University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Photo: William Davis, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ncsa5.jpg)
University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Photo: William Davis, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ncsa5.jpg)
Dane William DeHaan is an American actor known for performances in Chronicle, The Place Beyond the Pines, Kill Your Darlings, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and Oppenheimer. His work also includes theater and leading roles in television series such as In Treatment and ZeroZeroZero.
Background
Ethnicity:
His family background includes Dutch, German, Italian, English, Welsh, and Scots-Irish ancestry.
Dane William DeHaan was born on February 6, 1986, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and grew up in nearby Zionsville. His father, Jeff DeHaan, worked as a computer programmer, while his mother, Cynthia Boscia, was an executive in the furniture industry. He has an older sister, Meghann.
DeHaan's early interest in acting developed through community theater. He attended Emmaus High School for three years and participated in school and local productions before transferring to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for his senior year. He has described his childhood as supportive and his move to the arts school as his first sustained exposure to a community centered on artistic training.
Education
DeHaan attended Emmaus High School in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, where he appeared in community theater and school productions. He transferred for his senior year to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, an institution founded in 1963 as the first public arts conservatory in the United States.
He continued at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for undergraduate study in drama and graduated in 2008. The school's conservatory structure combined academic education with intensive professional training in the performing arts, providing the setting in which DeHaan developed his stage and screen practice.
DeHaan began his professional acting career in 2008 as an understudy for Haley Joel Osment in the Broadway revival of David Mamet's American Buffalo. The same year he made his television debut as Vincent Beckwith in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
In 2010, he made his feature-film debut in John Sayles's Amigo and appeared as Jesse D'Amato in the third season of HBO's In Treatment. HBO's series examined psychotherapy through extended character-centered narratives, and DeHaan's performance brought him early television recognition. He also appeared as Timbo in the fourth season of True Blood in 2011.
His film career expanded rapidly in 2012 with roles in Chronicle, The Place Beyond the Pines, Lawless, Jack and Diane, and Lincoln. Chronicle, a science-fiction film using found-footage conventions, gave him a leading role as Andrew Detmer, while The Place Beyond the Pines placed him in a multigenerational crime drama directed by Derek Cianfrance.
In 2013, DeHaan played Lucien Carr in Kill Your Darlings, a drama about the young writers and artists associated with the Beat generation. He also appeared in Devil's Knot and played Trip in Metallica: Through the Never. His public profile during this period included a Hero magazine cover photographed by Hedi Slimane and a Prada men's advertising campaign photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
In 2014, he played Harry Osborn and the Green Goblin in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Zach Orfman in Life After Beth. He later portrayed James Dean in Life, Roman in Two Lovers and a Bear, Lockhart in A Cure for Wellness, Jan Van Loos in Tulip Fever, and the title character in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Luc Besson's science-fiction film based on the French comics series Valérian and Laureline.
DeHaan subsequently appeared as Billy the Kid in The Kid, Chris Lynwood in the television series ZeroZeroZero, Carl E. in The Stranger, Jim Dooley in Lisey's Story, Clayton Peterson in The Staircase, and Kenneth Nichols in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. He also appeared in Dumb Money and continued to work in film and television after his early breakthrough.
Achievements
DeHaan established a major screen presence through leading and supporting performances in Chronicle, The Place Beyond the Pines, Kill Your Darlings, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, moving from independent film and television roles into prominent studio productions.
He received sustained recognition for portraying historically and culturally distinct figures, including Lucien Carr in Kill Your Darlings, James Dean in Life, Billy the Kid in The Kid, and Kenneth Nichols in Oppenheimer.
Works
concert film
Metallica: Through the Never
(Surrealist concert film in which DeHaan played Trip.)
(Broadway revival in which DeHaan worked as an understudy ...)
2008
TV series
Lisey's Story
(Psychological horror miniseries based on Stephen King's n...)
2021
ZeroZeroZero
(International crime drama series in which DeHaan played C...)
2020
The Staircase
(True-crime limited series in which DeHaan played Clayton ...)
2022
The Stranger
(Quibi thriller series in which DeHaan played Carl E.)
2020
Personality
In interviews, DeHaan has described himself as direct and honest when friends seek his advice, while acknowledging that he is less comfortable working through other people's problems. He has also spoken about the importance of artistic collaboration and about the transition from a relatively private upbringing in Pennsylvania to a public acting career.
Interests
Theater, cinema, and acting training.
Connections
DeHaan married actress Anna Wood on June 30, 2012. They met while studying at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and have two children, a daughter named Bowie Rose and a son named Bert Apollo.
Father:
Jeff DeHaan
Worked as a computer programmer.
Mother:
Cynthia Boscia
Worked as an executive in the furniture industry.
Sister:
Meghann DeHaan
DeHaan's older sister.
Wife:
Anna Wood
Actress who met DeHaan while studying at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts; they married in 2012.
Daughter:
Bowie Rose DeHaan
Daughter of Dane DeHaan and Anna Wood.
Son:
Bert Apollo DeHaan
Son of Dane DeHaan and Anna Wood.
References
Dane DeHaan - UNCSA Pickle Profile
University of North Carolina School of the Arts profile discussing DeHaan's drama training and professional acting career.
2020
Dane DeHaan - IMDb biography
Biographical and career reference covering DeHaan's film, television, theater, and award history.
Dane DeHaan interview
Interview discussing DeHaan's transition from Pennsylvania to professional acting, his education at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and his work in film.
