Ethan Embry leads the horror thriller “Alma and the Wolf,” even though he’s neither Alma nor the wolf.

Or is he?

“He’s not in a great place. When we meet Ren Accord, my character,” Embry, 47, offered in a Zoom interview, “he’s living a life that he thinks he deserves more out of.

“That’s something I can identify with. It’s something that all of us can identify with. He thinks he is something other than the way the world sees him, and he thinks he deserves better.

“Then he comes across Alma, and she is in a worse place than he is, which is, in an odd way, comforting to him.

“She also offers him an opportunity. She’s giving him the vehicle to become who he thinks he is.

“It’s a wild story! Goes to some very strange and dark places, all the while with an element of fun and at times, opportunities for camp.

“I remember the first time I read it, I had not read anything like it before. The main through for me I think is that it’s about the ego and how we see ourselves — and how distorted that can be at times.

“If we’re honest with ourselves, we all sometimes have a very distorted view of ourselves. This story is that situation to an extreme. It’s what happens when you let the ego run the entire show.”

Does Embry view this then as a horror movie?

“I’ve always seen it as a dark comedy. One of the things that really excited me when I first read it — besides it being strange and unconventional — was what would be asked of me as an actor and as a person.

“Like the things that I would have to experience to complete the story. That was exciting because it’s a journey, you know?”

Embry’s life-long journey has always been as an actor. He was 12 when starred in John Hughes’ “Dutch” and he continued acting with hit teen comedies like “Can’t Hardly Wait.” He’s continued into adulthood.

Does he look back at this nonstop career and wonder if he had a choice about going on?

“That’s an interesting question. I don’t know how much I played a part in continuing to be an actor. I do remember not wanting to continue. And then on the flip side of that, I do remember deciding to to make it a craft and to look at it as something that I’m good at.

“You know, to own it. But each and every single job I have, there’s no guarantee that I’ll ever have another.

“So it’s almost like it decides for me.”

“Alma and the Wolf” opens Friday