SmartLess: "Pedro Pascal"

Wondery | Amazon Music | SmartLess LLC Wondery | Amazon Music | SmartLess LLC 6/12/23 - 52m - PDF Transcript

Okay, we're really really late. We got to start the show. I want to get right into it, but I really want to tell you something about myself that not a lot of people know.

But I know you're waiting. I know you're waiting. We should probably get to the show. It's like, it's going to start like any second now and I can't wait to see who the guest is. I don't know if it's mine or there's. I don't know.

Because I'm shooting it. I'm looking in the mirror right now, you guys. And I look amazing. I look incredible. I'm wearing a baseball hat. I'm wearing glasses.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Okay, we'll get right to it. Get right to it. Get right to it. Get right to it. Get right to it.

Welcome to SmartList.

Will mentioned that he was going to try a couple of new characters today.

Did he talk about some new characters? Is that what he was saying?

Make sure they aren't offensive accents, please.

Okay. Oh, this guy's defending over you.

That's sort of stereotypical what?

You don't know anything about that guy's story. You don't know anything about that guy's story.

Tell us about him. Tell us about him.

I love talking about my work as an actor and how I got there.

Well, this is a great segue because let me tell you what I want to talk about this morning.

Will and I are fresh off the boat from New York.

We do travel by water. We don't like to fly.

No, Sean, you'll be quiet.

Sean, you will be quiet.

You'll be quiet.

And we're back from New York and we went and saw Sean's play.

We had the pleasure.

The Belasco. Sorry, the Belasco.

We had the honor of seeing Sean in Good Night Oscar at the Belasco.

And let me tell you about garbage.

You can smell it from a mile away, but when you actually see it.

Yeah, trash. When you look at trash.

It'll pile up.

And the flies give it away.

I used to date that all the time.

Sean is such a mega talent.

If you're anywhere near New York City listener, do your eyes and ears a favor.

And your heart, quite frankly, and your tear ducts and your laugh machine.

And go see Good Night Oscar.

Sean, Will and I said it immediately after the standing ovation.

No, no, Sean turned around.

Sean, Jason was sitting directly in front of me and he turned around and Jason looks at me and he says,

Sean's ruined the podcast.

He's ruined the podcast.

We can no longer.

Who are we going to make fun of now?

Who can we disrespect?

And he said, how is Sean?

He goes and does this every night.

And I said, not every night.

Not every night.

They couldn't make that deal.

No, but honestly, in all seriousness.

On Tuesday, most people on Broadway, they take one night off.

I knew Sean was talented.

I think we all know Sean is talented.

But when you see him play this character that takes pure acting skill and then he plays the piano,

I knew he was classically trained, but then to see him play seven minutes of Rhapsody in Blue,

unaccompanied on a big-ass Steinway in the middle of a Broadway stage and bring the entire audience to their feet

with wet faces from the crescendo of this play with him playing this piano really does play it.

I mean, it's just, and this character that he played.

I mean, Sean, I'm really, really, really knocked out.

True.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

The most magical night I've ever had in the theater.

And I know what a weird sentence that is.

But it's true.

Well, you've had a few magical nights behind some theaters.

Behind the theaters.

I'm talking about sitting in the chairs.

But in the theater.

And we, that's the theater.

That's the theater that's right off Van Nuys.

Anyway, that's a different story.

We'll save that for different podcasts.

But Sean, truly, and Jason, you and I were not alone in that.

Everybody in that theater felt that it was palpable.

It was incredible.

We, all of our friends who are there, all of whom are actors and everybody is going like,

this character that he created, unbelievable.

What about the star wattage that Sean can cram into, not just our dumbasses,

that Steven Spielberg is sitting there and he's a part investor in the play.

He believes in it so much.

And boy, was he feeling smart at the end of that.

That's really sweet.

It was unbelievable.

And in our buddy Frank Marshall was there.

He was just beside himself, also one of the producers of the play.

And then just saying, I mean, everybody, it was unbelievable, Sean.

It was incredible.

Marty Short, this is my favorite.

So I see Marty and Andrea Martin were sitting in front of UJ.

And so we go to the after party and we're walking over to the table.

We're up where we're all sitting.

And I go by Marty and Marty's at the bar and there are probably 40 people between him and me.

And he looks and he catches my eye and across everybody he shouts,

why don't you have talent like that?

Wait, another great line though that Will came up to me at the party afterwards.

And the first thing Will Arnett says to me, he goes,

hey, I had to get up there in the piano part.

How did it go?

Oh my God.

And then you wake up to a nomination from the Outer Critics Circle.

You guys are so nice.

I really appreciate that.

Sean, we love you.

We love you too, guys.

Let me just say something.

It meant the world that you got.

It meant the world that you guys took the time and effort to come out to see me and support me.

I love you guys.

You're my brothers.

We always talk about it.

But you just made my night.

I would have done it every night of the week if we had to.

It's all the time we have, I think.

Okay.

Thanks, listener.

Wait, I'm going to take that bye back.

Okay.

I can't wait.

This is so exciting.

This is so exciting.

Okay.

I'm going to nerd out, guys.

Okay.

So William Shatner.

It's Chewbacca.

It's Chewbacca.

Well, close.

Close.

It's got Chewbacca.

Our guest today.

I'm so glad we got him here.

I wasn't sure he'd be available because as they say, he's hot, hot, hot right now in the Hollywood.

That's triple hot.

