Darya Balyura was born in Ukraine to immigrant parents, moving to the U.S. in early 1990s. Having a father who was a movie producer, Darya started acting at an early age and fell in love with the biz. Working as a casting director in Los Angeles in both TV and Film for over 10 years, she has learned what works and what doesn’t when it comes to nailing the audition. Darya also enjoys working behind the scenes coaching actors for both scripted and unscripted shows. She successfully coached her sister onto getting a deal on ABC’s SHARK TANK for their dog sling biz HeartPup as well as winning cash on the iconic show WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE and GSN’s THE IDIOTEST.

She has also starred on several reality game shows as a contestant winning fabulous prizes. This inspired a love of contesting and the publishing of her first book WIN CONTESTS ON GAME SHOWS and SWEEPSTAKES: A How-to Guide.

She has cast over 100 projects including dozens of features for various top networks. Past memorable work includes the drama series SWITCHED AT BIRTH on the Freeform network, feature film FREEZER with Dylan McDermott, VERONICA MARS the movie, ONE BIG HAPPY NBC comedy pilot, lifetime TV movie SEEDS OF YESTERDAY, and SYFY’s BEING HUMAN TV series; as well as many other projects including commercials, music videos, extras casting and even reality TV. Commercials include brands such as Blackberry, Sunday Riley, 3M, Bank of America, Clear Captions, Roku, and MRO Supply Co.

Darya is affiliated with the Teamsters union and The Casting Society of America. She enjoys coaching others how they too can create their own luck!