{"id":"1792781734082-culture-headlines","slug":"pedro-pascal-s-year-of-cello-lessons","title":"Pedro Pascal's year of cello lessons","summary":"Pedro Pascal stars as Alex Serian, a former child prodigy cellist, in Tony Gilroy's \"Behemoth!,\" which premiered October 2 as the centerpiece of the New York Film Festival and opens December 4. Pascal spent more than a year taking cello lessons before the film was greenlit, working with cellists Timothy Loo and Charlie Tyler, so his playing in the film looks authentic. Gilroy recruited nine composers—including Michael Giacchino, Michael Abels, James Newton Howard, Alan Silvestri, and Henry Jackman—to each score a different fictional film within the film, creating a soundtrack that spans eras and genres.\n\n\"Behemoth!\" is Gilroy's first directorial feature since 2012's \"The Bourne Legacy,\" and he framed it as an ode to movie composers and the often-hidden labor of session musicians. Pascal saw the role as an opportunity to play a character who \"says more with a bow than he ever does with words\" and learned the cello for authenticity. Variety has positioned the performance as a potential Oscar breakthrough for Pascal, with awards conversation highlighting its significance for Latino representation in the Best Actor category.\n\nPedro Pascal said in a Variety Awards Circuit Podcast interview that making it in Hollywood involves \"eating shit\" and \"taking a lot of shit,\" framing it as part of building character and learning how to treat people.\n\nVariety reported that CAA has signed Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, to represent him in ventures including promotion of his paintings and storytelling projects.\n\nVariety reported that Ramón Llaven's documentary \"Dance of the Souls\" is screening at Mexico's Morelia Film Festival and explores Oaxaca's Muerteadas, a Day of the Dead-related tradition celebrating endings and beginnings.\n\nVariety's news article confirms CAA signed Hunter Biden, with the agency exploring ways for him to promote his art and tell stories across ventures.\n\nVariety reported that IATSE appointed video engineer Jillian Arnold as its first labor ","publishedAt":"2026-10-23T18:55:34.082Z","channel":{"id":"culture","name":"Oncast Music","language":"en"},"show":"Pop Lunch","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: Pedro Pascal said in a Variety Awards Circuit Podcast interview that making it in Hollywood involves \"eating shit\" and \"taking a lot of shit,\" framing it as part of building character and learning how to treat people.\nSource: variety.com (https://x.com/Variety/status/2113704508748673390)\n\nTRUE: Variety reported that CAA has signed Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, to represent him in ventures including promotion of his paintings and storytelling projects.\nSource: variety.com NAMES: CAA = Creative Artists Agency, a major Hollywood talent agency. POST 2113704706665013520: NOCLAIM (https://x.com/Variety/status/2113701185857188118)\n\nTRUE: Variety reported that Ramón Llaven's documentary \"Dance of the Souls\" is screening at Mexico's Morelia Film Festival and explores Oaxaca's Muerteadas, a Day of the Dead-related tradition celebrating endings and beginnings.\nSource: variety.com (https://x.com/Variety/status/2113698023221944375)\n\nTRUE: Variety's news article confirms CAA signed Hunter Biden, with the agency exploring ways for him to promote his art and tell stories across ventures.\nSource: variety.com NAMES: CAA = Creative Artists Agency; Hunter Biden = son of former President Joe Biden, attorney and painter. (https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/hunter-biden-caa-1236929895/)\n\nTRUE: Variety reported that IATSE appointed video engineer Jillian Arnold as its first labor and technology intelligence officer to guide the union on new technologies affecting entertainment workers.\nSource: variety.com NAMES: IATSE = International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union for behind-the-scenes entertainment workers. (https://variety.com/2026/biz/news/iatse-jillian-arnold-first-labor-and-technology-officer-1236929876/)\n\nTRUE: Variety's coverage confirms \"Dance of the Souls\" by Ramón Llaven is screening at Morelia and explores Oaxaca's Muerteadas, a tradition tied to Day of the Dead that marks endings and beginnings.\nSource: variety.com (https://variety.com/2026/film/global/dance-of-the-souls-oaxaca-muerteadas-day-of-the-dead-1236919640/)\n\nTRUE: Variety's Awards Circuit Podcast interview confirms Pedro Pascal learned cello for Tony Gilroy's \"Behemoth!,\" discussed his \"eat shit\" Hollywood comment, and gave a line from \"Avengers: Doomsday.