Really is all anyone talks about right now at age 11.

He was a Texas state swimming champion before throwing in the towel.

Don't worry.

He still had a speedo on and heading to the golden state and then pursuing an acting career.

He's become quite the staple in American culture in the last few years, being in the forefront

of some major movie and television franchises.

The internet refers to him as the ultimate daddy, but probably most importantly, he did

a reading with me of Good Night Oscar only a few years ago.

Oh my God.

Please welcome my pal Pedro Pascal.

No way.

No way.

Pedro.

Hello.

Good morning.

Oh, this is a good guy.

Here we go.

You can just pull over, turn your car off and enjoy this.

No, no, keep it on.

It keeps going through the speakers.

Pedro Pascal.

Oh my gosh.

No, no.

Last one on this guy.

Nope.

Can't do it.

Putting the curtain back on.

Oh, we had to bail.

Oh, no.

Where did you go?

No, we had to bail.

Just kidding.

Where am I?

I'm in Los Angeles.

Oh, you are.

Okay, good.

City of Angeles.

And in your house, it looks like an empty interrogation room.

It's like an, I'm in an empty interrogation room in Los Angeles.

What?

Can I move the camera around to even make it look even scarier?

It really is absolutely no care.

Wow.

You're really in an empty room.

I've been abducted.

No.

But they let you do a podcast.

But they're fans of your podcast.

Oh, wow.

That's good.

Let me say something.

It's true.

I'm into daddies.

You've seen Scotty, but I'm not hitting in you.

I'm just celebrating how cool it is that the internet has collectively

referred to you as our daddy and that you embrace it.

I've seen you in interviews and stuff like you kind of like that.

It's kind of cool.

And look, you got the scruff going on.

You wear the glasses.

I just want people to like me.

Well, just keep talking.

This is, you know, the kids, this is what the kids call you.

You've got what the kids call Riz.

Do we know what Riz is?

No.

No, what's Riz?

And that's plasma.

Plasma.

Plasma.

My kids would say they call it W. Riz.

Get that W Riz.

Wild charisma.

And they get real embarrassed.

I want to talk about Craig Mazin when we get to it.

We're not talking about Craig Mazin.

I want to continue talking about good night Oscar.

We have to.

Just you have to invite me.

No, we have to.

Buddy, you got to go see that.

The opening was recently.

And the production is directed by Lisa Peterson, right?

Correct.

That's correct.

Incredible.

I did a staged reading for Lisa Peterson 23 years ago

at the Tabor, that's where I met her.

It was part of the, I can't remember what the label

of the theater festival, new works sort of season

that it was and I, nothing, I just, I, we're old.

That's my point.

Let's move on.

This is amazing.

Did you like her then?

I loved her.

It was amazing.

I was desperate to get a job in professional theater,

no matter where I was, whether it was Los Angeles

or New York.

Did that one end up going to stage?

It did not.

If it did, it did not go with me.

Did you, so Pedro, did you, you're from Texas,

which I did not know.

You started, did you start, were you doing theater

in Texas before you, no.

So I was born in Chile.

Yeah, in Santiago, Chile.

And I have to say this.

Let's not brag about the research, Sean.

No, no, but I want to say this to you.

In la escuela secundaria en la clase de español

me llamaba Santiago, porque otro chico elegió Juan.

Pero qué bien, Sean, estoy Santiago, perdona.

Do you know how to speak Spanish, Sean?

Qué orgullo.

Sí, un poquito.

My, I said in Spanish class in high school,

my name was Santiago because it's some other kid

picked Juan, which is Sean.

Will, this is a great opportunity for you

to launch your, the Spanish character you're working on.

I would like to, but my character is from Bolivia,

sadly, so he's not, he's very close by, but I'm so sorry.

That's better than, that's better than the arbitrary

Latino accents I have shared with the world.

By the way, Pedro, I want to, I do want to,

Sean, you can go, but I do want,

now that we're in South America,

we're talking about this.

Pedro, I am, I got to know you, not personally,

but like a lot of people from watching Narcos,

I thought you were so fucking great in Narcos.

I loved, I loved Narcos, and you were so great in it.

And it was like, I'm sure it was one of those things

you've been working for years.

And then everybody's like, hey, look at, look at this guy.

And you're like, hey, man, I've been around

for a long time, right?

Was that kind of how that happened?

Filled with talent for years.

It was, Narcos was a really lucky job.

And I think it came on the coattails of the big fight

of Oberyn Martell in the mountain and Game of Thrones

and the people over at Netflix realizing

that I wasn't living past that episode.

And then, spoiler alert.

It is spoiler alert, sorry everybody.

From 10 years ago.

See, I'm not a Game of Thrones fan.

So I didn't, I've never watched it.

It's not that you're not a fan, you just haven't seen it.

There was a splashy guest role of the season,

sort of at the height of the game's popularity

at the game, the games.

Good God, it's early for me.

Not only are we not going to cut that,

we're going to double that one.

Keep going.

Well, that was really the first thing that,

that was the first time I experienced

sort of a larger exposure in relation to work in a big way.

And that I would say.

And you met David Benioff and your life's never the same.

You know, we're all the same.

We've completely started there for me

as far as consistent work.

And so because of Game of Thrones, I got Narcos.

And then, it was amazing.

We shot the entire thing in Columbia.

It was six to seven months a season.

