{"id":233252,"date":"2025-10-23T01:46:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T01:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/233252\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T01:46:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T01:46:21","slug":"david-dastmalchian-on-why-horror-is-so-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/233252\/","title":{"rendered":"David Dastmalchian on why horror is so important"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Dastmalchian is one of the premiere faces of horror \u2013 and it\u2019s not because he looks like the most frightening and glassy mannequin ever. He devours every role he is in, especially in the genre \u2013 we\u2019re talking Late Night with the Devil, The Boogeyman, Boston Strangler, Dexter: Resurrection, and more, with plenty to come<\/a>. And for him, the genre offers something of a comfort, even if it has its controversies.<\/p>\n

As far as horror goes, David Dastmalchian \u2013 whose podcast, Grave Conversations, finds him interviewing guests from coffins, if that tells you anything\u2026 \u2013 sees it as offering opportunities other genres can\u2019t<\/a>. \u201cThose of us with an inclination towards playing in the shadows can\u2019t help but go explore and see what all the fuss is about. I found it really perplexing that we were often expected to sit with uncomfortable feelings and remedy those feelings with only one tool. As I began to navigate my own discomfort and sometimes get a chance to shake out all of the jitters while riding the roller coaster of watching a horror movie, I realized there may be other ways to approach this experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it seems as if David Dastmalchian\u2019s love for horror has its roots in Tobe Hooper\u2019s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. \u201cWhen I watch a film about a homicidal family of cannibals, who are manifesting the kind of terror and dread that shadows any of my own everyday anxieties, it gives me a kind of perspective. There\u2019s something about getting your pulse up and your blood flowing in a safe space that can feel both exhausting and relieving.\u201d Hey, maybe he can work his way into the A24 universe now that the studio has reportedly been a frontrunner to acquire the franchise.<\/a><\/p>\n

Whatever the role \u2013 whether in horror or not \u2013 David Dastmalchian gives it his all. And for now, his most powerful performance in the genre is in Late Night with the Devil, in which he plays a talk show host who one-ups Johnny Carson by having a possessed girl as a guest. It is also one he considered his most challenging, finding himself doing the right work to delve into the character\u2019s psyche, even if it meant channeling what he called \u201ccomplete and utter terror.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is your favorite David Dastmalchian performance? What do you see as his place in the horror genre right now?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Dastmalchian is one of the premiere faces of horror \u2013 and it\u2019s not because he looks like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,48,20942,75,337],"class_list":{"0":"post-233252","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-david-dastmalchian","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}