Acting
Oct 15, 1970
Daniel Kucan
Acting
Biography
Daniel Kucan grew up in a strict theater conservatory from the age of 7, where he studied design, art, carpentry, and performance studies. Over the next 11 years, he developed an edgy and often theatrical style that has become his trademark in the dozens of Hollywood homes he has designed since. After attending New York University and living on the East Coast for ten years, he moved to Los Angeles where he became a partner and lead designer at Mortise & Tenon, where he can still be found today. Over the course of his wildly inventive career, he has been a designer, actor, woodworker, finisher, kick boxing teacher, producer, author, stuntman, construction foreman, and circus knife thrower. Having travelled extensively, he has a deep, global commitment to ethical building and green designs. His store has been building in reclaimed lumber since before the word “green” had been branded to describe such a thing. Back then, it was simply called “the right thing to do.” An expert in Chinese martial arts, Daniel gave up a promising career as a competitive fighter when he quickly discovered that he’d rather lose a bout than actually hurt somebody, and this tenacious commitment to the morality of our everyday decisions plays out in his unwillingness to use animal products in either his designs, or in their construction. A quietly unassuming vegan, he doesn’t use leather or down or animal derived glues and lacquers. Daniel currently lives with his longtime girlfriend in Los Angeles in a Gothic English cottage that he restored himself. A historical revivalist at heart, his old school design mentality works perfectly with the Los Angeles architectural landscape, packed as it is with houses from the 20’s and 30’s that are crying out to have their former glory remembered. When he’s not designing, he can usually be found hiking in the mountains over L.A. with his two dogs. Prior to Sell This House: Extreme, Daniel appeared as a carpenter and designer for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and HGTV’s Desperate Spaces.
Feature Films (2)
A feature-length documentary that explores the lives of four remarkably different people who share a common thread - they're all vegan. The movie traces the personal journeys of an ultramarathon runner who has overcome addiction to compete in one hundred mile races, a cattle rancher's wife who creates the first cattle ranch turned farmed animal sanctuary in Texas, a food truck owner cooking up knee-buckling plant-based foods, and an 8-year-old girl who convinces her family of six to go vegan.
Vegan: Everyday Stories
The hunky John is a closeted small-town cop who moves to L.A., where he is quickly seduced into the gay life of workouts and dusk-to-dawn parties. With actual circuit party footage and mounds of glistening and chiseled flesh, the pulsating Circuit is bound to get your juices flowing.
Circuit
Television & Series (4)
The District is a television police drama which aired on CBS from October 7, 2000 to May 1, 2004. The show followed the work and personal life of the chief of Washington, D.C.'s Police Department.
The District
Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura is an American television series hosted by Jesse Ventura and broadcast on truTV. It premiered on December 2, 2009. The second season premiered on October 15, 2010, with the third season premiering on November 7, 2012. In May 2013, Ventura stated that the show has been discontinued and a fourth season will not air.
Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura
The long-running A&E series "Sell This House!" gets an extreme makeover. While familiar face Tanya Memme (longtime "Sell This House!" host Roger Hazard left this series after season one) continues to help spruce up homes that have been on the market too long, she gets a big hand from new partners Charlie Frattini, a construction veteran with a no-nonsense approach to his work, and edgy designer Daniel Kucan, whose work has been showcased on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." Frattini tears down walls, installs new flooring, completely renovates kitchens and bathrooms, and makes any other changes that Kucan thinks are needed to ensure the homeowners receive top dollar when their house is sold.
Sell This House: Extreme
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is an American reality television series providing home improvements for less fortunate families and community schools. The show is hosted by carpenter and veteran television personality Ty Pennington. Each episode features a family that has faced some sort of recent or ongoing hardship such as a natural disaster or a family member with a life-threatening illness, in need of new hope. The show's producers coordinate with a local construction contractor, which then coordinates with various companies in the building trades for a makeover of the family's home. This includes interior, exterior and landscaping, performed in seven days while the family is on vacation and documented in the episode. If the house is beyond repair, they replace it entirely.