And they would have one, it was sort of like,

it was so location-based, you know,

which is part of the reason I think the show

worked as well as it did.

Because the physical landscape of the show

was kind of its secret weapon

in that where we were shooting

was kind of the main character of the show

more than these larger-than-life, real, dangerous human beings

and dangerous circumstances.

What was that like working in Columbia?

You know, I'm a soft guy.

And all I'm thinking about is humidity.

And I'm smelling a little bit of mildew on the wardrobe.

Were we in the jungle and was it tough to get dry?

Sometimes we were in the jungle.

The base of production was in Bogota.

And Bogota is 9,000 feet.

Right.

And so I'm thinking the crispy snacks at Crafty

were chewy, right?

And so it was tough to get a good crunch out of the chips.

You could never...

No, no, it was dry.

It wasn't humid up in Bogota.

Bogota is like four seasons in a day.

And humidity isn't part of it.

It's kind of gets dry, sunny, rainy, windy, cold.

It's generally...

It's like Jason's personality.

From Monday to Friday.

It's kind of cold, but...

Manic.

Manic, but sometimes beautiful.

Hostile, but gorgeous.

And the cocaine is always just around the corner.

Yeah, exactly.

Careful.

Jay, I mean, and Jay, really what he wants to know

is nice hotel and how close is the private airport.

You know what I mean?

And if he's got that down, then he's happy.

It's only prop planes going in and out of those high alleys.

You guys would love Columbia.

And not for the reasons you think.

It is.

Oh, it's the best.

It's the best.

I would love to go.

I would love to go.

I like the yellow soccer uniforms.

It's all under the books.

You would like the beaches and the mountains and the people.

We'll be right back.

SmartList is sponsored by BetterHelp.

I don't know if you've noticed, but this is Sean, not Will.

And my voice is very low because of doing

seven shows on Broadway and then this podcast.

And I love both so much.

But my doctor was just like,

he's like, you need to take a break from one or the other.

And I'm like, well, I can't.

And so it stresses me out.

I'm still going.

I'm still going.

I'm still going.

But I do need to figure out how to take time for myself,

right?

And shut up for a second,

which is music to a lot of people's ears.

It's easy to get caught up in what everyone else needs

from you and never take a moment to think about

what you need from yourself.

But when we spend all of our time giving, singing,

talking, just all of it,

it can leave us feeling stretched thin and burnt out.

Therapy can give you the tools

to find more balance in your life.

So you can keep supporting others

without leaving yourself behind.

You know, and since Scotty's tired of being my therapist,

I actually sought a real one out.

And they've been helping me tremendously.

If you're thinking of starting therapy,

give BetterHelp a try.

It's entirely online,

designed to be convenient, flexible,

and suited to your schedule.

Just fill out a brief questionnaire

to get matched with a licensed therapist

and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge.

Find more balance with BetterHelp.

Visit betterhelp.com slash smartlist today

to get 10% off your first month.

That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash smartlist.

This episode is brought to you in part by CarMax.

If you have time to watch a cute cat video online,

you probably have enough time

to get an online offer on your car from CarMax.

That's right, if you've been meaning to sell your car,

CarMax will make you an online offer in two minutes or less.

That's less than a cat video online, isn't it?

And you get seven days to think it over, by the way.

A CarMax offer is quick, easy, and 100% real.

So in the time it takes you to watch

internet videos of cats wearing wigs,

why not get an offer on your car?

Go to carmax.com and get your offer in just two minutes.

Then enjoy all the cat content you want.

Meow.

Carselling Reimagined, CarMax.

Smartlist is brought to you in part by Macy's.

Hey guys, Father's Day is just around the corner.

So you know what that means for me.

So find dad's gift at Macy's.

They've got everything from cologne gift sets

to top picks from your fave influencers.

Get some inspiration on the site

or zero in on a specific category

and use the handy filters to find the perfect gift.

You know what?

But I'm going to get my father-in-law something.

I've already been to the site.

I have a couple ideas in mind

so I can't wait to discuss with Scotty

and pull the trigger on one thing specific.

So I don't want to say what it is because it's a surprise,

but I'm really excited for my father-in-law.

Larry, hi Larry.

Plus, you know what?

Shop the way you want.

Pick up and store, use curbside pickup

or order with same-day delivery to make your life easier.

Head on over to Macy's.com.

And now, back to the show.

I think it's fascinating.

I want these guys to hear this

because when I was reading about your parents,

the political asylum that they had to seek

when you were a kid and then going around the Denmark

and then like-

By the way, before you get into this,

I'm going to ask these guys, Pedro, you know this,

but we're going to expose these guys.

Do you guys know who the dictator was in Chile

who was, you know, ostensibly just a puppet of the American

without looking it up?

Paul Dunger.

No, no.

Darnesner.

Pinochet, anyway, keep going.

That's what I said.

Go ahead, Sean.

I'm just exposing them, Pedro.

No, I mean, if you said enough vowels and consonants

that you can kind of manipulate in the edit

that he said Pinochet.

I just get it all in your head, Will.

Will?

Yes.

How do you get it all in your head?

How is he so smart, Sean?

Because I don't think about anything else

because my brain, I have very little,

I have no street smarts.

Pinochet.

So your parents fled, so you guys fled as-

Because they were in opposition to Pinochet.

Yes.

Is that true?

Yes.

No, it's a lie.

Uh-oh.

No, but you know, sometimes they build,

sometimes stuff on your Wikipedia

gets kind of blown out of proportion.

