Darren was born in Dublin and educated at University College Dublin, where he graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy and at The Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business where he obtained his postgrad. in Business & IT. He further trained at the Betty Ann Norton Theatre School in Dublin. He made his stage debut at an early age in the stage version of Bugsy Malone, while other theatre credits include The Plough and the Stars, directed by Stephen Rea, The Dining Room, The Happy Journey, Hurlyburly, The Real Thing, American Buffalo, Sleuth and Knuckle. He has also worked many times on radio for both RTE & BBC. Also a writer, Darren won the awards for Best Actor and Best New Writing for his own play The Rock Bottom Cafe at the 2000 ISDA Festival, which was subsequently invited to perform at the Dublin Fringe Festival.