Ido Drent
Ido Drent is a South African-born actor working and living in Auckland, New Zealand. He is best known to television audiences as Daniel Potts in the long-running soap opera Shortland Street.
Early life
Drent was born in Pretoria and raised until the age of 8 in Potchefstroom, South Africa. In January 1996 Drent and his family moved to New Zealand. He remembers watching Shortland Street for the first time and being bewildered by the accents. After finishing school Drent studied business at university and worked in the property development industry. After doing part-time work in television commercials, Drent "caught the acting bug."Career
Beginnings and ''Shortland Street''
Drent became a model, was signed to 11 Modeling Agency and quickly became a regular on the catwalk.He started to attend a Meisner Acting course and in 2008 auditioned for an upcoming role on the long-running soap opera Shortland Street. The role was a recasting of past character Daniel Potts, the bad-boy illegitimate son of major character Sarah Potts. Drent was called back after his first audition, and, after performing alongside the actress of Sarah, Amanda Billing, he was awarded the role. He made his debut on the show in March 2009 and quickly picked up a heartthrob status.
For his role on Shortland Street, Drent was nominated and awarded with numerous awards, including in 2010 the New Zealand TV Guide Best on the Box award for "Rising Star". He also won runner up for "Hottest Male Actor" in the Throng Shortland Street Fan Awards 2010, losing out to onscreen stepfather Benjamin Mitchell. In 2011 Drent was nominated for a Girlfriend Faves Forever award for "Celeb Male 2011" for his role in Shortland Street and "Favourite TV star" in the What Now awards.
In 2012 Drent quit his role on Shortland Street to pursue career opportunities in Australia. He commented, "For me, broadening myself as an actor,I need to move on, even if it meant losing a bit of security and taking a big risk."
Following his move to Australia, Drent landed a role on the fourth season of television show Offspring, making his debut in May 2013. Drent was praised by his costar Matthew Le Nevez, "He's got such a nice, calming energy... He's such a great actor."
Drent also won the role of INXS drummer Jon Farriss in a miniseries depicting the band, INXS: Never Tear Us Apart.