What was the deal then?

Then I want to know how much you paid for your name

because it's a best name in Hollywood.

Well, he's going to get to that

because his last name was different.

Right, he had to change it.

Here we go.

Yes, I was born Jose Pedro Balmaceda Pascal.

And my parents, they were just very young

when they had my sister and myself,

my sister's two and a half years older than me.

And there was a cousin of my mother's

that was very, very involved

in the opposition movement against the military regime.

It's proximity to our family.

I wouldn't say that my parents were revolutionaries

by any stretch of the imagination,

but they were very young.

No, they were dissident, sir.

No, they were young, liberal college students

and ties from my mom's side to close ties

to the opposition movement just in terms of family.

It was a first cousin of my mother's.

And my dad was doing his residency

at the university hospital at La Catolica, it's called.

And so there was a gunfight

that my parents were not involved in,

but somebody was wounded

and they brought him to my parents' house

so that my father could help tend the wound,

hide them for a while.

The person that brought them to our house,

and I was four months old at the time,

he was taken into custody and tortured and gave names.

And then they came looking for my parents.

Wow, way.

And so then my parents had to go into hiding

for about six months, as it's been told to me.

And they, like some sort of political thriller

from the early 80s, they found a way to,

they saw that there was a change of guard

at the Venezuelan embassy where one guy got off the bus,

the same bus that the other guy would get on to

to switch places.

And so there was this window where they could,

get in there.

You know, climb over the wall, like physically,

physically climb over the wall and then land on

on the other side of the wall and demand asylum.

And it worked.

One time, Jason, you told, Jason,

when you were a kid one time, you went to the guard

and you didn't have the right pass at Warners

and you had to go to the gate four and set gate one.

Is that true?

And I thought about going over the wall,

but I was going super tight.

You had to park in the main lot

and you had to end up walking over to the stage

instead of going through gate one.

I heard about this.

I jumped on the back of a golf cart.

Jason got his first job.

It was not dissimilar in the guard.

And then the pass didn't match up.

I dropped my headshot.

I had to double back for my headshot.

And then golf cart ran over it.

Pedro, you know, I remember one of the reasons

I know golf is some of this stuff.

When I was in 1981, and these guys know I'm good on dates,

the movie Missing came out with Sissy's Basic,

Jack Lemon and John Shea was in it as well.

He's the guy who goes missing.

And my mom took me to see it in the theater.

I was probably too young, my mom.

And, but I was probably too young,

but she took me anyway and it had such an impact on me

to see how other people were living

and really in a real way, like a real,

so it's always, I've always,

I haven't paid attention necessarily,

but I always knew that that was the reality

in that part of the world, especially at that time.

And it occurs to me as you're telling this

and you're so good at telling this story

and you're such a, you do have that Riz,

you're very charismatic.

Has it ever occurred to you,

have you ever thought about sort of writing a story

based on that or do, no, can we write it and would you do it?

It's really fascinating.

I mean, it is fascinating, man.

It's, what an unbelievable story.

It's totally unbelievable.

I saw missing myself when I was a kid.

It is, it had such an imprint in my, you know,

brain when I saw it, because of how closely

I could relate it to my parents' experience in this.

All the Stone Direct that?

No, it was Costa Gravas.

Ah.

And, and, and, you know,

my mom was like little and beautiful, like Sissy Spacak,

you know, and, and I, I, I remember,

I think about this now in my middle age,

that how strange it is to get information in that way

through cinema and relate it to an ex,

a kind of immediate experience of my parents

that they aren't sharing with me.

Not that, not that it was,

not that it was this big secret or anything like that,

but they just, we just didn't talk about it.

Really?

Have you been back there since?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I've been back my whole life.

They ended up on a list of pardoned exiles

when I was eight years old.

Oh, great.

And so at that point, my older sister and I,

we had already gotten sent back on our own, you know,

the late 70s, early 80s, four-year-olds traveling

by themselves, you know, in the custody of like a stewardess.

I did that.

And, but when I was eight,

it was like a huge family reunion

because there were very large families

on both sides that were left behind.

And ever since then, we'd go back my whole life.

My younger siblings who were born in the States

were actually raised in Chile.

So the strange circumstance of having been born there,

never living there, going there my whole life,

it never being home, but it being home

and it's just been this ever-present.

Do you have a place there now that you go back like it?

I don't have a place there,

but both my siblings and my father do.

Yeah, wow.

But a couple other movies you mentioned

that were kind of a big shift in gears here.

Peggy Sue got married and Raising Arizona,

you said were like huge.

And then also your mom wouldn't let you see a certain movie,

I think.

My dad, my mom didn't care.

My mom didn't give a shit.

My dad was really against me seeing the breakfast club.

Well, really?

Yeah.

He took me to go see First Blood, The Big Chill.

Anything that he was interested in seeing, frankly,

it didn't matter if it was rated R or not.

Sean's in the breakfast club and the lunch club

and the snack club and the beer club and the lunch.

And we're back.

All the sequels.

But yeah, I wasn't allowed to see the breakfast club.

Wow.

Just because it was, what?

Send a bad message.

It was like, yeah, it was like kids complaining

about their parents.

It's like, you know, watching that.

That's hysterical.

I have a thousand questions if you would like to hear one.

Okay.

And by the way, I guarantee you,

you don't have a fucking thousand, okay.

I do.

