Pedro Pascal on Playing a Cellist in ‘Behemoth!’ and Learning the Instrument from Scratch
The actor spent over a year training with cellists before cameras rolled on Tony Gilroy's film, which opens this December.
Pedro Pascal spent more than a year learning to play the cello before Tony Gilroy’s film “Behemoth!” was even greenlit. In an interview on Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, the actor described the preparation as his most intense and ultimately most fulfilling filmmaking experience.
Pascal first met Gilroy in late July 2025 to discuss the lead role of Alex Serian, a cellist returning to Los Angeles after 20 years on the road. Before any contract was signed or the project greenlit, Pascal contacted cellists Timothy Loo and Charlie Tyler and began lessons. When filming started in October across Los Angeles and Vienna, he used every lunch break and weekend to continue training. “I would say it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, because of the cello,” Pascal told Variety. “But it was also the most nurturing and rewarding experience.”
The role required Pascal to look convincing while playing, a task he called “a highly intense lip sync” that left him off-balance throughout the shoot. “If you could hear it, you would think I was killing an animal,” he said of his actual playing. Despite the challenge, he said he misses the character and the production more than any project he has worked on.
Acting Without Words
Alex Serian expresses himself primarily through his cello rather than dialogue, which allowed Pascal to lean into physical performance. “There was so much language in the cello playing that speaks for the character,” he explained. “He’s very obviously someone who expresses himself through his music and fails at so many things in life because he doesn’t know how to speak the language of human relationships.”
Pascal said he connected deeply with the character’s nature. “I’m somebody who talks a lot and uses a lot of words and loves language, but I related to this untethered, nomadic person whose skill beyond playing the cello is adaptability to survive,” he said. The film does not reveal its full story until about 65 to 70 percent through, subverting expectations of a drama centered on classical music.
Working With Gilroy
Pascal praised Gilroy’s directorial approach, describing it as one built on trust. “Tony puts so much faith in the people he hires, and I think that faith is a form of leadership that invites your most devoted work,” Pascal said. The director would occasionally make small suggestions, often framed as requests rather than directives. “The only time he’d come in and make little adjustments, suggestions even, he would always start with, ‘I don’t want to fuck with this. But do you think maybe we can put a smile on this?’ And he didn’t mean my face. He meant internally, energetically.”
Pascal also had praise for his co-star Olivia Wilde, calling her his favorite character on the page. “She was my favorite character on the page, and that we got Olivia was, as Tony would say, the movie gods smiling upon us,” he said.
The Film and Release
Searchlight Pictures’ “Behemoth!” premiered as the centerpiece selection of the New York Film Festival on October 2 and will open to the public on December 4. The film stars Pascal as a cellist navigating personal relationships and the role of music in his life, with the story taking an unexpected turn as it unfolds.
This article was compiled by the Glamorade editorial desk from the official announcements and reporting listed under Sources.
