Pedro Pascal Opens Up About Insecurity While Filming The Materialists

Despite being hailed as the internet’s favorite “zaddy,” Pedro Pascal says he felt anything but confident while filming The Materialists. In a candid interview with vinaty fair, the 50-year-old actor admitted he was physically and emotionally drained during production, calling it “the weakest I’d ever felt.”

Pascal plays a wealthy Manhattan bachelor opposite Dakota Johnson in the romantic comedy, but behind the scenes, he was recovering from a back injury on the set of Gladiator II and a fall at his father’s home in Chile. “It was such a scary, fraudulent thing to feel like I could play somebody who was the catch of Manhattan,” he confessed.

Impostor Syndrome Behind the Charm

Though Pascal has become a pop culture icon thanks to roles in The Last of Us, The Mandalorian, and Game of Thrones, he revealed that public perception doesn’t always align with how he sees himself.

He recalled being in a sling and feeling “overweight” when Chelsea Handler called him sexy at the Critics Choice Awards: “When the camera cut to me, I didn’t think anything could be further from the truth.”

Even so, when the Vanity Fair interviewer told him he looked hot in The Materialists, Pascal responded with visible relief: “You think I’m hot in it? Thank God!”

A Romantic Lead with Real-Life Vulnerability

The Materialists marks Pascal’s first time as a romantic lead, and the experience clearly left a lasting impression. His openness about impostor syndrome, body image, and self-doubt adds a layer of humanity to the actor often idolized online.

Underneath the memes and fan edits is a man still navigating what it means to be seen—and to believe it.