# David Dastmalchian

David Dastmalchian (/dəstˈmɑːltʃən/ dəst-MAHL-chən; born July 21, 1975) is an American actor, writer, and producer. 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).
Dastmalchian has appeared in three films directed by Denis Villeneuve: Prisoners (2013), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and Dune (2021). Although he is best known for his work as a character actor, Dastmalchian had leading roles in the 2014 semi-autobiographical film Animals, which he wrote, and the 2023 horror film Late Night with the Devil, which he produced. He is also set to portray Mr. 3 in the Netflix series One Piece, and he will have a guest appearance on the upcoming Dexter: Resurrection revival series.

## 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 the engineering firm Black & Veatch. He has two sisters and a brother. His parents divorced, which he described as "tumultuous", and both later 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 has appeared in several DC Studios television shows; he portrayed DC Comics villain Abra Kadabra in seasons 3 and 7 of The Flash and Dwight Pollard in the second season of the TV series Gotham.
In 2017, Dastmalchian had a small role in Blade Runner 2049, also directed by Denis Villeneuve. The following year, Dastmalchian once again portrayed Kurt in Ant-Man and the Wasp, the sequel to Ant-Man. In 2021, he portrayed 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. He is set to appear as Mr. 3 in the second season of the Netflix series One Piece, a live-action adaptation of the anime series of the same name. In 13th of March 2025 it was revealed that Dastmalchian has been cast in the upcoming Dexter (TV series) sequel Dexter: Resurrection by Showtime (TV network) coming in 2025 summer as a guest starring role Gareth.
In addition to his acting career, Dastmalchian is a comic book writer. In 2019, he debuted his Dark Horse Comics series Count Crowley, illustrated by Lukas Ketner. He made his video game voice acting debut with the VR game Batman: Arkham Shadow, where he voiced Vic Sage / The Question.

## 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 |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Thomas Schiff | |
| 2009 | Horsemen | Terrence | |
| 2012 | 1,000 Times More Brutal | Antonio Scarafini | Also known as Brutal |
| 2012 | Sushi Girl | Nelson | |
| 2013 | Saving Lincoln | Major Eckert | |
| 2013 | The Employer | James Harris | |
| 2013 | Prisoners | Bob Taylor | |
| 2014 | Animals | Jude | Also writer and producer SXSW Film Festival – Special Jury Prize Winner |
| 2014 | Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie | Sergeant L. J. Ng | |
| 2015 | Chronic | Bernard | |
| 2015 | Ant-Man | Kurt | |
| 2017 | The Belko Experiment | Lonny | |
| 2017 | Blade Runner 2049 | Coco | |
| 2018 | Ant-Man and the Wasp | Kurt | |
| 2018 | Bird Box | Whistling Marauder | |
| 2018 | A Million Little Pieces | Roy | |
| 2018 | The Domestics | Willy Cunningham | |
| 2018 | Relaxer | Cam | |
| 2018 | All Creatures Here Below | Gensan | Also writer |
| 2019 | Madness in the Method | The Witness | |
| 2019 | Jay and Silent Bob Reboot | SWAT officer | Cameo |
| 2019 | Teacher | James Lewis | |
| 2021 | Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One | Julian Day / Calendar Man | Voice role; Direct-to-DVD |
| 2021 | The Suicide Squad | Abner Krill / Polka-Dot Man | |
| 2021 | Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two | Julian Day / Calendar Man Oswald Cobblepot / Penguin | Voice role; Direct-to-DVD |
| 2021 | Dune | Piter De Vries | |
| 2022 | Weird: The Al Yankovic Story | John Deacon | Cameo |
| 2023 | Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania | Veb | |
| 2023 | Late Night with the Devil | Jack Delroy | Also executive producer |
| 2023 | Boston Strangler | Albert DeSalvo | |
| 2023 | The Boogeyman | Lester Billings | |
| 2023 | Oppenheimer | William L. Borden | |
| 2023 | The Last Voyage of the Demeter | Wojchek | |
| 2023 | Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part Two | The Flash / Barry Allen | Voice role; Direct-to-DVD |
| 2023 | Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham | Grendon | Voice role; Direct-to-DVD |
| 2024 | Afraid | Lightning | |
| 2024 | The Life of Chuck | | |
| 2025 | Rosario | | Post-production |
| 2025 | Dust Bunny | | Post-production |
| 2025 | The Cure | | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2008 | ER | Young Man | Episode: "Heal Thyself" |
| 2012 | The League | Morgue Worker | Episode: "Judge MacArthur" |
| 2013 | Ray Donovan | English Teacher | Episode: "Black Cadillac" |
| 2014 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Lee Crosby | Episode: "Killer Moves" |
| 2014 | Almost Human | Simon | Episode: "Simon Says" |
| 2014 | Intruders | Oz Turner | Episode: "She Was Provisional" |
| 2015 | CSI: Cyber | Logan Reeves | Episode: "Family Secrets" |
| 2016 | 12 Monkeys | Kyle Slade | 2 episodes |
| 2016–2021 | MacGyver | Murdoc | 11 episodes |
| 2017 | Gotham | Dwight Pollard | 2 episodes, "Ghosts" and "Smile Like You Mean It" |
| 2017 | Twin Peaks | Pit Boss Warrick | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | Svengoolie | Himself | 2 episodes |
| 2017, 2021 | The Flash | Abra Kadabra | 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: "Science-Fiction (Horror) Double Feature" |
| 2023 | Miracle Workers | Ugulus Sleeze | Episode: "H.O.A" |
| 2023 | The Boulet Brothers' Dragula | Himself | Guest judge, episode: "Pleasure Planet X" |
| 2024 | The Rookie | Ray Watkins | Episodes: "The Vow" and "Secrets and Lies" |
| 2025 | One Piece | Mr. 3 | Season 2; filming |
| 2025 | Dexter: Resurrection | Gareth | Filming |
| TBA | Murderbot | Gurathin | Filming |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Role | Artist |
| 2012 | "Constant Conversations" | | Passion Pit |
| 2015 | "Everyone's Summer of '95" | | Iron & Wine |
| 2018 | "Catch It" | | Iceage |
| 2018 | "Dark Speed" | | Failure |
| 2018 | "GALAKTIKON: Nightmare" | Triton | Brendon Small |
| 2019 | "Steve Jobs" | | Xia Xia Technique |
| 2020 | "Obsession" | | Puddles Pity Party |
| 2020 | "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 | Chicago production |
| 2007 | Bach at Leipzig | Johann Martin Steindorff, Georg Lenck (u/s) | Writers' Theatre | Chicago production |
| 2007 | Othello | Montano | Writers' Theatre | Chicago production |
| 2007 | Suddenly, Last Summer | George Holly | Shattered Globe Theatre | Chicago production |
| 2008 | As You Like It | Le Beau | Writers' Theatre | Chicago production |
| 2008 | The Glass Menagerie | Tom Wingfield | Shattered Globe Theatre | Chicago production |
| 2009 | Buried Child | Vince | Shattered Globe Theatre | Chicago production |
| 2010 | Hamlet, Prince of Puddles | Claudius | Bootleg Theater | Los Angeles production |