David Dastmalchian (/dÉ™sˈmÉ"Ë ltʃən/) 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.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 Armenian,
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.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 â€" 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.
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.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 Armenian,
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.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 â€" 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.
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