(Brian Vander Brug)
Every Friday morning, Letterboxd posts a video on Instagram of their most logged movies by users within the last seven days; and for the past three weeks, each recap has included three movies co-starring Pedro Pascal: Celine Song’s Materialists, Ari Aster’s Eddington and Matt Shakman’s Fantastic Four: First Steps. While impressive at first glance, a film themed social media platform might not be the best source for a movie’s success, since two out of three of the films have been struggling with both audiences and critics [Eddington and First Steps], and even the one moderate success [Materialists] is now starting to have a bit of retrospective underwhelming reception. I’ve already seen plenty of comments hit the internet with the likes of, “Well, there goes Pedro Pascal’s leading man potential,” “Time for Hollywood to find a new male lead,” “Pascal burnout is here,” etc. Of course, if each film had equally done well, everyone would be complimenting Pascal’s [or his agent’s] taste in projects. He initially broke through on TV, with a memorable supporting role on HBO’s “Game of Thrones” (2014), and as the star of the hits, Disney’s “The Mandalorian” (2019-2023), Netflix’s “Narcos” (2015-17), and HBO’s “The Last of Us” (2023- ). His film choices, on the other hand, are kind of all over the place. Some interesting supporting roles, and collaborations with directors like Ridley Scott, Pedro Almodóvar and Ethan Coen, but nothing garnering fans like his TV work. So maybe this is a recent example of how some actors really do fit in one specific medium. But, even if Pascal’s career was flawless, the possibility of viewers getting tired of seeing him on screen would still exist.
Breaking into stardom with multiple roles in a single year isn’t necessarily a bad decision, as has been historically proven. Jim Carrey shot up to fame in 1994 with the Farrelly Bros’ Dumb & Dumber, Tom Shadyac’s Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and Chuck Russell’s The Mask; while Jessica Chastain instantly popped up out of nowhere in 2011 co-starring in Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter, Tate Taylor’s The Help and Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus.
(Paramount Pictures)
The famous person supposedly affected by overexposure I usually think of is Jude Law, who had a whopping six films released in 2004, including David O. Russell’s I Heart Huckabees, Charles Shyer’s Alfie, Mike Nichols’ Closer and Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator. I have a vivid memory of watching the 2005 Oscars in 10th grade, where in the middle of Chris Rock’s opening monologue as the ceremony’s host, he asks, “Who is Jude Law? Why is he in every movie I’ve seen the last four years?” Rock even name drops Jude while giving examples of the difference between superstars and famous actors. “If you want Tom Cruise and all you can get is Jude Law, wait.” Although Law later admitted his ego was a little bruised from the being the brunt of Rock’s jokes, and his moment as a leading man was brief, he never actually faded into obscurity and just gradually transitioned into more ‘character actor’ type performances.
We’ll find out soon enough if the major, polarizing exposure Pedro Pascal received this summer will hurt or help him in the long run. With the exception of maybe Fantastic Four, where some feel Pascal came off a bit too cold as Mr. Fantastic, he generally isn’t the reason for his film projects failing. He has a big fanbase and is talented, much like Law. Though it doesn’t really bode well his next theatrical release is set to be a full-length Mandalorian movie, viewers are hyped for the next season of “The Last of Us” all the same. In the era where international movie stars are allegedly ‘fading away,’ this might actually be the best time period for Pascal’s current position.