The lifelong comic book fan has appeared in both a DC film and a Marvel movie now.
You might not know David Dastmalchians name, but you do know his face.
Hes also been seen on TV inAlmost Human,Intruders,ER,Ray DonovanandCSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Kurt, along with fellow crew members Luis (Michael Pena) and Dave (T.I.
David Dastmalchian: The first comic book I ever bought, I was in third grade.
It wasAvengers, I think, #240.
I grew up in Kansas City.
And I walked into a 7-11.
I had seen likeThe HulkTV series.
I knew about comic book heroes.
I knew about it, but I hadnt actually had a physical comic in my hands until that time.
And it was a big deal for me.
And Ive kept it for 30 years.
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But I didnt stick withThe Avengers.
So I found a place called Clints South in Kansas City, which was in a mall.
The West Coast guys, like Hawkeye and Hank Pym, were also a big part of that journey.
I dont know why.
I would make my own comics where I would have crossovers.
But my favorite villain, as is millions of other people, was The Joker.
I used to play a roleplaying game calledMarvel Superheroeswed play at this particular comic shop.
Ive keep every comic Ive bought in my life.
I used to be obsessive about boarding and bagging them all.
Now I couldnt collect anymore because they took over too much space.
I go get comics still, but not the way I used to.
Its probably one of the most prized possessions I own.
So is your son into…
Hes 15 months.
I hope that my kid gets as excited about them and doesnt go, Wheres my baseball?
And I also always wanted to play Marc Spector.
Hes blonde in the comics a lot of times, although hes had different incarnations.
I just feel like Moon Knight is the Dark Knight of the Marvel world.
But I think Id be a good vampire.
You could do it.
I think I could!
(For the record, we did run into Feige later and communicated Dastmalchians desire to play Morbius.
When you got the chance to audition for this, did you know what you were going for?
I got the audition in January of 14, so that was when Edgar was the director.
And I had a big beard at that point because I was doing something else.
And I had the voice, at least.
Id figured out what the voice was.
So she said, Oh, I want you to meet Edgar.
So I met him and I read for him.
My wife was 8 12 months pregnant.
And I had this opportunity that I was going to test opposite Paul Rudd to be inAnt-Man.
I mean it was insane.
And the dates kept getting moved and I was like freaking out.
I actually left Austin fromSouth Byto go and finally got to do the test.
And I got the part.
And I found out I got the part when I was in Vancouver.
Originally, his heist crew was much larger.
There were a lot more of us.
I have to test again?
So I flew down to Atlanta.
And I realized we were doing camera tests, which they do before you actually start filming.
Like, I had the job and it wasnt an audition again.
I was actually there.
So I grabbed him and I was like, You mean Im in it?
He was like, Yeah!
What do you think you are doing here?
I was like, I thought I was testing.
Hes like, You are.
Were testing the looks and how everything works.
I was like, Oh my god.
Thats kind of amazing.
You mentioned The Joker being your favorite villain.
Of course your screen debut was working for The Joker inThe Dark Knight.
What was that experience like on that film?
It was the first time Id been on a film set.
And I didnt know how acting was going to play into that.
So I was doing theatre for $100 a week and loving it.
And I got to meet the director during that process.
Thats why now being in the Marvel universe, its surreal to me.
I cant really wrap my head around it sometimes.
This role (inAnt-Man) is much different…
Ive said this many times.
My mother, boy, she cant want forAnt-Manto come out.
Shes been dying to see me do something nice!
But I get to be playing for the good guys now, which is a great feeling.
You wrote a movie calledAnimals, too.
Is writing and maybe directing something you want to pursue?
Directing is not on my agenda, but writing is.
I want to write everything from action, superhero films to quiet dramas, smaller films.
Were actually in pre-production for the next one, the same team fromAnimals.
Were getting ready to go.
They almost kill you to make them, but Im so excited and so honored.
I do love writing.
It doesnt come to me as readily as I think acting does.
I think acting is in my instincts.
Writing is a craft that I work very hard at.
And I have to train and continue to develop.
But its starting to happen.
Ant-Manis in theaters on Friday (July 17).
