Biografia

Dakota has two sisters. The older is a professional model and the younger is an amateur hockey player.

Dakota often plays abused or troubled protagonist teenagers with dark pasts, but ironically, he is known for his work as the antagonistic Nazi Youth Leader in "Falling Skies".

Started writing scripts at the age of 16 and directed his first film at the age of 17.

Dakota has traveled to Japan and Taiwan to represent Canada in two separate international modeling competitions.

Being intensely shy as a young kid, Dakota never took drama class in high school. He became interested in the industry as a way to gain friends, popularity and affection from girls. As he became older, he found a new love for acting and left the other reasons behind.

If I wasn't acting I'd be a writer or director, which coincidentally is what I'm currently doing. I have such a passion to curate art I can't imagine not ever being involved in it somehow. I'm a huge advocate for creating your own work. Either that, or I would be a world explorer like Indiana Jones.

When I was thirteen, after school, I'd shovel horse manure for a neighbor. It's not as bad as it sounds though, on a good day I got to take the horses for a spin so it was actually a pretty great first job.

{Black Fly} I enjoy working, and doing what I do, so it was fun, but there were also days where it wasn't so fun because you have to get into a dark mind-set. That's part of your job: to get into a dark mind-set, but when they yell cut or your day's done, you don't have to carry that stuff home with you. At the end of the day, the shotgun that I was holding in my hands wasn't loaded.

I think it's important for actors and other artists to create work for themselves, and have as many fingers in the pot as possible. You can't wait for others. If I can control my career as much as possible then I want to be able to do that. For those who want to write all I can say is just write. I didn't take schooling for that particular aspect of my career. It's important to understand structure, but aside from that aspect of it, just write and your style will develop over time.

Many people forget that the acting business is just that, a business. It is important to be artistic but to also to understand the fiscal side. An artist that can manage and control both aspects is unstoppable.