| Ido Drent | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 January 1987 Pretoria, South Africa |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2009 - present |
| Spouse | Mandy Hodges (m. 2011-present) |
Ido Drent (born 27 January 1987) is a South African actor currently working and living in Auckland, New Zealand. He is best known to television audiences as Daniel Potts in the long running soap opera Shortland Street.
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Drent was born and raised until the age of 8 in Pretoria, South Africa.[1] In 1995 Drent and his family moved to New Zealand and he remembers watching Shortland Street for the first time and being bewildered by the accents.[2] After finishing school Drent studied business at university and worked in the property development industry.[2][3] After doing part time work in television commercials, Drent "caught the acting bug."[2]
Becoming a model, Drent was signed to 11 Modeling Agency and quickly became a regular on the catwalk.[1] He started to attend a Meisner Acting course[3] and in 2008 auditioned for an upcoming role on the long running soap opera Shortland Street. The role was a recasting of past character Daniel Potts who was the badboy illegitimate son of major character, Sarah Potts. Drent was called back after a first audition and after performing alongside the actress of Sarah, Amanda Billing, Drent was awarded the role. He made his debut on the show in March 2009 and quickly picked up a heart throb status.[4] For his role on Shortland Street, Drent was nominated and awarded with numerous awards including in 2010 the New Zealand TV Guide Best on the Box award for "Rising Star".[2] He also run runner up for "Hottest Male Actor" in the Throng Shortland Street Fan Awards 2010, losing out to onscreen step father Benjamin Mitchell.[5] In 2011 Drent was nominated for a Girlfriend Faves Forever award for "Celeb Male 2011" for his role in Shortland Street[6] and "Favourite TV star" in the What Now awards.[6]
Drent is heavily involved in exercise and loves coffee.[1] He is heavily religious and vowed to stay celibate till marriage.[7] In April 2011 Drent announced he was engaged to makeup artist Mandy Hodges via his Facebook.[7] The couple are set to marry in December 2011.[8]
Drent has been an ambassador for the 40 Hour Famine in both 2010 and 2011 in which he helped children in need in East Timor.[2] Drent was involved in a run which involved running 20 km a day for a week to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities.[9] But Drent was forced to drop out following feeling very ill and fearing he may have meningitis.[9][10] Drent is also an advocate for anti smoking New Zealand.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009- | Shortland Street | Daniel Potts | Core Cast Won - "Rising Star", New Zealand TV Guide Best on the Box awards 2010 Nominated - "Celeb Male 2011", Girlfriend Faves Forever 2011 Nominated - "Favourite TV star", The Nowies 2011 |