Pedro Pascal’s first-ever audition was for an Oscar-nominated role: “I was totally in over my head”
Pedro Pascal seems to be everywhere now, as he’s been involved in several major franchises and highly anticipated projects, but he could have been famous 20 years earlier if he had gotten his first audition.
In addition to being the lead in the latest Star Wars film, The Mandalorian and Grogu, he will also be one of the leaders of Marvel’s slate of heroes when he reprises his role as Reed Richards in Avengers: Doomsday, after debuting the character in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
While films like Eddington and Materialists weren’t universally beloved, they were certainly subjected to a healthy amount of debate, indicating that Pasal has his finger on the pulse.
He is now one of the few stars who can get a film made because of his involvement, but his success is not something that happened overnight, for like most actors, Pascal had many smaller roles in films and shows before he eventually started auditioning for larger parts. Many may have first recognised him during his memorable run as Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones or as the DEA Agent Javier on Narcos, but he had spent almost two decades at that point trying to break into the industry.
Seeing that the actor has worked hard to become one of the most important in the industry is an inspiring story, but his career could have gone very differently if he had nailed his first audition, where he read to play the character Aaron Stampler in Primal Fear, a role that would eventually go to Edward Norton.
“I was totally in over my head,” he revealed to Interview magazine, “I auditioned for that in New York, and then I went to LA for it. I didn’t get it and was unemployed for about ten years”.
Primal Fear is a twisty legal thriller in which Richard Gere plays the sharp defence attorney Martin Vail, who is brought in to defend Aaron, an altar boy accused of murdering a priest. Although the film became a pop culture phenomenon because of a shocking twist, it is best remembered as bringing the role that seemingly turned Norton into one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation overnight.
Aaron’s part was highly sought by actors of Norton’s generation, as both James Van Der Beek and Matt Damon also auditioned. Norton’s performance was part of an incredible run in 1996, in which he also appeared as a lawyer in The People vs Larry Flynt and sang in the Woody Allen musical Everyone Says I Love You, and his Primal Fear turn earned him an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actor’, which marked one of the few times that the Oscars recognised someone for their debut role. Norton should have won the award, given that Cuba Gooding Jr’s win for Jerry Maguire is pretty silly in retrospect.
Pascal has yet to work with Norton, despite sharing a few collaborators; the former’s next major film role is in the drama Behemoth! from director Tony Gilroy, who directed Norton in The Bourne Legacy. However, Pascal was able to co-star with Damon on the Chinese fantasy epic The Great Wall, where they may have been able to both commiserate about how they had lost out on the role in Primal Fear to Norton.
