One Piece star David Dastmalchian on Grave Conversations, THERAPY and his new comic, Through

There’s a particular kind of artist who always seems to stand at the threshold – between mainstream and underground, horror and heart, performance and confession. Over the last decade, David Dastmalchian has quietly become one of those figures: a shape‑shifting actor, writer and creative force who can slip from billion‑dollar blockbusters to deeply personal indie work, without ever losing sight of who he is or who he’s speaking to. Now, as he steps into one of pop culture’s most iconic villain roles – M. Bison in the upcoming Street Fighter film – Dastmalchian does so carrying a lifetime’s worth of darkness, recovery, curiosity and compassion. It’s the same emotional DNA that runs through his haunting new comic Through, and the same energy that’s made him, however reluctantly, a kind of modern horror icon. Someone put it to me recently that David is “the actor that brought goth to the mainstream and gave hope to millions of weirdos to find success and confidence within themselves.” He laughs when I repeat that to him. There’s gratitude there, but also a palpable discomfort. “It’s humbling. I don’t know if I agree,” he says. “I’m just a guy out here trying to do what he’s done, and I don’t want really anyone looking at me for any sense of example, because I make so many mistakes…” Still, as we talk, it becomes clear that underneath all the genre trappings and iconic roles, there’s something very simple driving him: the hope that a story, told honestly enough, might make someone feel less alone.   For more, visit: https://www.soundspheremag.com/features/interview-street-fighter-star-david-dastmalchian-finds-inspiration-to-move-through/