Danny Irizarry

Danny Irizarry was born in Quito, Ecuador, as Joseph Daniel Irizarry, Jr., to American parents living abroad. His paternal grandfather was Puerto Rican, and his maternal grandmother was Czech. Both of his other grandparents can trace their roots in the United States back to the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, with British, German and Yugoslav branches on the family tree. At age four Danny relocated to the United States with his family, living in Chicago and the western suburbs. He competed in gymnastics, earning a state title, and then transitioned to studying taekwondo. Danny started his theater training with the Children's Theatre of Western Springs. He also studied improv at Second City, Chicago. Two of his favorite theater roles were as Puck in Fury Theatre's Teen Bard production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and as Buddy the Elf in the CTWS production of Elf, Jr. His first film role was in the student short, Moved by Love, directed by family friend and Biola student Elisa Logan. This led to a brief role in her next film, The Cure, and confirmed his desire to pursue acting professionally. His first TV role was as Colin Blake, the misunderstood swim-team student and abuse/murder victim in season 3 of Chicago P.D. He followed up with lead roles in films from various Chicago-area film schools, as well as the feature Don't Run (originally titled The Monster Under My Bed), and the pilots for The Florist and Gone.