Adam DiMarco’s boyish charm made him perfect for The White Lotus. In his pivot to the debaucherous frat star of Overcompensating, he was the guy you love to hate. This year, he’s oscillating between tense interpersonal drama and skin-crawling terror as the groom-to-be in Something Very Bad is Going to Happen. In a way, DiMarco’s role in the upcoming Netflix show (created by Haley Z. Boston) is a return. He plays Nicky, a guy who “tries to always make the right decision, or what he thinks is the right decision,” as DiMarco puts it. But every moment of the show’s 8-episode run is teeming with a sinister undercurrent.

When I chatted with DiMarco over Zoom, he was a bit under the weather after first getting a chance to see the introductory episodes of the show, joking, “maybe that’s why I don’t feel well today, because it’s just so messed up.” Spookiness-and the bravery required to face it-is a theme for DiMarco this year, as he also premiered a unique project undertone at Sundance (in theaters March 13th, solely featuring his voice as a paranormal podcast co-host. As he enters a big season, DiMarco talks Mike White’s return to reality TV, Overcompensating‘s next chapter, making music and, of course, bravery.

CHARLIE KOLBRENER: I have to ask, as a White Lotus alum, will you be watching Mike White on the new season of Survivor?

ADAM DIMARCO: Absolutely. I can’t wait. I was in Hawaii a couple winters ago, and I ended up seeing him when I was there, and I remember he was flirting with the idea of going back to ‘unplug.’ To get away from his phone and screens. I was like, ‘As a vacation?’ [Laughs] But I can’t wait. I love that show, and I think his first season, David vs. Goliath, is a really great starter season.

CK: I just rewatched it, and it’s so clear that The White Lotus was really influenced by Survivor.

AD: There’s so many parallels. Both shows start with a bunch of strangers on a boat heading towards an island. You know, there’s so many random little parallels.Reading [The White Lotus] scripts, I just devoured them. It was the best writing I’d ever come across at that point. And really kind of re-wired my brain in terms of storytelling, delayed gratification. Every character in that show has a storyline with a little bow on it at the end.

CK: It’s the best. And have you gotten to start working on Overcompensating yet?

AD: I’ve had a couple conversations with Benny [Skinner] and Scott King, our showrunner, and everything I’ve heard just sounds even crazier, more wild, just balls to the wall. I think Benny’s just kind of doubling down on every aspect

CK: That’s exciting. I want to talk about just the movie that you premiered at Sundance. You don’t appear on-screen in the movie, right?

AD: It’s just a voice performance-I play Nina [Kiri’s] podcast co-host on this paranormal podcast. You really just get a chance to play, especially when you’re not on camera. I just felt really free on that project to explore and play. And I was thinking after I should try to approach when I’m on camera in the same way that I felt during that.

CK: We have to talk about your other horror project, which I know Duffer Brothers fans are really excited for now that Stranger Things is over. What can people expect?

AD: I think the title is kind of a huge spoiler for that show. Hopefully they change it before it comes out [laughs], but obviously things don’t go as planned. The show is really a roller coaster ride. There’s so many twists and zigs and zags and turns. I remember talking to Haley Z. Boston, because she writes a lot of horror features, but for a TV show, she’s just kind of thinking, ‘How do you sustain that feeling of horror over the course of eight episodes versus something that takes place in like 90 minutes or two and a half hours?’

CK: What aspect of the show are you most excited for people to see?

AD: I love the way it’s shot. It’s very cinematic. They brought in all these cool jibs and machines that I’d never seen before. What’s it called, “the glam bot?” It was like that on steroids. Also, Colin Stetson does the soundtrack. He is an amazing musician and composer. Amazing saxophonist. He did Hereditary. It’s just a dark, eerie, fun experience.

CK: That’s a helpful transition, are you working on any Good One music right now?

AD: I’m actually trying to do an EP. I have so many talented friends that I love, it’s an excuse for us to hang out and make something together. It is really hard, but it’s very satisfying and fun. It definitely feels vulnerable, putting music out. I would love to do it more. I don’t always have the time, and I’m such a perfectionist. But I think with AI, people are really wanting to hear more human voices, human sounds, mistakes. Maybe I’ll do this EP and then quit. There’s only so many hours in the day. When I’m doing music, I can’t be writing these scripts I want to finish, so I don’t really want to be a jack of all trades, master of none.

CK: Well, I’m looking forward to the EP. And I’m excited to watch the show.

AD: Make sure you watch it at night with the lights off. And I don’t only mean that because it’s scary to set the mood, but I feel like you pick up on more things.

CK: I’m not good at watching scary stuff, but for this, I’ll be brave.

AD: I appreciate that. 2026, year of being brave.

This cover story appears in the pages of VMAN 56: hitting global newsstands starting March 16, 2026!

Photography Luigi & Iango

Fashion Jake Sammis

Creative Director / Editor-in-Chief Stephen Gan

Interview Charlie Kolbrener

Makeup Georgi Sandev (Forward Artists)

Hair Sasha Nesterchuk

Casting Greg Krelenstein (GK-LD)

Editor Kev Ponce

Fashion Market Editor Copelyn Bengel

Production Alexey Galetskiy (AGP NYC)

Photo Assistants Francisco Betancourt

Styling Assistants Piper Smith

Production Assistant Justin Barahona

Cinematographer Santiago Montes