Born and raised in Encino, California (dad's a wholesale diamond dealer and mom's a designer), Daren is the second of three children. While attending San Francisco State University, he decided to follow his dream of being an actor, so he headed back to L.A. He defied all the odds at one of his first auditions, when 7th Heaven creator Brenda Hampton handpicked him -- from among hundreds of other actors -- for his breakout role as Ricky in her new series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager.