Born in Sydney, Australia, Lapaine graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1992. He first came to prominence in 1994 when he played the South African Swimmer David Van Arckle in P. J. Hogan's Muriel's Wedding. Since then he has worked internationally in film, theatre, and television and is now based in London.
In 1998, Lapaine met English Actress Fay Ripley at a party hosted by mutual friends. After meeting again on a trip in New York, they began dating. They married in October 2001 in a ceremony in Tuscany, Italy. In October 2002, Ripley gave birth to their first child, a daughter called Parker. She gave birth to their second child, a son whom they named Sonny, in October 2006.
Lapaine also wrote and directed the Australian feature film 48 Shades. Based on the 1999 novel 48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earls, the film was released in Australia by Buena Vista in 2006.
Lapaine has worked extensively in television. He is currently filming the second series of Catastrophe for Channel 4 and Amazon Prime, in which he plays the part of Dave. Entertainment Weekly named Catastrophe "the best new comedy of the year". He recently portrayed King Charles II in the upcoming Canal + series Versailles. Daniel also starred in the 2000 television miniseries The 10th Kingdom as Prince Wendell White, ruler of the 4th Kingdom, and played Tim Allerton in the 2004 Agatha Christie's Poirot episode Death on the Nile opposite David Suchet. In 2009, he portrayed Neil Armstrong in the television film Moon Shot. He also played Hector in "Helen of Troy" opposite Rufus Sewell. Other television credits include "Critical"; "Vexed"; "Lewis"; "Vera"; "Black Mirror"; "Identity"; "Hotel Babylon"; "Sex, the City and Me"; "Jane Hall"; "The Good Housekeeping Guide"; "Golden Hour"; "Jericho"; "I Saw You"; In Australia he appeared in "A Country Practice" and "GP", opposite Cate Blanchett.
Lapaine has made two appearances in the UK TV Show Black Mirror, 6 years apart. First in 2011 as the morally dubious Max in The Entire History of You, and later as the masochistic Dr Dawson in 2017's Black Museum.
