Daniel Anton "Danny" James (born October 3, 1981) is the actor who portrayed Zoot in The Tribe.
Acting career[]
Daniel has acted both on stage and screen since 1994. Through his career, he has done a variety of voice over recordings and appeared in several television commercials.[1] In the theater, he has played in Gounod's Faust and Hammerstein's The King and I,[2] as well as Auckland Opera's productions of Bizet's Carmen and Mozart's The Magic Flute.[1]
Daniel made his on-screen debut in 1994's Hercules and the Amazon Women, the first in a row of TV movies which preceded the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys TV series, where he played the role of Young Iolaus. Daniel returned for a guest role in the spin-off series Xena: Warrior Princess in 1996. He played the orphan Lynal in the season 2 episode "A Solstice Carol," which also featured Jaimee Kaire-Gataulu (Cloe) in a minor background role.
Daniel had his first audition when he was 13 years old for the Cloud 9 production The Enid Blyton Adventure Series.[3] He did not get the role, but was brought back for The Enid Blyton Secret Series, where he played the lead role of Jack Trent. Jennyfer Jewell, who would play Ellie in The Tribe, played alongside him as another lead.
Daniel was picked for the role of Zoot in series one of The Tribe in 1998. His involvement in the show is detailed more thoroughly in the following section. In 2002, he portrayed Danny in the episode "Real Cool," in Revelations – The Initial Journey, another Cloud 9 TV series featuring Tom Hern (Ram) as the lead.
The Tribe[]
Daniel portrayed the main character Zoot in series one of The Tribe and returned for guest appearances in series two to five. He was offered the role from creator Raymond Thompson and told that he would die early on.
After his character was killed off eight episodes into the first series, Daniel stayed on the series as assistant art director and administration assistant, an experience he later described as "bittersweet."[3]
He took part in the music album Abe Messiah, recorded in 1999. He sang with the rest of the cast on the titular theme song "Abe Messiah" and provided lead vocals along with Dwayne Cameron and Caleb Ross on "This is the Place" and "Beep Beep".
Personal life[]
Daniel has worked as a builder from 2002 and has been the director of his own building company in Auckland, New Zealand since 2009.[2]
Trivia[]
- Zoot's dreadlocks was Daniel's own hairstyle when the show first started and was kept for the character.[3]
- Daniel has a dog named Stella and a cat named Nikita. The dog was adopted from The Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.[3]
External links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Zoot" Tribeworld.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Daniel James LinkedIn profile
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Danny James (ZOOT) Facebook Tribe Chat Transcript". Tribeworld.