Rise to Fame
The breakthrough wasn't from drama school. Durand spent his teens as a rapper in Thunder Bay, Ontario, opening for Maestro Fresh Wes and winning a spot on a list of Canada's funniest new comedians in 1994. Acting came after. His 6'6" frame got him cast as monsters and muscle, and roles in Dark Angel and Lost showed he could do more than loom. As Martin Keamy in Lost Season 4, he played a mercenary so casually menacing that the character became one of the show's most memorable heavies.
In the Spotlight
After a decade of solid villain work in The Strain and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, his 2024 stretch finally gave him roles worth remembering. Proximus Caesar in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes put him at the center of the franchise reboot, and Abigail landed at 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Naked Gun in 2025 added a comedy credit to his resume. He's building the kind of late-career momentum that tends to skip past character actors.
Side Notes
His path to Hollywood goes through a Thunder Bay comedy circuit and a high school rap career. The same guy who became Hollywood's reliable heavy has been quietly developing The Hockey Player, a directorial debut co-written with Adam MacDonald, since 2010. He finally got it moving in 2024. That's 14 years of patience from someone who plays villains for a living.