Daniel Sea (born January 7, 1977) is an American filmmaker, actor and

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

. They rose to prominence through their role as Max Sweeney on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's drama series ''

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama that aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated with Ilene Ch ...

''.

Personal life

Daniel grew up in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

, raised by

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

parents. When their father came out as gay, their mom was understanding and accepting. Their parents encouraged self expression and they weren’t forced to do stereotypical girl things. Despite an accepting home environment, they still had a rough childhood due to the way society viewed being queer and trans. They ran away when they were 16 from L.A. and moved to the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

, "like a good gay kid would." While there in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, they joined the

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

/artist space

Gilman Street Project The Alternative Music Foundation located at 924 Gilman Street, often referred to by its fans simply as "Gilman", is a non-profit, all-ages, collectively organized music club. It is located in the West Berkeley area of Berkeley, California, about ...

, studied improv acting in

Laney College Laney College is a Public college, public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County, California, Alameda County. Laney Coll ...

, and played in several punk rock bands, including

The Gr'ups Daniel Sea (born January 7, 1977) is an American filmmaker, actor and musician. They rose to prominence through their role as Max Sweeney on Showtime's drama series ''The L Word''. Personal life Daniel grew up in Malibu, California, raised by h ...

and Cypher in the Snow. Sea traveled all over

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. They

hitchhike Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads have ...

d through

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, did some

street theatre Street theatre is a form of theatrical performance and presentation in outdoor public spaces without a specific paying audience. These spaces can be anywhere, including shopping centres, car parks, recreational reserves, college or university c ...

, and performed as a fire juggler with a traveling circus in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. As a punk rocker, Sea and their band

cross-dress Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

ed. At one point in their world travels, they lived in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

for eight months as a man. They had always been

gender non-conforming Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...

in some way or another, being called a "tomboy" or "weird" as a child. Since moving more fully into the punk scene, Daniel was given the freedom to experiment and come to a greater understanding on their gender. In 2006, they said about their sexuality: In a May 2021 interview with Drew Gregory, Daniel expanded upon their journey with gender. They talk about the beginnings of the language for

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

identities and how they had to navigate that while playing a trans character,

Max Sweeney This list of ''The L Word'' characters is sorted by last name (where possible), and includes both major and minor characters from the American drama ''The L Word''. A * Felicity Adams: Lesbian, portrayed by Latarsha Rose. ''Generation Q'' ** Ex- ...

, in the TV series

. Sea later clarified their identity as trans, non-binary, gender expansive, and queer. They have also added the pronouns he/they to their bio on Instagram.

Career

After Sea returned from Europe, they moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and decided to re-enter the acting world, giving an audition tape to a friend who worked on ''

s writing staff. Sea then got a call at their restaurant job in New York and was asked to fly to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

for an audition. They were then offered to perform the role of Moira Sweeney, an androgynous computer technician who moves from the Midwest with Jenny (

Mia Kirshner Mia Kirshner (born January 25, 1975) is a Canadian actress, writer and social activist. She is known for television roles as Mandy in '' 24'' (2001–2005), as Jenny Schecter in ''The L Word'' (2004–2009), as Amanda Grayson in '' Star Trek: D ...

). Over the course of the season, Sweeney comes out as a

trans man A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that incl ...

, adopting the name

. In 2022, Sea reprised the role in the third season of the sequel series '' The L Word: Generation Q''. With their girlfriend of the time,

Bitch Bitch may refer to: * A female dog or other canine * Bitch (slang), a vulgar slur for a human female Bitch or bitches may also refer to: Arts and media Film and television * ''The Bitch'' (film), a 1979 film starring Joan Collins * ''Bitc ...

, formerly of

Bitch and Animal Bitch and Animal, a duo consisting of musicians Bitch and Animal Prufrock, were a queercore band that performed from 1995 to 2004. They became established while touring as an opening act for Ani DiFranco, and later launched their own highly succes ...