So you, when you went to,

so you came to California,

your dad moved here, your mom and dad both came.

We all came to Orange County in 86, 87.

And then you went to, and then things happened.

You went to New York, NYU.

I went to, yeah.

And then at 18, I went to New York, yeah.

Yeah.

And you were terrible at waiting tables.

I was, I really was.

I was a bad waiter.

What restaurant do you remember?

I remember, there's so many.

Are you guys, this is the 90s.

I started so.

I worked at, where's the first place?

I started it sort of as a coffee barista person

in places that definitely don't exist anymore.

And then I got a job at Flamingo East.

Do you remember Flamingo East on Second Avenue?

Yeah.

There was a place on Seventh and Second called Verage.

I got a job at Time Cafe.

No way.

Got fired from Fez Bar.

Yes.

All of these sound like dancing clubs.

And then I moved up to, Flamingo East had a party.

They had different, they had a upstairs space

and they would throw parties up there.

And every once in a while, I got to bartend that.

And then.

I remember Fred, Fred Armisen had his birthday once

at Flamingo East like 20 years ago.

Really?

Upstairs.

Upstairs, yeah.

And then, and it was almost like a living room.

Like there was like a little back room and stuff.

Do you remember that?

Yeah.

It was this beautiful space and they fired me.

What did you do that was so bad in each of these spots?

Yeah.

Cause I read that you got fired over 10 times

from different places.

In some instances, well, one, I wasn't very good.

But what about your work was not good?

I didn't have the talent to...

The talent.

I don't know.

Yeah, you know, it does.

I think it really does take talent to know how to deal

with any kind of customer.

More so than the customers is to deal with management,

to be honest with you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And to kind of service the system of which you are a part of

in terms of that environment.

And I wasn't smart enough to kind of, you know,

keep myself safe and perceived as a reliable...

I was like, I was always on time and stuff like that.

But they didn't like me enough to keep me

if I needed to cover my shift again

because I was going to go to Buffalo

and shoot a Xerox industrial commercial

and get stuck there.

You know, because the acting...

This all sounds like somebody who's got,

they had like a major drug problem just covering.

You know what I mean?

I'm just going like, they didn't have the...

And then he tried to tell us he was going to do a Xerox.

My inconsistency with the showing up of the thing.

By the way...

All right, so you were bad at waiting tables.

No, it was really innocent.

It really was.

I was just stupid.

No, you weren't stupid.

I don't believe that for a second.

But you know, Pedro, you know that Jason's never,

because he grew up in showbiz.

This is a true story.

He's never had one of those kinds of jobs.

And I think that you kind of wish you had, yeah.

I've always fantasized about waiting tables

and bartending, truly.

And I always offer you,

every time I have a catering gig over here at the house

when I'm having people over, I would say,

Jason, come on over, you know.

And then I end up doing it.

You know what's scary is that Jason would have been great.

I do like the idea of each table is like a separate stage,

and you're trying to figure out

what that audience needs from you

so that you get the best possible tip.

Some tables want to be left alone.

Other tables want a little bit more show.

Here's what we're gonna trip you out

and that your managers wouldn't have liked it,

because you would have always demanded a heart out.

And so you would have been like that.

I'm gone before dessert.

My one joke I was used to do as a waiter,

I'd come by with the food and I'd put it down.

And the customer would say,

oh, that looks wonderful.

And I'd point to my shirt and I'd go, thanks, I just got it.

And that's a tip.

That's an extra 5%.

This stupid, 24 years old, killed every time.

So listen, so Pedro, so buffing the vampire star.

This is the thing that Jason was referring to,

which I didn't know.

You were credited as Pedro Balmaceda.

Si.

And what, why Pesca?

Oh, literally it is not your name.

I was just...

You know what it is, it's at the tail end.

No, no, no, but I...

Yes, go ahead, sir.

South Americans, we've got a lot of names.

Like Jose Pedro, I never went by.

My dad is Jose Pedro and I'm Jose Pedro and he's,

but he grew up as Pepe and I grew up as Pedro,

because Pedro's not a middle name.

So Jose Pedro was like a first name, right?

And I just grew up as Pedro.

And then Balmaceda Pascal is what is on your passport,

your birth certificate, Pascal being the maiden name.

So Balmaceda is my last name, it's my father's name.

And I went by, so I went by Pedro Balmaceda

and there was a very, very meaningful reason

to change it to Pascal and there was also

a very practical reason and they really meet

in the same level of importance because one Balmaceda

was impossible for people to pronounce

and it just wasn't helping me in terms of auditions

and casting and Pascal is very easy to read

and say out loud and it always felt like a part

of my identity and so when my mother passed away 23 years ago,

I made a gradual transition to Pascal.

I will say, it is nice and I will say Pedro Pascal

is a star name.

That's so funny because I resisted it for such a long time.

It was something that I wanted, that I was talked,

that I wanted to do before my mother died.

Polarious, but I always thought it was kind of silly

because of the P and the P and it sounded like maybe

I was trying to create, I don't know what,

I thought was silly about it.

I should have gotten to it much sooner than I did actually.

And now a word from our sponsor.

SmartList is supported by Element.

You guys all know I'm doing a show on Broadway right now,

we all talk about backstage but how important it is

as you're sweating everything out of you on stage

to regenerate with electrolytes and not just water

but electrolytes, it's really, really important

to keep hydrated so you can do seven or eight shows a week

and that's what it takes.

