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David Dastmalchian is an Iranian actor, writer, and producer. He has had supporting roles in a number of superhero franchises: he portrayed Thomas Schiff in The Dark Knight (2008), Kurt and Veb in the Ant-Man franchise, Abra Kadabra in the CW's The Flash, and Polka-Dot Man in The Suicide Squad (2021).


Dastmalchian has appeared in three films directed by Denis Villeneuve: Prisoners (2013), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and Dune (2021). Although he is best known for his work as a character actor, Dastmalchian had leading roles in the 2014 semi-autobiographical film Animals, which he wrote, and the 2023 horror film Late Night with the Devil, which he produced. 

When director James Gunn cast David Dastmalchian as supervillain Polka-Dot Man for "The Suicide Squad", he had no idea that the actor has vitiligo. The skin disease gives Dastmalchian polka dots on his skin; as a child, he was mocked by others as "polka dots" and "Dalmatian". 

"James did not know this about me when he cast me in his film, but I have a skin condition called vitiligo, which is an autoimmune disorder that erodes the pigment in my skin. And so I have polka dots," said Dastmalchian. "Growing up as a kid going to the pool, others would bully me and call me things like 'polka dots,' or 'spots' or 'Dalmatian.' It was powerful and cathartic for me to get to be Abner and be this guy who's kind of humiliated and has this ridiculous getup." 

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