Fantastic, Fearless, and Unfiltered: Pedro Pascal in His Own Words

Ask most people about the general demeanor of celebrity culture in the age of conglomerate media, and you’ll likely be met with the same response: guarded. It’s hard not to be. As public relations and corporate watchdogs become stricter with their approval process, major stars have become less and less accessible. Hollywood interviews used to be a time for journalists to ask celebrities long-form questions about their careers and personal lives. But the saturated influencer interview circuit and reigned-in content from media outlets have left interviews exclusively for media partners and social media in soundbite form. The result? Fear of public speech. Most public figures are far less likely to give an authentic statement to the press or social media. It’s an understandable fear; being cancelled and having your words misconstrued is all too easy in the social media age.

Pedro Pascal is not most public figures.

Pedro Pascal is a 50-year-old who has made a career out of existing within the Hollywood bubble as an actor, and recently gained global stardom, yet has managed to retain the uncensored ethos of someone who has not yet signed off their entire life to one industry. The Chilean-American star, who is most recognizable for his role in The Mandalorian and a similar role for a video game-turned-television show, The Last of Us, is now leading Marvel’s new Fantastic Four: First Steps as the head scientist and superhero, Dr. Reed Richards. However, outside of screen time, fancy interviews and press tours (Pedro is doing both in London as of the writing of this article), Pascal continues to put his weight behind issues like social justice reform and humanitarian work.

Pedro’s 11 million followers on Instagram have become used to seeing not just photos of promotions, but posts sharing links to Doctors Without Borders and refugee work, shouting out with T-shirts in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, and information about relief and blockades in Gaza.

In a Sky News interview, Pascal also discussed how he’s found it difficult to be outspoken in a media world where speaking candidly has the potential to spiral.

“I think it’s very easy to get scared, no matter what you sort of talk about,” he told Sky News.

And he’s right. One throwaway sentence, or a sentence decontextualized from a long-form interview, can create a wildfire on TikTok or feed or trend as a headline in one day. “There are so many different ways that things can get kind of fractured and have a life of itself,” he said, but “I’ll never shut up.”

Pedro has spoken out against injustices before: against industries harming the environment and creators without proper credit, especially within Hollywood.

The sentence might sound playful in the larger conversation with Sky News, but once the video ended, I couldn’t get that specific part out of my head. Pascal’s words are a way of re-centering honesty in an industry with an inherently disposable nature. The careerist climate of Hollywood has made artists approachable in certain contexts. And he knows it.

Pedro Pascal’s Voice in Fantastic Four: First Steps

In Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps, Pascal plays Reed Richards, one of four scientists who become superheroes after a fateful experiment sends them into space. The film’s plot follows Richards on his journey of self-actualization, as he balances the responsibility of becoming Earth’s savior with the personal responsibility of being the father of Sue Storm’s child on the way.

Directed by WandaVision’s Matt Shakman, Fantastic Four: First Steps brings the new, standalone (confirmed before release) version of Marvel Cinematic Universe’s superheroes to screens on July 28. In addition to Pascal in the role of Reed Richards, the ensemble cast also includes Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Victor Von Doom, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm.

Pedro Pascal is not an overnight celebrity. He’s had an entire career’s worth of complex, detail-heavy characters that have led him to the point he’s at today. His global fandom was, at the very least, greatly amped up through projects like The Mandalorian. And, as Pascal said in his Sky News interview, some of his thoughts have more time investment and emotionality behind them than others.

Pedro Pascal is, by many accounts, a regular person. The things he says speak for themselves.

Pedro Pascal does not live in a corporate echo chamber. Pascal chooses to still voice his opinions and speak out against injustices that we all see and pass in our everyday lives. He has a platform that not everyone has, and rather than take a break to adjust to newfound fame, he has used it. This move is, of itself, a fantastic one.