Duluth actor Daniel Durant to be featured on 'Dancing with the Stars'

DULUTH - Daniel Durant, a Duluth-raised actor who had a prominent role in the 2021 Academy Award-winning best picture "CODA," will compete on the upcoming season of "Dancing with the Stars."

"It was on my bucket list and being able to go from the [Screen Actors Guild] awards all the way to the Oscars, having the red carpet experience, straight into 'Dancing with the Stars,' is amazing," Durant said in an email Thursday after the Season 31 cast was announced on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Durant will join a handful of deaf celebrities who have appeared on the show. Nyle DiMarco, who won Season 22 of "America's Next Top Model," went on to win "Dancing with the Stars" in 2016. Actor Marlee Matlin appeared on the show in 2008 and was one of the first people Durant contacted about dancing; she played his on-screen mother in "CODA" and was a castmate in the Freeform TV series "Switched at Birth."

"She is like another mom to me, and I know about her experience," Durant said. "She gave me some advice, and I definitely followed it all."

Durant, who was born deaf, was raised in Duluth and has made the city his home for the past few years. Before the "CODA" award-season buzz, he worked at a local restaurant and could often be seen with his family at youth soccer matches. He left for Los Angeles in mid-August to join dance partner Britt Stewart.

Durant performed solo choreography on Broadway in Deaf West Theatre's 2015 revival of "Spring Awakening" and said he considers it a "tiny, tiny bit of dance experience."

"But dancing with a professional is a whole new world," he said. "I have to learn to dance like Britt and that is very hard, but very rewarding."

"Dancing with the Stars," which moved from ABC to Disney+ this season, premieres Sept. 19. Other competitors this season include Arnold Schwarzenegger's son Joseph Baena, actor Selma Blair, "Let's Make a Deal" host Wayne Brady, Sam Champion of "Good Morning America" and TikTok star Charli D'Amelio and her mother Heidi D'Amelio.

Also appearing will be country musician Jessie James Decker, actor Trevor Donovan, Teresa Giudice of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," Vinny Guadagnino of "Jersey Shore," Cheryl Ladd of "Charlie's Angels," actor Jason Lewis, drag queen Shangela, singer Jordin Sparks, and Gabby Windey of "The Bachelorette."