Daniel Zovatto facts for kids

Daniel Zovatto Blanco (born June 28, 1991) is an actor from Costa Rica and the United States. He has starred in many films, especially in the horror genre, like Beneath (2013), It Follows (2014), and Don't Breathe (2016). He also appeared in the romantic comedy Laggies (2014) and recent films like The Pope's Exorcist (2023) and Woman Of The Hour (2024).

Daniel started acting on TV in 2014 with a guest role in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Later, he had regular roles in shows like Revenge (2014) and Fear the Walking Dead (2016). In 2018, he was a main actor in HBO's Here And Now. A year later, he took on the main role in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, which started in 2020.

Early Life and Acting Start

Daniel Zovatto Blanco was born in San José, Costa Rica, on June 28, 1991. His mother, Sylvia Blanco, was a TV personality, and his father, Daniel Zovatto Garetto, was a politician from Argentina.

Daniel wanted to be an actor from a young age. He would often go with his mother to the sets of her TV talk shows in Costa Rica. He says his love for horror movies came from his father, who used to playfully scare him when he watched movies like Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Because of this, Daniel even got the nickname 'Danny', just like the child character in that horror film.

After high school, Daniel moved to New York City to study theater. He acted in two short films called 55 Days and The Return. Later, he moved to Los Angeles, where he got his first role in a full-length movie. This was the 2013 horror film Beneath, where he played a character named Johnny. This independent film was released on May 3, 2013, and was Daniel's first main role in a movie. Later that year, he also appeared in the horror drama Innocence.

TV and Movie Roles

In 2014, Daniel made his first appearance on television in an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. called "Seeds". From May to October 2014, Daniel had a role in three episodes of the TV show Revenge. He played Gideon LeMarchal, a character who dated Charlotte Grayson in the show's third and fourth seasons.

His next movie was the romantic comedy Laggies, where he played Junior. He acted alongside stars like Chloë Grace Moretz and Keira Knightley. After that, he got a very important role in the 2014 supernatural horror film It Follows, playing Greg Hannigan. This movie was very popular with critics.

Daniel then played a main role in Don't Breathe, a horror film directed by Fede Álvarez. He played the character Money. The movie first showed on March 12, 2016, and was released in the USA on August 26, 2016. Even though the story was set in Detroit, most of the filming happened in Hungary.

In 2016, Daniel also got a recurring role in AMC's horror drama series Fear the Walking Dead during its second season. He played Jack, a character who talks to Alicia Clark (Alycia Debnam-Carey) over the radio. Their characters later developed a relationship in the show. In the same year, he appeared in an episode of the From Dusk Til Dawn TV series.

In 2017, Daniel had smaller roles in two movies: Greta Gerwig's well-known film Lady Bird, starring Saoirse Ronan, and Newness, starring Nicholas Hoult. He also appeared in an episode of Dimension 404 called "Cinethrax”.

Later, he was cast in a main role in HBO's drama series Here And Now. He acted alongside famous actors like Tim Robbins and Holly Hunter. Daniel played Ramon, one of the adopted children in a diverse family. Ramon was born in Colombia and adopted as a baby. The series showed the family dealing with challenges, including Ramon experiencing strange visions. The show started in February 2018 but was canceled after one season.

Daniel returned to movies with two independent films, Vandal and Heavy. Vandal tells the story of Nick Cruz, also known as "Damage," a talented graffiti artist. The movie explores his struggles with illegal graffiti, love, and the results of his choices. It premiered on March 7, 2019, at the Miami Film Festival. The movie received good reviews, and Daniel was recognized by Variety as one of their "10 Latinxs to Watch" at the Miami Film Festival.

Heavy, which stars Sophie Turner, is a thriller set in New York. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019.

Daniel later filmed Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, a crime fantasy drama. In this show, he played the main character, Santiago "Tiago" Vega, a young detective. Tiago struggles to balance his police job with his family and Mexican heritage in Los Angeles in 1938. The series started in April 2020 but was canceled later that year.

He also stars in the crime movie Flinch. In Flinch, Daniel plays Joe Doyle, a young man who gets involved in a difficult situation and then meets Mia, who saw what happened.

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Daniel Zovatto para niños