On the heels of the Golden Globes, where he lost the supporting actor award—I just cannot do this extremely long category name anymore—to Robert Downey, Jr., Willem Dafoe got a consolation prize, and some might say a more valuable honor, in the form of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
His induction ceremony drew a real random-ass crowd, from some of his oldest filmmaker friends like Wim Wenders and Walter Hill, to more recent filmmaker friends like Sean Baker—Dafoe was nominated for an Oscar in Baker’s film, The Florida Project—as well as Patricia Arquette, who directs Dafoe in her upcoming feature directorial debut, Gonzo Girl. Dafoe’s Gonzo Girl co-star, Camila Morrone, was also on hand, as was his Poor Things co-star, Mark Ruffalo, and…Pedro Pascal.
I had to google this because based on photo assumption, Pedro Pascal is super enthusiastic about Willem Dafoe, and it turns out they co-starred in The Great Wall, the 2014 battle epic directed by Zhang Yimou. You remember The Great Wall, it’s the Chinese blockbuster that stars Matt Damon! Apparently, internet boyfriend Pedro Pascal and Willem Dafoe have been good buddies ever since. Pedro showed up in a pair of funky pants and a satin shirt, because the man knows what his fans want, which is funky clothes and memes. A clip of Willem’s wife, Giada Colagrande, and Pedro is going viral on TikTok:
@softpascalito rizz pascal is insane (they're just friends in case you are wondering!) #pedropascal #pedropascaltiktok #pascalispunk #walkoffame #pedropascaledit #giadacolagrande
♬ what the fuck was that - champagnemami
Hide your wives, hide your girlfriends, hide your husbands and boyfriends, too, everyone loves Pedro Pascal. Also, there is a Pedro fancam, because the internet cannot resist their Hollywood daddy who leaves no crumbs!
Dafoe’s other Poor Things co-star, Emma Stone, was not on hand, but she was at an event for The Curse yesterday, along with Nathan Fielder, Benny Safdie, and her husband, Dave McCary. As Duana mentioned yesterday, The Curse is very hard to get through, and I say that as someone who has, to date, enjoyed Fielder’s brand of awkward comedy and Benny Safdie’s brand of nerve-jangling drama. It’s just so much nerve-jangling awkwardness and it takes f-cking forever to get where it’s going. The premise isn’t even complicated—white gentrifiers are actually sh-theads, news at eleven. The Curse is a five-minute Zach Galifianakis sketch stretched to ten episodes.
Anyway, back to Pedro Pascal and something I’ve been thinking about since reading Lainey’s piece about the internet boyfriends at the Golden Globes. Is Pedro Pascal the heir apparent to Keanu Reeves?
Think about it. Keanu’s reputation didn’t form overnight, it’s the result of working—a lot—for decades, and consistently being a pleasure to work with. He’s generous with his peers, he’s kind to fans, he’s a positive presence in the public sphere. Pedro Pascal has also been working—a lot—for decades, and he has a reputation for being a pleasure to work with. He’s not been famous as long as Keanu, so there aren’t as many stories about random acts of kindness, but Pedro always seems happy to be where he is, he doesn’t have a reputation for being rude, and people love him everywhere he goes, he has fans across every demographic. How much longer before he ascends to that Keanu-level of mass popularity? Or is he already there?
You can watch Willem Dafoe’s star ceremony here: