While he’s spent the last several years working on Disney+’s amazing Star Wars series Andor, Tony Gilroy has also been hatching a return to feature films. It’s been fourteen years since his last film—the ill-fated (but commercially successful) The Bourne Legacy—but now he’s back with Behemoth. Starring Pedro Pascal, Will Arnett, Olivia Wilde, and Eva Victor, the film—which looks to be a throwback to Gilroy’s best work as a director, namely Michael Clayton—has finally gotten a first-look teaser trailer, which you can see embedded above.
Believe it or not, there was a part of Pedro Pascal that did not want to participate in Behemoth!, but something in him felt compelled to embrace the project and surrender to everything the opportunity would offer. In Gilroy’s Behemoth!, Pascal plays the lead role of Alex, a prodigal cellist who returns to Hollywood film scoring after decades of performing symphonic work around the country. Oscar Isaac initially signed on to play the part, but his commitments to Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein kept him from joining Gilroy’s latest cinematic epic. Recently, while speaking with Vanity Fair, Pascal admitted to hesitating about the role, saying there was a part of him that hoped something would go wrong, and he’d need to back out of the deal. However, after giving the project everything he had, he found it to be a rewarding experience he’ll never forget.
“Maybe he’ll be a jerk. Maybe he won’t like me. Maybe there’s an exit somehow,” Pascal contemplated ahead of meeting Gilroy. Then, as if mimicking Pascal’s trepidations, Gilroy said he thought Pascal would be “superficial or flighty,” and possibly unable to meet the demands of the character. Still, Pascal endured, quickly finding himself in Alex and learning to think like him as he prepared for the cameras to roll.
“There was something about this story that I connected to cerebrally and emotionally,” says Pascal. “[Alex is] not a rock star. He’s not even looking for the spotlight. He’s just someone whose first language is music. It’s a love letter to music, to movies. It’s about family, legacy, it’s about healing. I wished for this kind of experience as an actor before I ever got to act,” he added. “And it’s now coming very much later in my life and career. There was an instant kismet.”
Unsurprisingly, Pascal and Gilroy connected within an hour of meeting. It quickly became clear to Gilroy that Pascal was the right actor for the job, and a mutual respect had rapidly taken form. “He’s just really, really smart about how to be a movie star. And—more than anything—eager to enter into a completely honest, no-holds-barred conversation,” Gilroy told Vanity Fair about Pascal. “There’s so much artifice and sometimes monkey business that goes on. To find actors you can talk to directly, you can make them a co-conspirator from the very beginning.”
While talking about his training for the film, Pascal told VF that learning to play the cello like a pro is one of the hardest things ever. “Holding a bow correctly alone takes a day’s lesson, and that’s moving fast,” Pascal told the outlet. Despite handling weapons in projects like Gladiator II and The Last of Us, Pascal says learning the instrument “was 10 times harder than any of those things because of the fucking cello,” playing at being disgusted but not-so-secretly loving it at the same time. “Literally the hardest, hardest, hardest thing I’ve ever had to learn to do. Being in a gladiator arena or hanging from a harness—all that stuff pales in comparison to making it look convincing as you’re playing Tchaikovsky.”
The film’s final roster of composers includes: Michael Abels, Emily Bear, Lukas Frank, Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Henry Jackman, Nami Melumad, Brandon Roberts, and Alan Silvestri. The talent in Behemoth! is immense, with each musician bringing something special to the production.
“Once I had the cello under control, I completely panicked about how I would play the character,” Pascal remembers about the other essential part of his role. “How much of myself do I just bring to this? And do I even know how to do that? Do I have to be on a different planet? Do I have to have special powers? Do there have to be infected monsters? This is just so naked. Am I out of practice?”
I understand why Pascal would feel nervous about getting comfortable in Alex’s skin. For years, with projects like The Fantastic Four: First Steps, HBO’s The Last of Us, and Disney’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, he’s very much part of an ensemble. Concerning Behemoth!, he’s the focus. Although he stars alongside Olivia Wilde, Matthew Lillard, Will Arnett, Eva Victor, Margarita Levieva, Adam Rose, and more, the pressure to bring Alex’s journey to life on the silver screen is intense. I’ve no doubt he’s going to own the role, and I’m looking forward to watching him play the cello, as I’ve always been fascinated by actors who learn instruments for a role. It often takes years to master the art of making music, and yet actors sometimes do it in a matter of months. It’s incredible.