Element is a tasty electrolyte drink mix

with everything you need and nothing you don't.

That means lots of salt with no sugar.

It contains a science backed electrolyte ratio,

1,000 milligrams of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium

and 60 milligrams of magnesium.

Element is formulated to help anyone

with their electrolyte needs and is perfectly suited

to folks following a keto, low carb or paleo diet.

When you sweat, the primary electrolyte lost is sodium.

Athletes can lose up to seven grams per day.

When sodium is not replaced,

it's common to experience muscle cramps and fatigue.

They actually just sent me some grapefruit salt

which is my favorite one.

I don't usually like grapefruit

but the taste of this one is so delicious.

Right now, Element is offering listeners

a free sample pack with any purchase.

That's eight single serving packets free

with any element order.

This is a great way to try all eight flavors

or share Element with a salty friend.

Get yours at drinkelements.com slash smartlist.

This deal is only available through our link.

Go to drinklmt.com slash smartlist.

Element offers no questions asked refunds.

Try it totally risk free.

If you don't like it, share it with a salty friend

and they'll give you your money back.

No questions asked.

You have nothing to lose.

Smartlist has brought to you in part by eight sleep.

Hey guys, did you know that temperature

is one of the most important factors

in improving your sleep quality?

Science has shown that your body temperature

actually needs to drop in the early

and middle part of your sleep

and rise in the morning so that you can fall asleep fast

and get more deep sleep.

The pod cover by eight sleep fits on any bed

like a fitted sheet.

The pod cover will improve your sleep

by automatically adjusting the temperature

on each side of the bed based on you

and your partner's individual needs.

It can cool down and warm up and adjusts

based on the phases of your sleep

and the environment that you are in.

It's so great.

I have it, you know, it's so easy.

You unpack it, you pull it out.

Comes with all these boxes.

You set it up.

It's super easy.

Use the app to walk you through how to do it all.

And then you're set.

And like for me, you know,

Scott and I sleep in separate rooms.

So I just like roll on one side of it out of the other.

If I'm hot, I roll over to the cold.

Or sometimes I sleep right in the middle crease

where it's like perfect for my mood,

hot and cold, right in the middle.

No, seriously, this thing really works though.

It's really incredible.

You guys need to try it.

While temperature is the biggest game changer,

the pod cover has other amazing features.

For example, thanks to the pod sleep and health tracking,

you can wake up to a personalized sleep report for you

each morning that offers insights

on how certain behaviors like late night exercise

or caffeine impact your sleep and overall health.

Invest in the rest you deserve with the eight sleep pod.

Go to eightsleep.com slash smartlist

and save $150 on the pod cover by eightsleep.

That's the best offer you'll find,

but you must visit eightsleep.com slash smartlist

for $150 off.

Eightsleep currently ships within the USA, Canada, the UK,

select countries in the EU and Australia.

Smartlist is supported by Audible.

Audible lets you enjoy all your audio entertainment

in one app.

You'll always find the best of what you love

or something new to discover.

Audible offers an incredible selection of audio books

across every genre.

You'll find guided wellness programs,

theatrical performances, comedy,

and exclusive Audible originals from top celebrities,

renowned experts, and exciting new voices in audio.

As an Audible member, you can choose one title a month

to keep from the entire catalog,

including the latest bestsellers and new releases.

The Audible app makes it easy to listen anytime, anywhere.

While traveling, working out, walking, doing chores,

you decide.

So I've been checking out Atomic Habits by James Clear.

I love his last name, it's so apropos.

It's a great, great audio book.

It'll teach you exactly like how to form good habits,

break bad ones, and master kind of like the tiny behaviors

that lead to amazing, amazing results.

I really, really highly recommend it.

You know, we always joke about on the podcast

how we don't read, but listening to an audio book

seems to be more time efficient for us.

And I really, really enjoy actually listening to books.

It's fantastic.

I'm reading again with my ears.

New members can try Audible free for 30 days.

Visit audible.com slash smartless or text smartless

to 500-500.

That's audible.com slash smartless or text smartless

to 500-500 to try Audible free for 30 days.

Audible.com slash smartless.

All right, back to the show.

Now, can I ask you, can I fan out and dork out

about Mandalorian for just a little bit?

These guys hang tight.

So first of all, I want to know,

I've seen every episode.

I love it.

Me and Scotty, my husband's coming.

The laser that you had in your belt,

there's been a lot of discussion.

The safety was in turn of,

and then it came from Glogbort.

Is that true?

Was it originally from Glogbort?

I want Scotty to do a cross in the background

in a full Mandalorian episode.

Ask him if it was from Glogbort

because I read and read it.

Scotty, do you have any questions about Mandalorian?

Truly asking.

Truly asking, Scotty.

Do you have any?

Scotty, just peeks in.

I have so many.

So the Mandalorian.

So listen, when you have the mask on,

can you, I want to know, can you see,

is it really you?

Do you do voiceover after?

What's it like wearing the suit?

Do the jets really work?

Like, what's happening?

Like, tell me all about it.

Oh yeah, it's all real.

Yeah, and they're in space too.

Yeah.

I'm a huge fan.

We're in space.

We've always been in space.

You sure?

And it's really the only way it's similar to Narcos

in that regard where it's location-based.

Sure, sure.

And there isn't really any other way to achieve it

other than traveling to galaxies far, far away

from our long past, correct?

And Baby Yoda is real.

