David Dastmalchian appears on my laptop screen, smiling and apologetic. He's a little late coming directly from a string of interviews, among which I am the last. What will follow is, Dastmalchian tells me, a well-earned nap before he picks up another night shoot that's running from 5PM to 5AM.
I first noticed Dastmalchian more than a dozen years ago when he appeared as a psychotic, fake Gotham City cop in Christopher Nolan's seminal 2008 Batman movie The Dark Knight. It was such a true and gripping performance that I wondered if Nolan had spirited the actor out of a "facility" on a day pass for his turn as the off-kilter assassin.
A character actor and busy creator (he has a graphic novel, Through, available now and arriving at retail early next year), Dastmalchian continues to land memorable parts in large-scale IP-based films and TV shows. He took a little-known anti-hero, Polka-Dot Man, and turned him into a tragicomic hero with a major story arc in 2021's The Suicide Squad, the James Gunn-directed superhero flick that acted somewhat as a testing ground for Gunn and Peter Safran's now-nascent DC Universe (DCU).
More recently, Datmlachian signed up to play Mr. 3 (a.k.a. Galdino) in season 2 of One Piece, Netflix's big-budget live-action adaptation of one of the best anime ever made.
The role is a challenge and somewhat intimidating for several reasons, not the least of which the 50-year-old actor's son is a huge fan of the original series, which is also available to stream on Netflix.
"That was a very big deal at my house when I got cast and asked to come play Mr 3," he told me.
Waxing on
The character, an assassin and artist, is part of Barouq Works, but also able to shoot hot candle wax from his hands. It's more effective than you might think, with Dastmalchian explaining: "While you think that might be not as powerful as it actually is, it's almost like cement."
With his chiselled features, dark hair, and deep-set eyes, Dastmalchian quite easily moves between heroic and dastardly characterizations. One Piece's Mr. 3 is described as both a villain and a hero (it depends on where you are in his story). It's a complex character with a long history, and Dastmalchian takes the responsibility seriously.
"It was a big deal for me," he admits. "I get to bring Dave Dastmalchian into Mr. 3 because it's very intimidating. You're playing a character that people have known for most of their lives in book form and in animation form, and I can't just do an impression."
No matter what, though, the Mr. 3 presented in Netflix's take will likely be an amalgam of Eiichiro Oda's creation and Dastmalchian, with the meld achieved via makeup.
"They nailed it, in my humble opinion," he added. "They nailed the look because Mr. 3, if you look at what he looks like in the anime and in the manga, he has a very specific look, style, wardrobe, and I like to think that I really look like him. I don't know. Well, it's gonna be up to the fans.".
One Piece season 2 makes its Netflix debut on March 10, 2026.
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