Daniel Smith Arnold
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Daniel was born in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada and starred in his first professional theatre production at the age of 12. He continued to act and write through his teenage years, graduating with Honors & the Golden Key from the University of Alberta's BFA Conservatory Acting Program.
He is a multi-award winning actor and writer for the stage and screen. He has been nominated for three Leo Awards for "Best Performance", a Leo Award for "Best Screenplay", a Canadian Comedy Award for "Best Screenplay", four Jessie Theatre Awards and two Sterling Theatre Awards for "Outstanding Actor", three Mayor's Awards for "Emerging Artist of the Year", garnered a VTXIFF Jury Award for "Best Actor", two Sterling Awards for "Outstanding Actor" and "Outstanding Writing", and one of his mentors Daniel MacIvor bestowed upon him and his collaborator Medina Hahn the protege portion of the $100,000 "Siminovitch Prize", Canada's most prestigious theatre award.
In addition to numerous roles in film, television, and theatre, Daniel guest starred and now recurs as Jed Campbell on Le cœur a ses raisons (2014). He co-stars in Be Still (2021) which won "Best Feature Film" at Toronto's Female Eye Film Festival, and for which he was nominated for a Leo Award, and he received critical acclaim for his role in Dark Nature (2022): "Daniel Arnold, as the abusive Derek, is worthy of special mention ... his turn impacts hard." (Hollywood News) Also of note, Daniel starred as Holloman in Lawrence & Holloman (2013) which he co-wrote with director Matthew Kowalchuk, based on the play by Morris Panych. For this role he won "Best Actor in a Comedy" at the Victoria Texas IFF and was nominated for a Leo Award for "Best Lead Actor in a Feature Film". Lawrence & Holloman (2013) won 13 jury awards, including the Canadian Comedy Award for "Best Feature Film", before being released theatrically.
Daniel starred Off-Broadway in the critically acclaimed stage production of Any Night, which he co-wrote/performed with Medina Hahn. Prior to its month-long Off-Broadway debut, Any Night had been published by Playwrights Canada Press, won "Outstanding New Play" at Toronto's Summerworks, five awards in Toronto Now including "Outstanding Performances", and was hailed by critics among the "Best Productions of the Year" in Toronto and Vancouver. The feature screenplay version of Any Night won the nation-wide $50k "CFF Super Channel Screenplay Award" and is in development with 3 Legged Dog Films.
He also co-wrote/performed the stage play "Tuesdays & Sundays", which toured nationally and internationally for over 7 years, where it was listed as one of the "Best Shows of the Year" in New York, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto; was published twice; broadcast as a radio play on CBC (in which Daniel performed) and BBC (starring David Tennant); and was optioned as a feature film by Slate Films of London UK and Clarity Films in Canada.
Daniel also won the National Screen Institute's "Drama Prize" to make the 35mm short film The Janitors (2006), which he co-wrote/directed with Matthew Kowalchuk, starring William B. Davis and Medina Hahn. The Janitors (2006) screened at numerous festivals including the Hollywood Film Festival, was broadcast on CBC's Canadian Reflections, and attained world-wide distribution from 'interfilm Berlin - Short Film Distribution'.
He is a multi-award winning actor and writer for the stage and screen. He has been nominated for three Leo Awards for "Best Performance", a Leo Award for "Best Screenplay", a Canadian Comedy Award for "Best Screenplay", four Jessie Theatre Awards and two Sterling Theatre Awards for "Outstanding Actor", three Mayor's Awards for "Emerging Artist of the Year", garnered a VTXIFF Jury Award for "Best Actor", two Sterling Awards for "Outstanding Actor" and "Outstanding Writing", and one of his mentors Daniel MacIvor bestowed upon him and his collaborator Medina Hahn the protege portion of the $100,000 "Siminovitch Prize", Canada's most prestigious theatre award.
In addition to numerous roles in film, television, and theatre, Daniel guest starred and now recurs as Jed Campbell on Le cœur a ses raisons (2014). He co-stars in Be Still (2021) which won "Best Feature Film" at Toronto's Female Eye Film Festival, and for which he was nominated for a Leo Award, and he received critical acclaim for his role in Dark Nature (2022): "Daniel Arnold, as the abusive Derek, is worthy of special mention ... his turn impacts hard." (Hollywood News) Also of note, Daniel starred as Holloman in Lawrence & Holloman (2013) which he co-wrote with director Matthew Kowalchuk, based on the play by Morris Panych. For this role he won "Best Actor in a Comedy" at the Victoria Texas IFF and was nominated for a Leo Award for "Best Lead Actor in a Feature Film". Lawrence & Holloman (2013) won 13 jury awards, including the Canadian Comedy Award for "Best Feature Film", before being released theatrically.
Daniel starred Off-Broadway in the critically acclaimed stage production of Any Night, which he co-wrote/performed with Medina Hahn. Prior to its month-long Off-Broadway debut, Any Night had been published by Playwrights Canada Press, won "Outstanding New Play" at Toronto's Summerworks, five awards in Toronto Now including "Outstanding Performances", and was hailed by critics among the "Best Productions of the Year" in Toronto and Vancouver. The feature screenplay version of Any Night won the nation-wide $50k "CFF Super Channel Screenplay Award" and is in development with 3 Legged Dog Films.
He also co-wrote/performed the stage play "Tuesdays & Sundays", which toured nationally and internationally for over 7 years, where it was listed as one of the "Best Shows of the Year" in New York, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto; was published twice; broadcast as a radio play on CBC (in which Daniel performed) and BBC (starring David Tennant); and was optioned as a feature film by Slate Films of London UK and Clarity Films in Canada.
Daniel also won the National Screen Institute's "Drama Prize" to make the 35mm short film The Janitors (2006), which he co-wrote/directed with Matthew Kowalchuk, starring William B. Davis and Medina Hahn. The Janitors (2006) screened at numerous festivals including the Hollywood Film Festival, was broadcast on CBC's Canadian Reflections, and attained world-wide distribution from 'interfilm Berlin - Short Film Distribution'.
