Introduction
David Dastmalchian (/dəsˈmɔːltʃən/) is an American actor. In Chicago, he received acclaim for lead roles in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie and Sam Shepard's Buried Child at Shattered Globe Theatre. He also played Kurt in Marvel Studios' Ant-Man (2015) and its sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Murdoc in CBS's MacGyver, and Abra Kadabra in The CW's The Flash. He is a frequent collaborator of director Denis Villeneuve, having appeared in three of his films.
Early life
Dastmalchian was born in Pennsylvania, and raised in Overland Park, Kansas, where he attended Shawnee Mission South High School. He studied at The Theatre School at DePaul University. He is of Iranian, Italian, Irish and English descent. Prior to beginning his career as an actor, he suffered from a heroin addiction for five years before getting clean. He wrote about his experience in his screenplay Animals.
Career
Dastmalchian's 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. He has roles in two other films by Villeneuve, appearing in Blade Runner 2049 and Dune.
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 (sequel to the cult hit Girls Will Be Girls), Saving Lincoln, Virgin Alexander and the Peyton Reed-helmed Marvel Studios film Ant-Man.
Dastmalchian appeared in Michel Franco's Chronic. He has been on television as Simon on the Fox sci-fi series Almost Human episode "Simon Says", as a chess expert and murder suspect on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and as Oz Turner on the BBC series Intruders. Other television appearances include the FX comedy The League, the Showtime series Ray Donovan, and NBC's medical drama ER.
Dastmalchian portrayed DC Comics villain Abra Kadabra in season 3 of The Flash. He also returned for the Ant-Man sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) and will appear as Polka-Dot Man in The Suicide Squad (2021).