Deaf Duluth Native Puts On Show at CSS

DULUTH- Northlander's have the chance to see a homegrown success story Friday night at Saint Scholastica.

Northland native and deaf actor, Daniel Durant has come back to perform and talk to people about his struggles and successes.

Abc's "Switched at Birth" star Daniel Durant, was born deaf and raised here in Duluth.

He caught the acting bug at a young age and he tells us he so grateful that he gets to do what he loves, every day.

"I feel like I'm living in a dream. I feel like every morning I wake up, I think to myself, I'm an actor on television. I really still can't believe it, that's it's happened, so I'm so thankful for every minute of what I'm experiencing."

Daniel's struggles started from the beginning, when his birth parents had to give him up, but his aunt, whom he calls mom, became his angel and support.

"So she adopted me, when I was 18 months old, and I didn't have any language at that time. So when I moved here, I didn't have any signs. I just communicated by screaming and pointing. But my mom really just rolled up her sleeves and got to work in getting me immersed into the language."

Once he was armed with language he found more struggles going to a mainstream school.

"Yeah I had a lot of experiences being bullied and honestly it was like a really sad experience for me. It was really challenging to go through all of that. So it was hard to kind of make it through some of those things but you know, I also realized that I had to let some of those things go to be able to kind of move on."

But Daniel was able to find self-esteem and lose himself in the arts.

"And there was one deaf and hard of hearing teacher who saw my drawing and she also was a director for a play so she offered me this big role for the first time when I was 7 years old. So I got involved in that when at 7, and it was really after that I just loved theater and I loved drawing things. I just felt like that was who I was."

From there he continued to act and eventually moved to LA where he was cast in "Switched at Birth."

Now he's come back to share his message of hope with the Northland.

"It's not like it's going to magically happen. You're going to face these challenges and face these frustrations. And the important thing is never give up. Just keep working towards your dreams, that you will be able to realize them. It's important to stay positive and be happy."