David Call

Restraint as a Working Method

David Call is not the type of actor who seeks out the spotlight of red carpets or the big headlines of the gossip press. He was born in Issaquah in 1982 and trained at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York. There, he learned that screen acting tends to work best when you say a lot with very little.

In 2009, he appeared in The Good Wife in a role that caught the attention of casting directors. It was a brief appearance, but it showed that his sensibility fit perfectly with dramas carrying political and social weight.

Shortly after, he took on the role of Ben Donovan in Gossip Girl during 2010.

That could have been the start of a comfortable career in teen series. But Call preferred to explore the margins of New York independent cinema rather than sign restrictive contracts in Los Angeles.

A Commitment to Auteur Cinema

That same year, he appeared in Tiny Furniture, directed by Lena Dunham. The film won the award for best screenplay at South by Southwest and put the actor on the radar of specialized critics. He wasn't looking for blockbusters, as he was more interested in the somber tone of projects like Two Gates of Sleep.

In 2012, he shot Deadfall alongside Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde. In the film, he played a police officer in a wintry suspense story that quietly slipped through Spanish commercial theaters. Critics praised his ability to hold his own alongside top-tier stars.

And the industry took notice.

His television appearances during that decade numbered in the dozens. In 2013, he joined the cast of Smash and later played Pete in The Magicians. He is an actor who fills the gaps in the script with a highly controlled physical presence and little inclination toward dramatic excess.

The Turn Toward Psychological Thrillers

Maturity brought him roles with a darker emotional weight. In 2017, he appeared in the first season of The Sinner. His role was supporting but essential to understanding the trauma the protagonist carried throughout the series’ eight episodes.

In 2020, The Night House premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The psychological horror film received praise for its suffocating atmosphere and sound design. Call plays a friend of the protagonist who tries to make sense of a chaos of apparitions and marital secrets.

Not everything has been about being in front of the camera.

He founded the production company ZS2 Media Group to develop his own stories and keep control over the creative process. In 2021, he joined the cast of The Fallout. The film addresses the psychological consequences of a school shooting and won the Grand Jury Prize at the SXSW festival.

For the distribution of The Night House, Searchlight Pictures paid close to $12 million.