Biography
Darren Travers won the 'Best Performance Award' at the "Starburst International Film Festival 2016" for playing the leading roles of the mentally challenged 'Damo' and his grief stricken twin brother 'Daz' in Jason Figgis highly acclaimed revenge thriller "Don't You Recognise Me?" He was born in Dublin, Ireland. Darren is an extremely versatile, powerful and passionate actor who is equally comfortable on stage and screen. He is also a very accomplished published writer and has written a novel, short stories, screenplays, poems and monologues. He is also an award nominated film producer. Darren trained as an actor at the Dublin School of Acting, Irish Film Academy, Hubbard Acting, LSB College (all in Dublin) and at the Actors Centre (London). He made his professional film acting debut as a CIA Agent in "The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax" (1999). Then he spent some time in Hollywood to further educate himself on the film industry. In 2001 he went to live in London. He made his theatrical acting debut as Adam in "Ghost Of Eden" (2002) at the Theatro Technis. In 2003 he starred in the short film "Ova," the theatrical production of "The Conversation Game" and the pantomime production of "The Magic Castle." He then portrayed the LA police detective 'Jeff Rabin' in the theatrical adaptation of the Oscar winning "The Usual Suspects" (2004) at the Derby Playhouse, Harlow Playhouse and Mercury Theatre. He also starred in the theatrical productions of "Two Queens And A Cottage" (2004) at the Brighton Festival and "The Window" (2004) at Camden USC. In 2005 and 2006 he starred in a number of short films including "Where Am I?" "Amber Street" "Speechless" "Love And Butter" "A New Life With Maurice 13" "Four Of A Kind" and "The Runner" as well as the music video for "Oh Marie!" by the band Ladyfuzz. He then played the heroic 'Crusader' in Ron Howard's worldwide blockbuster hit film, "The Da Vinci Code" (2006). He was lead actor, writer and producer on Barry Brennan's double award nominated short film, "The Detective" (2007). This film screened all over the world including USA, England, Wales, South Africa, Egypt and Thailand. Then he returned to the stage to play the Boston soldier 'Robert Bailey' in Rikki Beadle-Blair's mesmerising Iraq based play "Touch" (2008) at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London's West End. This was followed by another diverse role as he portrayed the Victorian English scoundrel 'Arthur Palmer' in Episode 2 of ITV's historical documentary "Martina Cole's Lady Killers" (2008). He followed this with the corporate short film "Hard To Reach" (2009) and the play "The Fen Axel Talk Show" (2010) at the John Curry Studio in London's West End. He then took on the hugely admired roles of the sensitive teacher 'George' in Edward Albee's revered "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?" (2010) and the emotional powerhouse 'Boxer' in George Orwell's acclaimed "Animal Farm" (2010) which were both at the New Theatre, Dublin. This was followed by another acclaimed theatrical role as he played the roguish charmer 'Robin Conway' in J.B. Priestley's "Time And The Conways" (2011) at the Draiocht Theatre, Dublin. Darren then returned to film work as a 'Newscaster' in "The Damage Is Done" (2011) and as the LA police detective 'Frank Harris' in "Deadly Motive" (2011) which he also wrote and produced. He powerfully portrayed the insanely animalistic farmer 'Jack Purcell' in Jason Figgis' "Children Of A Darker Dawn" which was formerly known as "Railway Children" (2012). This film was nominated for Best Director and Best Independent Horror Feature at the 'Blood Guts Film Awards 2012' and was also nominated for the 'Top 20 Darkest Arts 2012' from the US reviewer, 'The Conduit Speaks.' He once again showed his versatility by playing the posh Film AD 'Stefan Archer' in Randal Plunkett's TV comedy pilot, "DysFunctional Fitness" (2012) and the charming salesman 'Rob Marshall' in Mark McAuley's award winning short film, "Connection" (2012). In 2013 he again showed great range by portraying the tough criminal Joe Disney in the short film "A Walk In The Woods" and the kind hearted doctor 'Dominic O'Sullivan' in Bernadette Manton's powerful drama "The Wake." This short feature had its World Premiere to rousing audience reviews at the Boston Irish Film Festival in March 2014. He then played the role of the gangster 'Fran' in the corporate short film "HP Connect" (2014). Following this he played the courageous climber, 'Jeff' in Birbl's inspiring TV Pilot "How Powerful Is Your Dream?" (2014) which was directed by Jason Figgis. Then he sunk his teeth into the film role of the charismatically haunting 3000 year old Greek vampire 'Acacius' in Jason Figgis' hugely admired horror, "The Ecstasy Of Isabel Mann" which was nominated for numerous awards including 'Best Independent Film' at the "Blood Guts UK Horror Awards 2014." Darren followed this with his award winning performance in the powerful and intense thriller "Don't You Recognise Me?" which was also shown in numerous festivals throughout the world. He was also Associate Producer and Co-Editor on this film. A much lighter role followed as he played the 'Happy Man' in the "Costcutter" Commercial which was shown on TV3 in Ireland which was directed by John Gleeson. He also played the tough, unrelenting brute, 'Tommy' in Figgis' captivating drama, "Urban Traffik" which has its World Premiere at the "Underground Film Festival 2016" in Dublin. A change of pace followed when he starred in two Horror Feature Film Anthologies. In "Grindsploitation" he embodied the serial killer, 'Terence Lee Hall', and in "The 12 Slays of Christmas" he portrayed the disturbingly obsessive husband, 'The Uncommon Mr Goode." He was once again directed by long-time collaborator, Jason Figgis, for both projects. Following this Darren stepped back in time to play the real life historical figures, 'Joseph Plunkett' and 'Major Ivor Price' in the "GPO Witness History Exhibition" 1916 Easter Rising Film which was directed by Luke Leslie. He also brought to life another famous Irish Patriot 'Patrick Pearse' in numerous large scale stage productions throughout Ireland including "1916: Brought Back To Life" which was directed by Dave Swift. Very recently Darren portrayed the terrifying creature, 'The Plastic Man' in Jason Figgis mesmerising horror chiller "Torment" which was nominated for numerous awards including 'Best Film' at the "Starburst International Film Festival 2018." His most recent completed role was as the poacher 'Pence' in Randal Plunkett's mythical thriller "The Green Sea."
