David Dastmalchian

David Haas Dastmalchian
Dastmalchian in 2023
Born (1975-07-21) July 21, 1975 (age 48)
EducationDePaul University (BFA)
OccupationActor
Years active2002–present
Spouse
Eve Leigh
(m. 2014)
Children2

David Haas Dastmalchian (/dəsˈmɔːltʃən/; born July 21, 1975) is an American film, television, and stage actor. He has had supporting roles in a number of superhero franchises: he portrayed Thomas Schiff in The Dark Knight (2008), Kurt and Veb in the Ant-Man franchise, Abra Kadabra in the CW's The Flash, and Polka-Dot Man in The Suicide Squad (2021). He has also appeared in three of Denis Villeneuve's films: Prisoners (2013), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and Dune (2021). Dastmalchian wrote and starred in the 2014 semi-autobiographical film Animals. He had a supporting role in The Boogeyman and portrayed William Borden in Oppenheimer.

Early life

David Dastmalchian was born on July 21, 1975, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to Priscilla and Hossein Dastmalchian. His father was an Iranian-American engineer who worked at engineering firm Black & Veatch. He has two sisters and a brother. His parents divorced, which he described as "tumultuous", and both remarried. He was raised in Overland Park, Kansas, where he attended Shawnee Mission South High School from which he graduated in 1994, having been part of the drama club. He described growing up in the Kansas City metropolitan area as "very traditional in one sense, and a conservative community that also had a rad, fringe, artistic, progressive tribe of people who were finding connectivity through the arts and the culture of KC and the surrounding suburbs."

In his childhood, Dastmalchian developed vitiligo, for which he suffered ridicule from his peers. Consequently, he experienced depression throughout his childhood. Growing up, he enjoyed football, theater, and comics. He would mow lawns, saving money to buy comics. He studied at The Theatre School at DePaul University and graduated in 1999. Prior to beginning his career as an actor, he dealt with a heroin addiction for five years. He wrote about his experiences in his screenplay, Animals, and continues to advocate for mental health and substance abuse treatment programs. Shortly after becoming sober, he worked at a seafood restaurant in Kansas City. He was also briefly a fisherman in Alaska.

Career

Dastmalchian began his professional career in the mid-2000s in Chicago, working on stage and in commercials. He has received acclaim for lead roles in Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie and Sam Shepard's Buried Child at Chicago's Shattered Globe Theatre. He was involved with a number of Chicago theater companies and was an artistic associate at Caffeine Theatre.

His feature film debut came in the late 2000s, as the Joker's deranged henchman, Thomas Schiff, in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. His portrayal of Bob Taylor in Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners received strong reviews. Richard Corliss of Time called Dastmalchian's performance "excellent – chatty, modest with some subtle telltale psychopathy" and The Guardian's Paul MacInnes likened his introduction as a new suspect to Kevin Spacey's entrance in Seven.

In March 2014, Dastmalchian was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Courage in Storytelling at the South by Southwest Film Festival. He wrote and starred in the feature film Animals, directed by Collin Schiffli. Ashley Moreno of The Austin Chronicle credits Dastmalchian's screenplay with "present[ing] an authenticity often lacking in films about drug abuse." Film Threat's Brian Tallerico similarly sings the praises of Dastmalchian's breakout performance, noting his ability to "capture that sense of self-loathing that comes through in the body language of an addict without overselling it."

Other feature film appearances include starring roles in the psychological thriller The Employer, the indie grindhouse hit Sushi Girl, the drama Cass (winner, San Diego Black Film Festival), Girls Will Be Girls 2012 (a sequel to the 2003 cult hit Girls Will Be Girls), Saving Lincoln, Virgin Alexander, Ant-Man, and Michel Franco's Chronic.

He has also appeared on television: in an eleven-episode arc as Murdoc, the nemesis of the title character in MacGyver; as Simon on the Fox sci-fi series Almost Human, in the episode "Simon Says"; as a chess expert and murder suspect on the CBS forensics procedural drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; and as Oz Turner on the BBC drama series Intruders. Other television appearances include the FX sitcom The League, the Showtime crime drama series Ray Donovan, and NBC's medical drama ER.

Dastmalchian portrayed DC Comics villain Abra Kadabra in seasons 3 and 7 of The Flash.

Dastmalchian later appears in the TV series Gotham portraying Dwight Pollard in the second season.