, they helped to form a band called Bitch and the Exciting Conclusion. They were part of the band

The Thorns of Life The Thorns of Life were a punk rock band from Brooklyn, New York. In October 2008, Blake Schwarzenbach, formerly of Jets to Brazil and Jawbreaker, revealed that he had started writing music for an "as-yet-unnamed group" with the drummer Aa ...

with their longtime friends

Blake Schwarzenbach Alexander Blake Schwarzenbach (born May 21, 1967) is an American musician. He is the singer and guitarist of Jawbreaker (1986–1996; 2017–present), and was also a member of Jets to Brazil (1997–2003), The Thorns of Life (2008–2009), a ...

(formerly of

Jawbreaker Jawbreaker may refer to: * Gobstopper, a hard candy with multiple layers Arts and entertainment * ''Jawbreakers'' (album), an album by Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Harry "Sweets" Edison * Jawbreaker (band), an American rock band * Jawbreakers (duo) ...

and

Jets to Brazil Jets to Brazil was an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, USA. They formed in 1997 and were active until 2003. History Jets to Brazil was founded by Blake Schwarzenbach, the former frontman of Jawbreaker, and Jeremy Chatelain, w ...

) and

Aaron Cometbus Aaron Elliott (born May 20, 1968), better known as Aaron Cometbus, is an American musician, songwriter, roadie, and magazine editor, best known as the creator of the punk zine ''Cometbus''. Career Born in Berkeley, California, Cometbus started ...

(of

Pinhead Gunpowder Pinhead Gunpowder is an American punk rock band that formed in East Bay, California, in 1991. The band currently consists of Aaron Cometbus (drums, lyrics), Bill Schneider ( bass), Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, vocals) and Jason White (guitar, ...

and formerly

Crimpshrine Crimpshrine was an American punk rock band from Berkeley, California. The group was formed in 1982 by Aaron Cometbus, founder of the seminal punk rock zine ''Cometbus'', and future Operation Ivy vocalist Jesse Michaels. They grew out of the East ...

). The band toured the West Coast and played in New York City and Philadelphia from fall 2008 through winter 2009. Besides ''The L Word'', Sea's filmography also includes the films ''

Shortbus ''Shortbus'' is a 2006 American erotic comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in an early 2000s New York City. Th ...

'' (2006) (with Bitch, both as themselves) and ''

Itty Bitty Titty Committee ''Itty Bitty Titty Committee'' is a feminist lesbian comedy film directed by Jamie Babbit. It was released on September 28, 2007. It follows the political awakening of Anna, a young, mild-mannered lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, h ...

'', released in 2007. They also appeared in the

John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is a two-time Tony Award winning American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is best known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film '' Hedwig and th ...

-directed music video for Bright Eyes' "First Day of My Life" with Bitch. On February 17, 2009, they guest starred on an episode of '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' as a transgender man, playing a similar role to Max Sweeney. Daniel was cast in a leading role in the film ''The Casserole Club.'' Co-starring Susan Traylor, Kevin Richardson,

Pleasant Gehman Pleasant Gehman is an American author, writer, poet, actress, dancer and musician from Los Angeles. Career In the 1980s, she was the singer for the punk rock band Screamin' Sirens. Her articles on rock 'n' roll, American pop culture, sex, ...

, and

Garrett Swann Garrett may refer to: Places ;United States * Garrett, Illinois * Garrett, Indiana * Garrett, Kentucky (multiple places) ** Garrett, Floyd County, Kentucky, an unincorporated community ** Garrett, Meade County, Kentucky, an unincorporated commun ...

, the film is set in 1969 and deals with damaged relationships. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker

Steve Balderson Stephen Clark Balderson (born January 19, 1975) is an American film director. Early life Balderson was born in Manhattan, Kansas and raised in nearby Wamego, Kansas until the age of twelve, when his family moved to Manhattan. Balderson attended ...

, filming took place in

Wamego, Kansas Wamego is a city in Pottawatomie County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,841. History Wamego was platted in 1866. It was named for a Potawatomi Native American chief. The first post office in ...

during fall of 2010. Sea currently plays in an unnamed music project with Will Schwartz. They played their second show at the

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

in Los Angeles, California, in October 2010.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sea, Daniel 1977 births 21st-century American actors Living people Actors from California American performance artists American non-binary actors Non-binary artists Non-binary musicians Jugglers American punk rock guitarists American accordionists American indie rock musicians People from Malibu, California LGBT people from California 21st-century accordionists 21st-century American guitarists 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people Transgender non-binary people