Jonathan Sim
Few character actors working today have built as eclectic and quietly essential a career as David Dastmalchian. From memorable turns in The Dark Knight and Blade Runner 2049 to standout roles in Dune and the cult horror hit Late Night with the Devil, Dastmalchian has become a defining presence across blockbuster franchises, prestige television, and genre filmmaking (Joey spoke to him about some of this last year here). With recent work spanning Netflix’s One Piece, the revival of Dexter, and an upcoming turn as M. Bison in Street Fighter, his range and momentum have made him a compelling figure in this year’s Emmy conversation. Yet behind the résumé is an artist still grounded in gratitude, craft, and the unpredictable nature of the industry.
“I feel like I’m so lucky. I can’t tell you how grateful I am. I was thinking about this actually just today and last night. I remember being in Chicago, booking a play, maybe getting to perform once in a while, sometimes for audiences of five to twenty-five people in a storefront theater. And the fact that here I am in 2026, getting to work as often as I have been able to—it’s a miracle. It really is. I’m very lucky.”
That sense of perspective is rooted in a deep respect for the actors who came before him. “I think it’s really important for all of us—whether we’re journalists, writers, actors, doctors, or teachers—to have mentors. And if you don’t have mentors, to have heroes. People you look at and say, ‘The way they built their career, the way they worked, is so intriguing to me.’ I really studied the way that journeyman actors—Steve Buscemi, John Cazale, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, Margo Martindale—people who were always willing to disappear into a role, whether it was onstage or on film or TV, whether it was comedy or drama or genre. That was the dream.”
His own mentors span from the classroom to the biggest sets in Hollywood. “When I was in theater, I had a number of mentors. I had an incredible teacher when I was in college named Joe Slowik. He had studied at the Polish Lab Theatre under Jerzy Grotowski back in the 1960s, and he had this very monastic, almost samurai-like approach to acting. The dedication was something I loved. He taught me to take my work very seriously, but to never take myself too seriously, so that I could remain playful — like a child.”
“I studied at the Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, which was the heir to the Goodman School of Drama, with this great tradition. I had so many great teachers there. And then on set, the directors have been my mentors. James Gunn has been a big mentor for me. Denis Villeneuve has been a big mentor for me. These are also my friends. It’s strange when your friends are your mentors, but learning from them, and the way they’ve encouraged me to push myself as an artist, is something I hold a lot of gratitude for.”
“I’ve only gotten to make two films with him, but I look at Christopher Nolan as someone I just admire and learn from. His respect for story and detail is something I took a lot from. And then in my personal life, when I got the chance to work with Robert Downey Jr. on Oppenheimer and I got to be in the presence of truly one of the most humble, gifted, talented, and resilient humans I’ve ever come in contact with, I feel like I found a mentor and someone I’ll always look up to for the rest of my life.”
Even as his acting career thrives, Dastmalchian has expanded into producing and writing through his company, Good Fiend Films. “That side of the storytelling journey is so exciting for me, and I get really excited about it from a producorial standpoint. I launched a company a few years ago called Good Fiend. Good Fiend Films co-produced Late Night with the Devil. We recently wrapped The Shepherd. We did a film called Kodak SuperXX, which just wrapped, starring Kelly Marie Tran with this incredible new director named Auden Barber. Under the umbrella of Good Fiend, I feel like I’m getting the opportunity to cultivate a network of artists and storytellers where we can bring genre stories to life in all their different forms, and not just in movies.”
“The only time I’ve put on the director’s hat so far, and it was an exceptionally positive experience, I directed one short segment called ‘Yeti or Not,’ which I also acted in. It was part of the Boulet Brothers’ Holiday of Horrors special for Shudder this past winter. I don’t know if I’m going to get back in the director’s chair, but I certainly feel tempted. What I really love is writing and producing. I love creating opportunities for stories to be told by artists who have a point of view and care about character and narrative, and who are excited about doing it through genre.”
His recent on-screen work reflects that same appetite for complexity and scale. “I’ve been on ten thousand auditions in my career. I don’t know how many one-line or one-scene roles on TV shows I couldn’t book. And now I’m really getting to play some juicy roles. Getting to do Mr. 3 on One Piece was one of the most fun roles I’ve ever gotten to play, especially in an adaptation of probably the greatest manga ever written, which is a huge deal in our house. And then getting to be a part of the resurrection of Dexter Morgan, getting to play in that space—it’s crazy.”
For Dastmalchian, the key to playing villains like Gemini lies not in exaggeration, but recognition. “I think it’s much more interesting to make them human, because when you do, that’s what’s really scary. It’s frightening for us to look at a character and see reflections of things we recognize, rather than things we’ve never seen before.”
“Fear of the unknown is always something we can play with in thrillers and horror. But in the world of Dexter, it’s about acting out all these parts of ourselves that most of us do our best to keep buried. Those parts that cry out for the most extreme forms of anger, vengeance, violence—they’re deeply buried within a healthy conscience. But there are beings moving among us in society where that part of themselves is just so much closer to the surface. And I think it’s really scary to sit and ponder: how many pushes would it take for me to get pushed to the edge of that kind of insanity?”
“So if I go into playing a role like Gemini with the intention of just scaring people, I don’t think it’s going to work. What works is getting in there and having the audience see the fear, the insecurity, the vulnerability that the character is experiencing while being pushed to the edge of homicidal psychopathy.”
That philosophy extends to his upcoming take on one of gaming’s most iconic antagonists in Street Fighter. “You’re taking on a character who exists in video game lore and mythology in a way that’s so important to so many millions of fans. You can look at the game and see how he stands, how he talks, how he presents. But that’s Bison in full-fledged fighting form, ready for the showdown. What’s interesting about our film is that it presents the journey of Bison trying to get to that place.”
“When Kitao gave me the opportunity to be a part of his film, I took a huge deep dive with Kitao into books and learning about cult leaders and people who have organized large movements around themselves, especially movements that involved non-traditional belief systems. Because sure, you could say, ‘He’s the leader of a big criminal organization, he’s this big badass who likes to mess people up.’ But I think that’s boring, and I think audiences would find it boring.”
“I wanted to create and justify why the people surrounding him care so much, what Shadaloo actually means, why I need to host a World Warrior Tournament—bringing the best fighters from all over the world together. Is it really just for publicity and money, or to prove that I’ve got the biggest, baddest power? In this film, we see something you also see in everyday life right now: people who have all kinds of power, but can’t really handle it. It’s kind of terrifying.”
Ultimately, the throughline in Dastmalchian’s career is a deep, almost obsessive commitment to story. “I don’t care if it’s a manga adaptation, a video game adaptation, a comic book adaptation, a horror movie, or an indie drama about relationships. To me, story is story is story. I take this work just as seriously whether I’m doing Twelfth Night, 12 Angry Men, or Twelve Aliens in the Swamp. I just love the work.”
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