In 2017, he reunited with Villeneuve when he appeared in Blade Runner 2049. The following year he reprised the role of Kurt in the Ant-Man sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp. In 2021, he appeared as Polka-Dot Man in The Suicide Squad, a character with whom he said he connected on a personal level due to the childhood bullying he suffered as a result of his vitiligo. Later that same year, he appeared in his third collaboration with Villeneuve when he portrayed Piter De Vries in Dune. In 2023, Dastmalchian starred in the horror films Late Night with the Devil and The Boogeyman, as well as The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Also in 2023, he had a minor role as William L. Borden in Christopher Nolan's biopic epic Oppenheimer.

Dastmalchian is a comic book writer. He debuted his horror comic series Count Crowley in 2019 published by Dark Horse Comics.

Personal life

Dastmalchian married artist Evelyn "Eve" Leigh in 2014. They live in Los Angeles with their two children.

Filmography

Key
Denotes productions that have not yet been released

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2008 The Dark Knight Thomas Schiff
2009 Horsemen Terrence
2012 Sushi Girl Nelson
2013 Saving Lincoln Major Eckert
The Employer James Harris
Prisoners Bob Taylor
2014 Animals Jude Also writer and producer
SXSW Film Festival – Special Jury Prize Winner
Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Sergeant L. J. Ng
2015 Chronic Bernard
Ant-Man Kurt
2017 The Belko Experiment Lonny
Blade Runner 2049 Coco
2018 Ant-Man and the Wasp Kurt
Bird Box Whistling Marauder
A Million Little Pieces Roy
The Domestics Willy Cunningham
Relaxer Cam
All Creatures Here Below Gensan Also writer
2019 Madness in the Method The Witness
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot SWAT officer Cameo
Teacher James Lewis
2021 Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One Julian Day / Calendar Man Voice role
Direct-to-DVD
The Suicide Squad Abner Krill / Polka-Dot Man
Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two Julian Day / Calendar Man
Oswald Cobblepot / Penguin
Voice role
Direct-to-DVD
Dune Piter De Vries
2022 Weird: The Al Yankovic Story John Deacon Cameo
2023 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Veb
Late Night with the Devil Jack Delroy Also producer
Boston Strangler Albert DeSalvo
The Boogeyman Lester Billings
Oppenheimer William L. Borden
The Last Voyage of the Demeter Wojchek
Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part Two The Flash / Barry Allen Voice role
Direct-to-DVD
TBA The Life of Chuck Post-production
Dust Bunny

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2008 ER Young Man 1 episode
2012 The League Morgue Worker 1 episode
2013 Ray Donovan English Teacher 1 episode
2014 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Lee Crosby 1 episode
2014 Almost Human Simon 1 episode
2014 Intruders Oz Turner 1 episode
2015 CSI: Cyber Logan Reeves 1 episode
2016 12 Monkeys Kyle Slade 2 episodes
2016–2021 MacGyver Murdoc Recurring role, 11 episodes
2017 Gotham Dwight Pollard 2 episodes, "Ghosts" and "Smile Like You Mean It"
2017, 2021 The Flash Abra Kadabra 2 episodes
2017 Twin Peaks Pit Boss Warrick 3 episodes
Svengoolie Himself 2 episodes
2019 Reprisal Johnson Main role, 9 episodes
2021 What If...? Kurt (voice) Episode: "What If... Zombies?!"
2022 The Boulet Brothers' Dragula: Titans Himself Guest judge, episode 3

Music videos

Year Title Role Artist
2012 "Constant Conversations" Passion Pit
2015 "Everyone's Summer of '95" Iron & Wine
2018 "Catch It" Iceage
"Dark Speed" Failure
"GALAKTIKON: Nightmare" Triton Brendon Small
2019 "Steve Jobs" Xia Xia Technique
2020 "Obsession" Puddles Pity Party
"Sword and Shield" Ken Andrews

Theatre

Year Title Role Company Notes
1999–2000 To Live As Variously As Possible Larry Rivers TimeLine Theatre Chicago production
2005 Salome The Side Project Theatre
2007 Bach at Leipzig Johann Martin Steindorff, Georg Lenck (u/s) Writers' Theatre
2007 Othello Montano
2007 Suddenly, Last Summer George Holly Shattered Globe Theatre
2008 As You Like It Le Beau Writers' Theatre
2008 The Glass Menagerie Tom Wingfield Shattered Globe Theatre
2009 Buried Child Vince
2010 Hamlet, Prince of Puddles Claudius Bootleg Theater Los Angeles production

This page was last updated at 2024-03-24 08:42 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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