I keep on having this,

like almost sort of this electric shock

that goes through my system.

If I say that, I don't know why it's totally fine,

but Grogu, the child.

Grogu, right.

You're supposed to say Grogu, not Baby Yoda.

It's real.

But it's really you under the helmet.

So I can't see very well on,

I can't see very well in the helmet.

There was a very extended experimental phase

where I was in the suit for so much of it.

And establishing what could be established

in terms of a physical language,

really drawing so much from guys

that were better at it than I was and...

But how do you do, do they mic you in the helmet

or do you do voiceover?

There's a mic pack in the,

there's a mic pack on your person.

But there's also, it's a good question, Sean.

There's a mic pack in the helmet

and it's really kind of up against

the harder surfaces of your skull.

Do they come mic you in your trailer

or do you just go over to the trolley?

Like what the fuck are you doing?

And is there a snack hole

or do you have to take the whole helmet off, right Sean?

Sean, Sean, is it true?

You told me once that just talking,

the Mandalorian, every time you watch it

makes you grow goo.

Is that true?

It was real.

I was working on one of those for a long time.

That's good.

I grow a lot of goo when I watch the show.

Yeah, for sure.

No, that's so interesting.

I just, I'm fascinated by the show.

I love the show.

It's, you kind of, there are so many ways

that you sort of need to do a head tilt for the camera

that makes it so that you can't even really look

into the eyes of the human or puppet

that you're acting with.

And in some instances you feel really, really cool

and it takes care of most of the work.

And I have a lot of fun in post

because John Favreau gives me a lot of opportunity

to kind of edit with him and go over things

that they got maybe on the day.

And it's really, really surgical, technical work

that I've never, yeah, it's like, exactly.

You don't have a lot of sink issues, right?

No, not a lot of lip flap matches.

Correct.

Yeah, cause you can just do it.

Now, you know what I'm thinking about in that helmet

is just odor, you know.

Yeah, like your own breath, multiple episodes and stuff.

So do you have like a lavender wipe

that you can go in there before you?

Yeah, odor, of course.

Yeah, you put a flower in there or what happens?

I was very aware of like my, not only that,

but sort of the dark plastic of the tea, you know,

cause you're like this.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's almost like what your breath smells like,

like cakes on, like stays there.

Yeah, that's a changing thing.

And you're not handing that helmet off

to second team for lighting, are you?

You don't want them in there.

Or sound, they've got their own, right?

Different helmet, different flower.

You know, you'd be surprised.

It's so real, Pedro.

It's so real.

This is giving Jesus, that would keep him up at night

if he wasn't in his stand-in.

What do you mean we don't have a second team helmet like that?

That should have just come from the shop.

Pedro, what you need to know is what would happen is

the whole thing with the helmet,

if Jason was doing that, he would go to Bloom's assistant

and then Amanda, his wife,

she'd be deep in on the cleaning of the helmet.

Jason, there's no way that Jason

can have this hot one as somebody else.

He would hand the problem off to eventually his wife

and Zach and Aline and everybody, there'd be emails.

Guys, we gotta get Jason's helmet.

Situations sorted out before he shows up on set.

Meanwhile, Pedro's a normal, nice guy.

He shows up, he's like, I'll just roll with it, you know?

Yeah.

No, you can play.

I know.

I had three callbacks from Mandalorian

and I think that that would be a issue.

I think Old Mother said this guy's a problem.

You couldn't come to an agreement on that.

That's understandable.

Cideris is on that show, right?

Amy Cideris.

No, yes, she is.

She's the greatest.

There was an incident with Amy Cideris specifically

and that was where she made me laugh so hard

that I spat into the helmet.

Helmet, helmet.

And that was a moment where I came

into a clear understanding of the close proximity

that I had to my own,

to the things that are in my mouth when saliva

and it's, you know, or like lunch or breakfast.

She's the best.

She's the best.

I love her.

But listen, I wanna talk about your new movie too.

It's, what's it called?

Strange Way of Life?

Is that what it is?

Strange Way of Life.

Strange Way of Life.

It's Taranya Fordumadevita.

And it's a 30 minute film.

That's it?

It's just one film?

It's a 30 minute short,

written and directed by Pedro Almodovar

starring Ethan Hawke.

And it's gay cowboys who travel across the desert

to find each other 25 years apart.

Former lovers and one travels across the desert

to see him again and is shot in the same places

that Sergio Leone was shooting his spaghetti westerns

in that southern region of Spain.

Oh wow, that's cool.

On the same sets.

That's cool.

And Saint Laurent does the costumes.

Wow.

And it's me and Ethan.

And I'd never worked with Ethan before.

I actually listened to him on your podcast.

Wasn't he great?

He's awesome.

Isn't he?

He's so cool.

I love him.

I get to hear you guys get to know him

because I spent the summer with him

and I saw movies that he was in

starting with like The Explorers

and then Dead Poets Society and Reality Bites

and then he published a book

and then he was on Broadway

and then he was off Broadway

and then he directed off Broadway

and then he was like working with friends

and then we were doing this thing with Pedro Almodovar

whose movies I saw growing up.

I was kind of a family favorite

and it just meant a lot in all earnestness.

It was this moment of sort of being listened to

and taken seriously by these two influences

was a very surreal experience for me

because he was my scene partner

and this was our director

and they wanted to be collaborative

and they wanted to, I don't know,

all get on the same page at the same level

and I felt so influenced by both of them

in my upbringing that,

as corny as it may sound,

I'm like these guys care what I think.

