Played By: Joe Fiennes
Birthdate & Age: September 12, 1970. [38]
Screen name: spcl agent danny

Biography: Wheaton, Illinois is not a remarkable town nor has it ever really been. It makes sense, then, that a rather unremarkable boy was brought into the world in the Chicago suburb and raised within the shadow of the town’s one higher education institution. Daniel Ainsleigh’s father was a professor of Metaphysics at Wheaton College and quite done with having children when good old Danny came around. His daughter, Lana, was already proving to be enough of a handful and Danny would end up just adding to the stress. Some years down the road, that stress would prove enough to separate Mitchell and Sandra Ainsleigh, and while a nineteen year-old Lana took the opportunity to go and become a rock star groupie, Danny took it upon himself to bare the majority of the guilt. When, at age 10, he collapsed under that guilt, his parents were too busy arguing over who got what and how to get their daughter back to notice. Danny pulled away from society, or at least as much as a 10 year-old could. His grades, which had been good but not amazing, when to slightly below average. Previously a Bears fan, Daniel stopped playing football with his friends. He even stopped eating for a period of time. In the end, this brush with depression faded away as a childhood phase, but underneath it all Daniel was never the same. His grades never recovered, nor did his love for sports. When he graduated from High School, it was with an unexceptional GPA, no honors and a place at a just-above unexceptional state school. He didn’t party through The University of Illinois-Chicago and his psychology degree, though he still had an active social life. But while he didn’t flunk out, he also didn’t do much to make a name for himself. In fact, the only thing interesting that happened during his four years in college was meeting Claire Gross. The daughter of actor Michael Gross, she had followed in her father’s footsteps to UIC for HER drama degree. The two met during a sophomore year math class, and while neither did extraordinarily well in the class, they did end up with each other. By senior year, they had moved in together, and when graduation rolled around, it was Danny who said he would move to L.A. with the aspiring actress.

For two years, the couple would struggle through making rent payments. Claire, as it turned out, was not as talented as all her drama Professors had lauded her to be and without a master’s degree, Danny’s psychology background was basically useless. Instead of becoming a Hollywood It-couple, Claire was shuffled into bad commercials while Danny was forced to wait tables. Maybe if it hadn’t been for a 1995 audition for a new Television show, the couple may have made it. As it were, the two went to the audition and the rest became history.

Danny never intended to get the role of Mike Flaherty in Spin City. He had no training, after all. Hell, he hadn’t even been in any school plays! A bet was a bet, though, and after a particularly cruel argument about acting and how useless it was, Danny told Claire that even a monkey could do it. Claire, never one to back down, bet Danny he wouldn’t even be able to do an audition. As it turned out, not only could Danny get the guts to audition, he could ace one as well. One audition turned into two, two turned into three and three turned into a screen test and then a pilot. Claire hadn’t even got past the first round and the blow was enough to cause an irreparable riff between the couple. By the time Danny started shooting for the show, Claire had moved out and back to Chicago. He would spend the rest of the show single, half terrified that his growing success would ruin any relationship he attempted. By the time it wrapped in 2001, though, Danny was starting to get his sea-legs. A movie shot the year before had helped him get connections: It seemed any male actor worth his salt was in Band of Brothers and a hellish boot camp assured that they all bonded to the point where the connections would be useful and while Danny would take a break following the mini-series, those connections would come back into play first when he auditioned for a new show that played into the CSI/crime show mold. NCIS, however, was anything but. Like many of his other roles, it was an ensemble drama, but to Danny, it was so much more. The script was witty, quick, smart. The plot always seemed to keep the viewer on their toes. Danny was hooked the second he read in, and though he wasn't the first choice for the role of Anthony DeNozzo, he worked his ass off to prove he could be just the guy they needed. The role in NCIS was enough to springboard him into his most notable role, as a bigoted racist in Crash.

Danny’s personal life, however, wasn’t quite as successful. During the various award shows for Crash, Daniel met Cate Landell and while it wasn’t love at first sight, there was definitely a spark there. The relationship was never an easy one; Cat had her own work, and Danny was in Austin for half the year, but somehow the pulled it off enough to last past the first year. When Cate announced she was pregnant the next year, Daniel was over the moon. Plagued by his parents’ divorce, he wasn’t about to propose, but he did promise to be around and for the next two years, he was. Maria was born on April 15th, 2007. It should have been an amazing year. Instead, the couple rarely saw each other. Cate was directing a movie, Danny shooting both the series and a movie of his own. What was supposed to be a two-parent relationship started to look more and more like a separated couple relationship and while Cate and Danny never had a huge falling out, neither could deny they were drifting apart. In 2008, the two mutually decided to split. Danny moved out of their house and into a house of his own in Studio City and was soon joined by his niece. Frankie had wanted to move to L.A. for years, and while her parents had always been hesitant about letting their daughter loose in another country, Danny’s promise that he’d look after the girl was enough to get Lana and Frankie’s father to finally allow Frankie out into the world on her own. None of it was the perfect arrangement: Danny and Frankie have had awkward moments, moments when he hasn’t played the parent enough or played it too much and there isn’t a day that goes by where Danny doesn’t want to see his daughter more often. It does, however, work for the moment.

Credits: here.
Other Stuff: Goes by Danny, Dan, or Daniel. Has a thing for Miller Light. Loves Elvis Costello. Roots for the Chicago Cubs and the Angels. Hates press/promoting his works. Doesn’t consider himself a good actor and often feels like a fraud due to his lack of training. Has no desire to ever get married, but hopes to settle down one day. Wants more children. Lives for Maria.