PITTSBURGH — Mason Alexander Park has told the story of how they were selected to play Desire in Netflix's "The Sandman" ad nauseam at this point. And yet, it still hasn't gotten old.
The 27-year-old Point Park University graduate — who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns — was quite familiar with Neil Gaiman's long-running comic book series about the Lord of Dreams (Tom Sturridge) rebuilding his kingdom after years of captivity. Park was working on another project in New Zealand when, in a fit of late-night bravery, they asked Gaiman via Twitter about whether the role of Desire, Dream's conniving sibling, had been cast yet.
That initial tweet kick-started a conversation that led to Park being cast as Desire in Netflix's television adaptation of "The Sandman," which premieres Friday. Park recently told the Post-Gazette that their first post-tweet interaction with Gaiman was over Zoom, and Gaiman immediately identified this particular anecdote as the one they would both quickly get tired of telling on the show's press tour. Still, Park recognizes the novelty of how they ended up on "The Sandman."
