 basics LEGAL NAME: Daniel Meryn AGE & DATE OF BIRTH: 30th April 1982; 32 PLACE OF BIRTH: Darwin, Australia CURRENT RESIDENCE:Sydney, Australia OCCUPATION: Actor MARITAL STATUS: Single FAMILY: Helen Lavachery (birth mother), Henry and Katherine Meryn (adoptive parents) CREDITS (2016) CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR - BUCKY BARNES / WINTER SOLDIER (2015) CINDERELLA - PRINCE CHARMING (2015) IN THE HEART OF THE SEA - HERMAN MELVILLE (2014) CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER - BUCKY BARNES / WINTER SOLDIER (2014) THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN - LEGOLAS (2013) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG - LEGOLAS (2012) THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY - LEGOLAS (2011-?) GAME OF THRONES - SER LORAS TYRELL (2011) HAPPY FEET 2 - MUMBLE (voice) (2011) CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER - BUCKY BARNES (2009) THE YOUNG VICTORIA - PRINCE ALBERT (2008) NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU - DAVID (2008) AUSTRALIA - CARNEY BOY #1 (2006) HAPPY FEET - MUMBLE (voice) (2006) CANDY - DAN (2005) WOLF CREEK - BEN MITCHELL (2004) SOMERSAULT - STUART (2003) THE LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING - LEGOLAS GREENLEAF (2002) THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS - LEGOLAS GREENLEAF (2001) THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING - LEGOLAS GREENLEAF (1997) THE CASTLE - STEVE AND KERRY'S CHILD (1996) SHINE - BOY NEXT DOOR (1994) MURIEL'S WEDDING - YOUNG BOY trivia
▸ His nickname is spelled Dany because he always forgot the extra 'n' as a child. ▸ Is obsessed with surfing and can often be found out on the water whenever he is in a coastal area. ▸ He still has the stick sword he was holding the day that he met his adoptive parents. ▸ Prefers tea over coffee. ▸ He has always loved knights. He often played at being one when he was a child and it has carried over into adulthood, since he is often seen as gentlemanly, fearless, and chivalrous. ▸ He bought his parents a dog to keep them company when he goes away filming. ▸ He is a gifted horseman. While training for Lord of the Rings, he discovered he had an affinity for it and it is his dream to someday own his own horse. ▸ He doesn't have a place of his own yet since he refuses to leave his beloved adoptive parents. ▸ Is very good with accents and can adopt various American and English accents quite easily. ▸ His favourite food is macaroni and cheese. For dessert he has a fondness for Anzac biscuits. ▸ Likes to listen to audio books since he doesn't have the patience to actually sit down and read a book. ▸ Has the Fellowship tattoo that the nine companions got during the filming of The Lord of the Rings. His is on his bow arm just below the elbow. ▸ Does as many of his own stunts as he is allowed. He has never seen the point of getting someone else to do the dirty work so that he can remain pretty for the screen. 
