Inside David Dastmalchian’s Process: Spotlight On Debuts with a Deep Dive into 'THROUGH' and 'DUST BUNNY'

By Klep Napier | Wearecritix.com

Spotlight On is the newest chapter in what we are building at WeAreCritiX.com, a 20 to 30 minute seat at the table with the creatives who pour their whole selves into the work. For our premiere installment, we could not think of anyone better than actor, writer, and lifelong genre kid David Dastmalchian. From The Dark Knight and James Gunn's The Suicide Squad to the Ant-Man films, Late Night with the Devil, Dust Bunny and his upcoming turn as M. Bison in the live action Street Fighter reboot, David has become one of the most fascinating character actors working today. But in our sit down, we were not chasing credits. We were chasing the “why” behind them.

What makes David different is how seriously he takes the inner life of the people he plays. He told us he does what he calls the “beyond work,” mapping out everything that happened to a character before the moment we meet them on screen. Childhood, environment, trauma, the way they learned to move through the world. It is all part of the architecture. That approach comes from someone who has been through a lot himself. He speaks openly about addiction and mental health struggles, and how the miracle for him is not just that he works in Hollywood, it is that he is still here to do the work at all. Somewhere along the way, he stopped chasing approval and started chasing the joy of creation, connecting with other artists and building people from the inside out.

That process can be healing, but it is not therapy, and David is careful about that line. When we talked about playing Abner Krill, also known as Polka Dot Man, in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, he described how that character’s shame and physical condition mirrored parts of his own life, and how channeling that became a kind of superpower instead of a wound. At the same time he is honest about the toll. The body does not always know the difference between performance and reality. Intense scenes can trigger old memories, anxiety or panic, which is why he leans on real world tools, self talk, daily check ins, exercise, meditation, and 12 step recovery, to “wash it off” and stay grounded enough to keep going, both as a person and a performer.

Before we ever hit record, David talked about waking up with what he calls a weighted blanket of anxiety, worrying about the world, his relationships, his kids, all of it. Instead of letting that ghost ride his back all day, he has built a routine. He checks in with himself the way you would with a friend, reminding himself that he is doing his best, that he is allowed to ask for help, that he is not alone. Then it is coffee, movement, reflection, and being of service to others. He is the first to admit he still stumbles, still feels messy, but those tools keep the fear from shutting him down completely. Listening to him speak on it, you feel less like you are interviewing an actor and more like you are getting life notes from someone who has had to rebuild themselves more than once.

CONTINUE READING OR WATCH: SPOTLIGHT ON DAVID DASTMALCHIAN (FULL INTERVIEW)

In the full conversation, David dives even deeper into his process, his mental health journey, and how he balances the emotional weight of his characters with the work of staying well.

A big part of that balance lives on the page. David’s new graphic novel, titled THROUGH and published by Z2 Comics, may be the most personal thing he has ever written. The seed came years ago in Chicago, after hearing about a quiet janitor whose small apartment turned out to be filled, floor to ceiling, with handmade books and paintings, an entire fantasy world no one knew existed. THROUGH follows Alix, a young woman grappling with anxiety, control and collapse, who discovers that a strange man has literally been building another world for her to fall into. David describes it as Alice in Wonderland meets Pan’s Labyrinth by way of Chicago and a psychological drama, a surreal and emotional journey about control, surrender and the courage to ask for help.

His hope is simple but heavy, that readers feel a little less alone and maybe a little more willing to reach out when they are struggling. Fans can preorder THROUGH now wherever graphic novels are sold and directly through Z2 Comics.

Of course, a lot of people are meeting David this year through pure cinema. In Bryan Fuller’s feature debut Dust Bunny, he stars alongside Sophia Sloan, Mads Mikkelsen, Sheila Atim and Sigourney Weaver in what plays like a dark, emotionally charged bedtime story with teeth. The film follows a young girl who believes a monster lives under her bed and turns to her hitman neighbor for help, blending childhood imagination with real world neglect, grief and the instinct to protect ourselves from the things that scare us. After watching the film, we told David it felt like a stylishly colorful grown up bedtime story that sits somewhere between Fantastic Beasts and Leon The Professional, and he lit up. This is exactly the kind of movie he wants to see in theaters, and one of his favorite projects he has ever been a part of. Dust Bunny opens in United States theaters on December 12, 2025, and he has already taken his kids to early screenings. Their stamp of approval might be the highest honor of all.

And then there is the looming shadow of a certain video game icon. David is stepping into full on legend territory as M. Bison in the upcoming live action Street Fighter reboot, directed by Kitao Sakurai and produced by Legendary with Paramount distributing. Set in 1993 and stacked with an ensemble of familiar fighters, the film is shaping up to be a wild love letter to the arcade era. We kept our questions to a minimum for a later time, but make no mistake. Seeing David bring Bison to life on the big screen when Street Fighter hits theaters on October 16, 2026 is going to be an event.

What makes David such a perfect premiere guest for Spotlight On is not just the resume, it is the way he shows up. He is generous with smaller outlets, thoughtful with his answers, honest about his struggles and relentlessly curious about the art itself. In a business that often rewards surface level noise, he has quietly built a career on depth, vulnerability and the weird, wonderful corners of genre storytelling. As we launch this new series, our hope is that conversations like this give fans a deeper connection to the people behind the projects they love, and maybe remind a few folks they are not as alone as they feel. For now, consider this your triple assignment.

Preorder THROUGH from Z2 Comics, keep an eye out for Dust Bunny in theaters on December 12, 2025, and circle October 16, 2026 on your calendar for the moment David Dastmalchian steps into the World Warrior arena as M. Bison. In the meantime, hit play on our full Spotlight On interview and sit with one of the most honest and imaginative voices working in the industry today.