Daniel Francis (actor)

Francis was born to Jamaican parents^[5] and raised by his mother on a council estate in Battersea, South London.^[6] Having been shy growing up, he discovered acting through Pyramid Youth in Clapham. When he was seventeen, under the mentorship of theatre director Sacha Wares, Francis was cast in Bintou at the Arcola Theatre. He went on to train at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).^[7]

Upon graduating from LAMDA, Francis landed small roles in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of The Comedy of Errors in Salford and Twelfth Night in Stratford-upon-Avon. He went on to star in The Brothers Size at the Young Vic, the stage adaptation of The Hounding of David Oluwale as the titular David Oluwale,^[8] and Off the Endz at the Royal Court Theatre.^[9]

Francis landed his first major onscreen role as Sgt Carl Haleford in the 2012 ITV war drama Homefront. That same year, he made his feature film debut as Sean Warren in the sports drama Fast Girls and played Black in Blackta, returning to the Young Vic. The following year, he played the titular role in the Singapore Repertory Theatre production of Othello.^[10]

In 2016, Francis played Martin Luther King Jr. in Katori Hall's The Mountaintop at the New Vic Theatre in Staffordshire. He joined the recurring cast of Once Upon a Time for its seventh and final season as Dr. Facilier or Baron Samdi.

In the meantime, Francis has worked as a personal development coach and consultant, and as a community manager for Hedera Hashgraph.^[11]

Francis played Esmond Smith in the Education installment of Steve McQueen's Small Axe anthology, which premiered in 2020. He also starred in Cops at Southwark Playhouse.^[12] He was then cast in Harlen Coben's 2021 Netflix mystery miniseries Stay Close as Dave Shaw.

Francis starred in the Apple TV+ series Liaison, the second season of the Amazon Prime adaptation of The Wheel of Time,^[13] and currently co-stars on the Netflix period drama Bridgerton.^[14]