Adam DiMarco attends Netflix's Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen Los Angeles premiere at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on March 19.Presley Ann/Getty Images
For Canadian actor Adam DiMarco, there is no genre quite as versatile as horror. “I think concept is king in horror, and you can take really big swings,” he says. “You don’t have to have an IP. You can innovate. You can genre-mash.”
DiMarco’s latest project, the Netflix miniseries Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, is what he describes as a “romantic horror-comedy” dramatizing the fear of marrying the wrong person.
Created by Haley Z. Boston (who previously wrote for Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities) and executive produced by Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer, the eight-part series follows bride Rachel (Camila Morrone) and groom Nicky (DiMarco) in the week leading up to their ill-fated nuptials at his eccentric family’s secluded vacation home.
DiMarco is an Oakville, Ont., native who broke out for his turn as Albie Di Grasso in the Sicilian-set second season of HBO’s The White Lotus in 2022. He also starred as a deeply insecure frat bro in the Prime Video comedy series Overcompensating and a paranormal podcast host in filmmaker Ian Tuason’s new A24-backed supernatural horror film Undertone.
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All three of his latest projects were filmed in the Toronto area and prompted DiMarco – who spent the last 15 years living in Vancouver – to move back.
Calling in from Los Angeles, where he joked he would be lying “out in the sun ASAP” after his current press tour before returning home to shoot the second season of Overcompensating, DiMarco spoke about his latest venture into horror and how he went from studying science to making a living as a thespian.
What intrigued you about the character study of this potentially doomed relationship between Rachel and Nicky?
Nicky is this confident romantic, and he’s the black sheep of his family by being the normal one, as opposed to being a black sheep by being the weird one. It’s really fun to play in that world. Even doing press and talking about it, I never felt like I was necessarily in a horror film when I was working on this. Cami’s character definitely exists in a horror film, but it didn’t feel like that to me on set.
What I really like about Nicky is he’s not the clichéd horror movie trope where he doesn’t believe his partner. He’s trying to hear her out, calm her down and be a supportive partner. He knew from the beginning that his fiancée isn’t into the idea of marriage as much as him. Over the course of the season, his perspective does start to shift to meet hers. Unfortunately, they just aren’t aligned, and she becomes the one who wants to get married by the end of it more than him.
You have one of the more unconventional paths to Hollywood, even for a Canadian. How did you go from studying life sciences at McMaster University to pursuing an acting career?
I never really thought about being an actor growing up. I have four older sisters. They all went to university in Canada, graduated and have very impressive jobs, so I was following in their footsteps. In high school, I did well in math and science, so I was like, “OK, I guess I’ll go study life sciences at McMaster.” Once I got there, I realized pretty quickly that it’s really tough to study anything that you don’t have a passion for.
I was distracting myself a lot by watching TV shows and movies on campus. I remember having an epiphany one day: “Oh, this is an industry that you can work in.”
You completed a 16-month intensive program at Vancouver Film School about 16 years ago. Did you ever feel a pang of dread and anxiety about completely abandoning your initial career path? Did you know what you were signing up for?
Oh, I fully jumped into the pool without knowing how to swim. I was put on academic probation within my first four months, because I just wasn’t going for it enough in scenes, and that was a wake-up call to me. Being an actor can be so cringey or embarrassing at times, but you start to develop a tougher skin. You also start to learn to protect yourself or say no to certain situations that would exacerbate that feeling.
You’ve often been associated with playing “nice guys,” going back to your time in Disney Channel movies and, of course, on The White Lotus. Have you specifically been looking for parts lately that break you out of that archetype?
When you’re starting out acting, you take whatever roles you can get. Unless you’re producing something, you’re not really in control of who the character is or what the story is. Lately, especially post-White Lotus, I’ve turned down a lot of work that is more stereotypical, one-note kind of “nice guy” roles. I love playing different characters, but I ultimately am a sucker for a good script.
Your latest role in Undertone is a great example of that. The indie film has been a surprise hit at the Canadian – and American – box office.
I was just talking to someone at the Park Theatre in Vancouver about how they had Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie and then Undertone, these two amazing Canadian films, come out in back-to-back months – and how it is this moment for the Canadian film industry, which I’m so proud to even be tangentially a part of.
Canada has this amazing pool of talent – these amazing actors, crews, directors, producers, storytellers. I think we’re just starting to see maybe the beginning of a new wave of Canadian film, and I hope that the Canadian TV industry follows suit. I’m really excited about the future.
This interview has been edited and condensed.