We all know by now just how fickle social media can be. It’s a world where memes come and go in an instant, major events are boiled down to 280-character summaries, and sometimes, one day’s fave is amassing an army of haters the next. The latter has been the recent fate of new Marvel leading man and Hollywood hot commodity, Pedro Pascal.
Mr. Pascal isn’t new to living the life of an actor–with nearly 30 years of credits under his belt spanning across stage and screen, he’s certainly put in the time to be considered one of cinema’s seasoned pros. That said, the past few years have really ramped up the spotlight that’s shining on him, including his leading role in The Mandalorian and his emotional performance as Joel Miller in The Last of Us. However, his role as scientific powerhouse Reed Richards in Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps this summer has unlocked yet a new level of celebrity–and a new wave of backlash from netizen naysayers.
In his cover story spotlight for the July/August issue of Vanity Fair this year, Pascal mentioned that he’s more acutely aware of the critique around his role as Mr. Fantastic than any other role he’s played, with comics fans citing everything from his age to his facial hair as reasons that he wasn’t the right choice to play the part. While his previous roles haven’t been without their critics, it seems like the public is becoming more polarized in their opinions of him.
Pete Davidson speaks out against volatile social media opinions about Pedro Pascal
During his guest spot on episode #612 of Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend, Pete Davidson called out how quickly social media turned on Pedro Pascal as he’s taken on more leading roles in big-budget franchises. While discussing Hollywood’s tendency to build celebrities up just to tear them down, Davidson pointed to Pascal as an example of this pattern that we’re seeing unfold in real time.
“Two years ago, you know, he’s a hardworking, great actor…blows up so f*****g hard, everyone’s like ‘Daddy, daddy, yeah, daddy, daddy!’ Then a year later, he’s like in everything now because he’s hot and big and everyone’s like, ‘Go the f**k away, dude.'”
Davidson went on to acknowledge the jarring spot that Pascal’s career is in at the moment, having to adjust to the fact that even grabbing a cup of coffee can be an ordeal when you’re a household name.
His advice to the public is simple: “You got to give someone time to adjust to that new level of fame.”
With the release of the long-awaited trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu, Pascal isn’t likely to see his star power dimming any time soon. Let’s hope that he’ll continue to find this kind of support as he enjoys the spoils of decades of hard work.