| BIOGRAPHY Sometimes life is an accident. Sometimes teenagers mess around and something breaks or something is forgotten. The last thing Helen Lavachery expected was to become pregnant at sixteen. Instead of getting an abortion, she decided to have the baby and give it up for adoption. She was too young to raise it herself. Her family didn't have enough money to support the baby, either. They were struggling enough as it was. So on a fine, late spring morning in Darwin, Australia, a baby boy was born and immediately put into the system. Unlike some of the other children who had entered the system later, Daniel was used to growing up without parents. He had never known what it was like to have them and when couples would come in to meet the children, he would sit quietly in a corner and wait for them to leave. He would pretend that he was invisible so that some of the kids he felt needed homes more than he did would get adopted. From a very young age, he was looking after littler ones, taking on a big brother role which made him a favourite go-to person for anyone that was having trouble. He also loved to make up games to play. Imagination was key to entertainment in an otherwise boring and difficult life. There were times that he wished a couple would choose him, especially after seeing a favourite playmate leave. He began to believe he actually did possess the capability to make himself invisible because potential parents would never even look in his direction. It made him feel powerful. Seven years passed before he was noticed. On a warm summer day, a couple from Sydney came to visit the Darwin shelter in search of a child of their own. Dany (as he had come to be known since he always misspelled Danny when he was learning to write and nobody could seem to get him to add the extra 'n') was busy playing outside. There was a dragon and knights and he had a stick sword. It was very serious stuff. He had forgotten to make himself invisible and Henry and Katherine Meryn had seen him. All he could do as soon as he noticed their approach was to stand and stare, holding his stick so tight he thought it might break. "You can't see me." Those were his first stubborn words to them. He pointed in the direction of another boy. "He needs you more." Turning his back to them, he went back to stabbing at the air with his stick as if they weren't there at all. The couple did chat with some of the other boys but Katherine in particular could not leave without trying to talk to Dany again. One of the caretakers had to coax him to sit down with them, which he did reluctantly agree to in the end since he didn't want to get in trouble and miss dessert. Once he had given the couple a chance, Dany found them quite easy to talk to and in the end, he did end up getting chosen and about six months later, he was in a car on the way to his new life in Sydney. He had become Daniel Meryn. It didn't take him long to warm up to having two dedicated parents. Before, there had always been a constant revolving door of caretakers and children in the shelter. He had never known stability until now and it was a wonderful thing. He had never known just how abusive the childrens home had been until he had left it. It was a wonderful thing to be loved and the Meryn's did genuinely adore the spunky little boy, even when he was a handful. Adjusting to school had been difficult for him and they were continually getting calls about Dany lashing out at older kids that would bully the younger ones. The teachers would say that he would utter the most nasty threats in the most convincing way and they were getting worried about him, wondering whether he would actually act upon any of his treats. Of course, Dany didn't plan on it, he just found his methods very affective. It wasn't until he was ten that his parents began to worry just as much as his teachers. After watching a programme on the TV, Dany thought it would be a good time to try to rob a bank. Armed with a plastic toy gun complete with a red cap on the end that made it all the more fake looking, he walked into the neighbourhood ANZ branch and proceeded to whip his gun out and start threatening people. Again, he was so convincing that he was even beginning to scare the adults. Soon enough the police arrived on the scene and seeing that he was only ten, all they could do was ring up his parents to come and get them and have a chat about his behaviour. He bugged them to take him to the police station since he wanted to see it but they refused to indulge him much to his disappointment. Upon hearing the news, one of the family's neighbours suggested that Dany take acting classes. It would be worth a try and it would certainly be something he could channel all of his energy into. Everyone that knew him knew that he was exceedingly good at playing pretend. Both of his parents often found that they could watch him entertain himself for hours with his imaginary games so they agreed. Naturally, Dany took to acting like a fish to water. He went to weekly classes in the city and took lead roles in all of the school plays, bringing down the house with his performances. At fourteen, he was cast in his very first film role. He played small, unnamed parts in Australian indies and thoroughly enjoyed himself. It was a passion, and along with that, he had started to make good friends that got him into the Australian surf culture. Things were much better for him with acting as a passion and surfing as an obsession. At seventeen years old, Dany was cast in his breakthrough role as Legolas Greenleaf in the blockbuster Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was a huge opportunity for him and he willingly crossed the ditch to film in New Zealand, learn how to ride a horse and use a bow, and act alongside international greats. It was a lifechanging experience for every one of the cast and it gave him recognition globally as the beautiful, fleet-footed elf of the woodland realm. After Rings, he went on to be in several Australian cult classics and independent films. He remained present in the industry but only just. After a long career in Australian film, Dany finally got his international break with The Young Victoria. His career seems to be on the rise and he has recently taken the leap to television in HBO's new series Game of Thrones as Ser Loras Tyrell, fulfilling his lifelong dream of being a knight and it was announced that he was to return to Middle-earth as Legolas Greenleaf in the upcoming trilogy of The Hobbit films. He also plays Bucky Barnes in two of Marvel's Captain America films and is set for a third. The parents that noticed him all those years ago remain supportive of him, he loves them dearly, and when he is not filming or off on surfari somewhere, he still lives at home with them in the Sydney suburb of Sylvania Waters. STORYLINES ooc info
PLAYED BY: Sam Heughan |