Pedro Pascal Calls Cello Turn in 'Behemoth!' 'the Hardest Thing I've Ever Done'

Pedro Pascal began cello lessons in late July 2025 for a Tony Gilroy film that hadn't been greenlit yet — and he calls the result "the hardest thing that I've ever done." "Behemoth!", written and directed by Gilroy for Searchlight Pictures, premiered as the centerpiece selection of the New York Film Festival on Oct. 2 and opens Dec. 4.

Pascal, 51, told Variety's Awards Circuit podcast that the technical demands of faking cello mastery never let up. "If you could hear it, you would think I was killing an animal," he said of his actual playing. He describes the on-camera illusion as "a highly intense lip sync" that left him "back-footed the entire time." He studied with cellists Timothy Loo and Charlie Tyler before anything was signed, then kept training through every lunch break and short weekend once cameras rolled across Los Angeles in late October, with a final day in Vienna.

Who is Alex Serian?

Pascal plays Alex Serian, a gifted cellist who returns home to Los Angeles after 20 years on the road. The film withholds what it's actually about until roughly 65 or 70 percent of the way through, and Pascal does much of his acting without dialogue.

He says the character speaks through music rather than words. "He's very obviously someone who expresses himself through his music and fails at so many things in life because he doesn't know how to speak the language of human relationships," Pascal said. He connected to Alex's adaptability and his guardedness — a man who, without calculation, chooses relationships "that have their guardrails set in place" out of fear of passing on his inherited pain.

Gilroy's direction, Pascal says, ran on trust. The director's only adjustments came framed as: "I don't want to fuck with this. But do you think maybe we can put a smile on this?" — meaning energetically, not facially. Pascal calls the collaboration "a fascinating dance of trust."

What does the role change for Pascal?

After two decades of small stage and television roles before "Game of Thrones" changed his life at 39, Pascal sees Alex as the kind of part he's been waiting for — a role "worthy of what he can do with his face when he has no lines," as the profile puts it. And despite the difficulty, it was his favorite experience: "I miss 'Behemoth!' more than I miss anything I've ever done. I miss the character."

He offers career advice grounded in his own long apprenticeship. "You've got to eat shit, and you've got to take a lot of shit," he said. "It forms character, hopefully in the direction of knowing how to treat other people and protecting the value of generosity, because it comes around."

The craft behind the film

The production shot entirely in Los Angeles — Pasadena, Studio City, Malibu, the Arts District and downtown — with a largely local crew alongside cinematographer Damián García (Barcelona-based) and producer Sanne Wohlenberg (London-based). An operatic blizzard scene set in Chicago was filmed in downtown L.A. in warm weather, with costume designer Mary Zophres choosing Olivia Wilde's emerald green dress. Pascal singles out Wilde: "Olivia Wilde slays in this movie."

What's next

Pascal also revealed one line from his character in "Avengers: Doomsday": "It's good to see you again." He called Todd Haynes' "De Noche" "a sister film for me, emotionally" and "a Todd Haynes movie that had to be made." His message to friend and awards-season foil Kieran Culkin: "Come here, Kieran. Let's cuddle."

With a December theatrical release and a NY Festival premiere behind it, "Behemoth!" now enters an awards conversation Pascal has circled for years — this time carrying a lead role built on silence rather than lines.