 years to join his
brother Josh, whom he considers his 'life mentor'. Australia is
where 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 pursuing his own path
to their childhood dream of acting. This path actually began with
stand up comedy and performing in shows 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. He chose to venture to London, England while his
brother remained in Oz.
The UK marked the start of the traditional agent and audition trail
for Dan and the beginning of 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's 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. Armed
with a greater sense of self and some foreign film credits, he
returned home - to Vancouver, Canada.
Dan continues his efforts to constantly expand on his experiences in
both comedy and drama, which only strengthens his life long passion
for acting. Vancouver has been a dream come true for Dan. He has
enjoyed many varied roles since returning home from lawyers to
aliens to playing with the Muppets. Dan's career, over these past
three year, has enjoyed growing success. The future looks promising
for Dan as his leading man good looks and sense of humor will soon
take him to the next leg of his journey, L.A.