TheLate Night With the Devilstar is no stranger to facing demons.
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This article was published on March 30, 2024.
As of April 19, 2024,Late Night With the Devilis streaming on Shudder.
David Dastmalchian has a face for horror.
In another life, he might have been a mortician.
Instead, he has become one of Hollywoods most distinctive utility players.
I dont think Ill ever be quite the same, he says.
It became a subculture I geeked out over for years, and its inspired my own storytelling.
I was flabbergasted by the vision, Dastmalchian recalls.
And then the journey began.
Im so glad I did it.
Playing a 70s late-night-TV host must have been exciting given all the archival footage accessible from that era.
Ambient, obscure, underground?
Say thats in the marrow of my bones.
I was staring down this monolith of a character with dread.
How could I get into this space and not look like some guy trying to be a talk-show host?
I went back to Don Lane a lot.
He was a midwestern radio personality who became Australias Johnny Carson in the 70s and 80s.
Lane had a proclivity to being open to the potential of the supernatural.
He gave them a chance to show they werent a joke.
You filmed on essentially a 360-degree set with three cameras running all the time.
What was that like?Im a highly technical actor.
I had to develop a new set of windows to give the audience a view inside this character.
Hes a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Youve got this almost Cassavetes-style character living in the template of a vintage Johnny Carson reality.
Im a recovering addict and alcoholic; Ive had one nervous breakdown and been on the verge of another.
Being an actor requires an intense, overwhelming amount of confidence.
Count Crowley, your Dark Horse comic-book series, is all about midnight horror hosts and monsters.
You once hosted the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards in character as Dr. Fearless, your own horror-host persona.
One of the best ways I can do that is through courage and humor.
Ive been doing it ever since.
I would also love to have a weekly late-night show,Dr.
Fearless in the House of Horrors, getting to show people all the classic monster movies.
All rumors pointed to this film featuring my favorite comic-book character of all time: the Joker.
He said, This is amazing.
I love what youre doing.
I can tell youve got a theater background.
I need you to take all what youre doing and put it in your eyes.
Thats what Chris will look for.
I came in the next day.
I met Chris in person.
He coached me through the audition.
I went back to work; I was doingOthelloat Writers Theater at the time.
They shot the scene that week.
Four months later, I got a call.
I got to be in the film in an incredible role at a small but very important moment.
Chris changed my life in ways I still come to recognize every day.
It gave me an internal confidence and a boost to pursue acting in film.
How did this happen?
Do you realize how much youve changed my life?
Id wondered all those years if he remembered me.
In December 2022, I got a call: Chris has a role for you in his new film.
Will you come down to Universal and read the script?
I mean,dude.
Chris sees me and invites me to sit down with him.
He loved James GunnsThe Suicide Squadand said how much he likedme as Polka-Dot Man.
It was one of the best experiences of my life.
What do you remember of filming that?Were in a shed outside of Los Angeles in pitch black.
Im in a cockpit, which I believe was cut out of an actual bomber, on a gimbal.
Im flying past it.
Its so hard and scary because Chris is not going to settle for an actor performing or telegraphing.
He needs me to strip away all of my bullshit.
He helps me not try.
That confident guidance is such a gift to an actor.
Ive been collaborating with my dear friends the Boulet Brothers, whoseHalfway to Halloweenspecial I produced.
Theres so many more things we all have in common than those that separate us.
