Ido Drent

Ido Drent (born 27 January 1987) 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."

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". 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.

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.

Personal life Drent is heavily involved in exercise and loves coffee. In April 2011 Drent announced he was engaged to makeup artist Mandy Hodges via his Facebook page. in a ceremony attended by family, friends, and co-stars. They have a son and a daughter.

Activism Drent has been an ambassador for the 40 Hour Famine in 2010, 2011 and 2012, in which he helped needy children in East Timor. However, Drent was forced to drop out following feeling very ill and fearing he may have meningitis. Drent is also an advocate for anti-smoking New Zealand.

Filmography