\"\nSource: variety.com (https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/pedro-pascal-behemoth-cello-avengers-doomsday-line-podcast-1236921933/)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Pedro Pascal said in a Variety Awards Circuit Podcast interview that making it in Hollywood involves \"eating shit\" and \"taking a lot of shit,\" framing it as part of building character and learning how to treat people.","sourceName":"variety.com","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/Variety/status/2113704508748673390","claim":"Pedro Pascal says “you have to eat sh*t” to make it in Hollywood: \"That’s part of it. It’s a huge part of it for me, because it forms character, hopefully in the direction of knowing how to treat other people and protecting the value of generosity, because it comes around. There ","author":"@Variety"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Variety reported that CAA has signed Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, to represent him in ventures including promotion of his paintings and storytelling projects.","sourceName":"variety.com NAMES: CAA = Creative Artists Agency, a major Hollywood talent agency. POST 2113704706665013520: NOCLAIM","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/Variety/status/2113701185857188118","claim":"Hunter Biden Signs With CAA https://t.co/vQ9SvidYd4","author":"@Variety"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Variety reported that Ramón Llaven's documentary \"Dance of the Souls\" is screening at Mexico's Morelia Film Festival and explores Oaxaca's Muerteadas, a Day of the Dead-related tradition celebrating endings and beginnings.","sourceName":"variety.com","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/Variety/status/2113698023221944375","claim":"'Dance of the Souls,' Unspooling at Morelia, Explores Oaxaca's Muerteadas, Celebrating the End and the Beginning https://t.co/4XmSAG3sNv","author":"@Variety"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Variety's news article confirms CAA signed Hunter Biden, with the agency exploring ways for him to promote his art and tell stories across ventures.","sourceName":"variety.com NAMES: CAA = Creative Artists Agency; Hunter Biden = son of former President Joe Biden, attorney and painter.","sourceUrl":"https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/hunter-biden-caa-1236929895/","claim":"Hunter Biden Signs With CAA - CAA has signed a deal to represent Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, in a pact that could have the storied talent agency seeking out new ways for the former attorney and current painter to promote himself or tell stories in a varie","author":"Variety"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Variety reported that IATSE appointed video engineer Jillian Arnold as its first labor and technology intelligence officer to guide the union on new technologies affecting entertainment workers.","sourceName":"variety.com NAMES: IATSE = International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union for behind-the-scenes entertainment workers.","sourceUrl":"https://variety.com/2026/biz/news/iatse-jillian-arnold-first-labor-and-technology-officer-1236929876/","claim":"IATSE Names Video Engineer Jillian Arnold First Labor and Technology Officer - The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has become the latest entertainment organization to appoint a technology chief, naming video engineer Jillian Arnold as the union’s first labor ","author":"Variety"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Variety's coverage confirms \"Dance of the Souls\" by Ramón Llaven is screening at Morelia and explores Oaxaca's Muerteadas, a tradition tied to Day of the Dead that marks endings and beginnings.","sourceName":"variety.com","sourceUrl":"https://variety.com/2026/film/global/dance-of-the-souls-oaxaca-muerteadas-day-of-the-dead-1236919640/","claim":"‘Dance of the Souls,’ Unspooling at Morelia, Explores Oaxaca’s Muerteadas, Celebrating the End and the Beginning - In “Dance of the Souls,” Mexican filmmaker Ramón Llaven returns to his native Oaxaca in southern Mexico to observe a unique event held in the local communities of th","author":"Variety"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Variety's Awards Circuit Podcast interview confirms Pedro Pascal learned cello for Tony Gilroy's \"Behemoth!,\" discussed his \"eat shit\" Hollywood comment, and gave a line from \"Avengers: Doomsday.