Yeah.

But you know why, Pedro?

You know why?

I mean this too.

You earned that seat there

because you're really good at what you do.

Yeah.

And I hope you see what we all see

which is an incredible talent, incredible artist

and you deserve to be there

and that's why you were there

in that scene with those guys.

Thanks for that.

I love that.

Where do we get to see,

where's it gonna come out?

It's gonna premiere at Cannes.

Gross.

He did a previous short with-

Jesus, that was such a nice story

and then you fucking ruined it with your Cannes bullshit.

I've never been.

Did you get to keep any of the,

are you gonna go?

I'm gonna try to go.

I wanna go really badly.

He did a previous short with Tilda Swinton.

So this is the second of what could be

three installments of these 30 minute

English language forays

because everything he's ever done before

is in his native language.

Pedro, I'll mode the volume.

I'm tech of Vale, just FYI.

I'm just putting it out there in the universe.

Did you get to keep any of the St. Laurent cowboy stuff?

I bet it's some pretty cool stuff, no?

They don't give me nothing.

I asked for the green jacket.

If you wanna look up the trailer right now,

you see me in this kind of like bright green,

Jimmy Stewart, Denim cowboy.

No, they wanna hold onto it for possible reshoots.

Jacket.

No, they just gave me a flat no.

Jason wants to know, was it moldy?

Was the jacket moldy?

Did he smell anything?

Did it breathe right out there?

Cause I imagine it was pretty hot.

It didn't have a wicking quality.

And the last thing I want you to do, Paige,

if only if you want to, on SNL,

you were so fucking funny on the center of your life.

Can you just do a little bit of the voice?

Which one?

Can you just do a little bit?

I don't know what you're talking about.

I don't know what you're talking about.

It's so fucking...

Stop asking me.

I'm not comfortable with that.

I've been putting on an accent this whole time

and now I finally got to talk to myself.

I could listen to that nine in a row.

Anyways, we're having a lot of fun talking to you guys.

I like talking to you guys.

Pedro, thank you for joining us, my friend.

Pedro, we love you very much.

You are a true talent and a friend.

You honestly, you're such a fan,

such a huge fan, man.

You're so good at what you do.

Yeah, keep going, my friend.

I really love talking to you guys.

Bye, Pedro, we love you.

Have a great rest of your day.

I'm just gonna take the headphones off

cause I have no idea what is the press.

Just take them off and walk away.

Slam the iPad.

Yep.

All right, bye, buddy.

Bye, bye, bye.

Man, he is great.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm such a massive fan of The Last of Us.

Did you guys watch it?

I haven't yet.

Well, did you ever play the game?

I did not play the game.

No.

Yeah, it's so good.

I saw the prequel, the first of us.

Did you not see?

He was...

It's so dumb.

Of course it's dumb.

What do you want from me?

This is a dad, this is a great clean dad joke.

It's a clean joke.

Do you need a headset to play that game?

Is that one of those where you got a...

You can.

Will's headset.

Don't, what do you mean Will's?

Millions of people enjoy themselves.

But wait, but isn't it amazing that like,

he started out so like, he's been doing this forever.

So when Game of Thrones hit and when he was just like,

Wonder Woman, like all these big things that he's done,

it kind of came out of what seemingly always,

it's the same story all the time,

that it seemingly came out of nowhere,

but he's been doing this forever.

That's what I meant.

That was my first, yeah.

Yeah, so that's why he's like down to earth and normal

because he's like, you guys are making all the hype.

I'm not making all the hype, I'm just working, you know?

I saw him in an interview,

one of the things where they had him strapped

to a lie detector and he's just like so comfortable.

An interview, I guess it was more like an interview.

Anyway, whatever it was, he was at a police station

and he was strapped to a lie detector.

No, but he was doing it and he was just like,

and I was marveling at how comfortable he is

in his own skin and how relaxed and normal he is.

And that's why I asked that question.

It's like, you can tell he's the guy who's paid his dues

and he's been doing it for a long time.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And he's not like, oh my God, this is also crazy.

Yeah, he's the greatest.

Jason, you gotta run, where are you heading to

and are you gonna, where are you going right now?

I get, you know, some charity thing.

Are you saving some kids?

Yeah, I gotta go feed a bunch of folks.

Are you gonna drive or are you gonna ride your?

No, he's gonna drive

and then he's gonna probably ship.

Isaac.

Oh, it was bike.

I was gonna say bike.

Oh, bike, bike.

I love you, Sean.

Have a great show tonight.

You start.

All right, I love you too.

Smart.

What?

Smart.

What?

SmartLess is 100% organic and artisanly handcrafted

by Michael Grant Terry, Rob Armjärv and Bennett Barberco.

SmartLess.

Our next episode will be out in a week

wherever you listen to podcasts

or you can listen to it right now early on Amazon Music

or early and add free by subscribing to Wondery Plus

in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app.

Machine-generated transcript that may contain inaccuracies.

Pull over and turn the car off— it’s “the ultimate Daddy” a.k.a. Pedro Pascal, stuck in an empty interrogation room with us. This week includes a Pinochet quiz, a Xerox industrial commercial, numerous lavender helmet wipes, and just a whole lotta’ rizz. Come join our cult; it’s SmartLess.




Please support us by supporting our sponsors.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.