Daniel Smales (born 21 October 1990) is an English

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. His work includes a range of stage and film.

Career

Smales auditioned and gained a place to study

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

. He was also accepted into

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

, but was forced to turn his place down due to not being able to fund his place. Following that decision, he embarked on his passion for film. His first film role was for Death Walks (2016) independent film developed by first-time writer and director

Spencer Hawken Spencer Hawken (born 6 May 1973) is a British film producer, director, writer, and former film critic. His work includes '' Death Walks'' and ''No Reasons''. Career Hawken has worked as a retailer and fashion director at Debenhams, during which ...

. He auditioned for the role of "Steve", the shop assistant, alongside love interest "Louise" ( Lucinda Rhodes). He played the character of "Kevin" a journalist in

No Reasons ''No Reasons'' is an independent thriller film written and directed by Spencer Hawken. The film was created with Hawkens production company Views From The Edge Films. It stars Marc Bannerman, Lucinda Rhodes, Elisha Applebaum, Daniel Peacock, R ...

(2016). One review of the film compliments "an admirably creepy performance by Daniel Smales". In an interview with

Hull Daily Mail The ''Hull Daily Mail'' is an English regional daily newspaper for Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The ''Hull Daily Mail'' has been circulated in various guises since 1885. A second edition, the ''East Riding Mail'', covers ...

, Smales shared how the character was based on an old school teacher. Expressing that the characteristics of the slicked hair, jackets and pointed shoes the character wears inspired the characteristics in the film. In an interview with Nerdly, Smales revealed he didn't sleep for the first night after reading the original script, debating whether this role was right for him. In the same interview Spencer Hawken revealed Smales had designed the artwork for the release of the film. Smales appeared in the

Hyundai Hyundai is a former South Korean industrial conglomerate ("''chaebol''"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Asan, a real estate construction ...

commercial (2018). Smales also appeared in Gogodoc commercial (2018). Smales was in Hull's Cool List 2021. Since 2023, Smales has been part of the team at Romford Film Festival and Romford Horror Film Festival. In October 2024, as festival director, Smales announced the development of the Glowflare Short Film Festival, a new platform for emerging filmmakers. In addition, Smales launched the Glowflare Horror Film Festival, which held its inaugural edition in May 2025.

Personal

Smales was born in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

in East

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, where he grew up on the

Orchard Park Estate Orchard Park Estate is an area or housing estate situated on the north-western side of Kingston upon Hull, England. Geography The Orchard Park Estate is on the northern eastern fringe of the western part Kingston upon Hull adjacent to the cit ...

. He is the son of Anthony Smales and Margaret Smales. He has an older sister and an older brother. He attended the local Shaw Park Primary School, along with the local secondary school Sir Henry Cooper School. He attended Wyke Sixth Form College where he studied

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

and

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

. Smales took a year at Hull College studying

. He left Hull to pursue his career in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Smales is known to have Dyslexia.

Charity

Smales is an advocate for Alzheimer's supporting the charities

Alzheimer's Research UK Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK) is a dementia research charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1992 as the Alzheimer's Research Trust. Alzheimer’s Research UK funds scientific studies to find ways to treat, diagnose and prevent all forms of ...

and

Alzheimer's Society Alzheimer's Society is a United Kingdom care and research charity for people with dementia and their carers. It operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while its sister charities Alzheimer Scotland and Alzheimer Society of Ireland co ...

. Smales father died of Alzheimer's disease in December 2021. In an interview with Hull Live Smales paid tribute to his 'selfless and caring' dad Tony, and believes Investment in dementia research remains low compared to other major health conditions across the United Kingdom.

Credits

Film

Stage

Commercial

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smales, Daniel 1990 births Living people 21st-century English male actors Male actors from Kingston upon Hull English male actors English male film actors