\"","sourceName":"variety.com","sourceUrl":"https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/pedro-pascal-behemoth-cello-avengers-doomsday-line-podcast-1236921933/","claim":"Pedro Pascal on Learning Cello for ‘Behemoth!,’ Why ‘You’ve Got to Eat S—’ to Make It in Hollywood and the ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Line His Character Says - “If you could hear it, you would think I was killing an animal.” That’s Pedro Pascal on his cello playing, more than a year af","author":"Variety"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/Variety/status/2113704508748673390","name":"variety.com","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@Variety"},{"url":"https://x.com/Variety/status/2113701185857188118","name":"variety.com NAMES: CAA = Creative Artists Agency, a major Hollywood talent agency. POST 2113704706665013520: NOCLAIM","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@Variety"},{"url":"https://x.com/Variety/status/2113698023221944375","name":"variety.com","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@Variety"},{"url":"https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/hunter-biden-caa-1236929895/","name":"variety.com NAMES: CAA = Creative Artists Agency; Hunter Biden = son of former President Joe Biden, attorney and painter.","kind":"news","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Variety"},{"url":"https://variety.com/2026/biz/news/iatse-jillian-arnold-first-labor-and-technology-officer-1236929876/","name":"variety.com NAMES: IATSE = International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union for behind-the-scenes entertainment workers.","kind":"news","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Variety"},{"url":"https://variety.com/2026/film/global/dance-of-the-souls-oaxaca-muerteadas-day-of-the-dead-1236919640/","name":"variety.com","kind":"news","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Variety"},{"url":"https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/pedro-pascal-behemoth-cello-avengers-doomsday-line-podcast-1236921933/","name":"variety.com","kind":"news","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Variety"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792781734082-culture-headlines-pedro-pascal-s-year-of-cello-lessons","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/culture","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792781734082-culture-headlines-pedro-pascal-s-year-of-cello-lessons","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1792781734082-culture-headlines-pedro-pascal-s-year-of-cello-lessons and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Claudette","text":"Pedro Pascal learned the cello for a year before his new movie was even greenlit. Not a body double, not CGI. He actually learned it."},{"host":"Laura","text":"That's commitment. Most actors fake it for three weeks and call it method."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"Variety's Awards Circuit Podcast has him talking about it. The film is Behemoth, Tony Gilroy's first feature since The Bourne Legacy, out December 4th."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"His quote about how it sounds when he plays: if you could hear it, you would think I was killing an animal."},{"host":"Laura","text":"That's the most honest celebrity cello review I've ever heard."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"Gilroy brought in nine composers to score fictional movies inside the movie. Giacchino, Silvestri, James Newton Howard. It's a love letter to session musicians."},{"host":"Laura","text":"The people who actually play on every score you've ever loved and never get their name in the credits, basically."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"Pascal also had this to say about making it in Hollywood: quote, you have to eat shit. It's a huge part of it for him because it forms character, teaches you how to treat people."},{"host":"Laura","text":"A man who's been through a million bad auditions, right there with the wisdom."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"The early word on Behemoth: an Oscar vehicle."},{"host":"Laura","text":"For a guy known for The Mandalorian and The Last of Us, playing a cellist might be the pivot nobody saw coming."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"Meanwhile, Hunter Biden has signed with CAA. The talent agency that represents half of Hollywood."},{"host":"Laura","text":"Hunter Biden? The president's son, the painter?"},{"host":"Claudette","text":"Variety reports the deal is about finding ways to promote his art and tell stories across different ventures."},{"host":"Laura","text":"He's been selling paintings for years, so this is CAA saying there's a bigger media play here. A book, a documentary, something."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"No word yet on specific projects, but a Biden at CAA is going to get some attention."},{"host":"Laura","text":"And a documentary to watch for: Dance of the Souls, screening now at Morelia. It's about Oaxaca's Muerteadas, the Day of the Dead tradition."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"Filmmaker Ramón Llaven went back to his hometown in Oaxaca to film it. Variety calls it a celebration of endings and beginnings, which is exactly what Day of the Dead is."},{"host":"Laura","text":"Right around the corner, too. Perfect timing for that film."}]}