Pedro Pascal was advised to tone down the Mid-Atlantic accent for his upcoming role as the stretchy Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards in Fantastic Four: First Steps.
In a video interview with Vanity Fair, he reflected on his past and current work and talked about working with a dialect coach for the Marvel movie, which is set to premiere on July 25th.
Kicking off phase six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Fantastic Four find themselves defending their multiverse version of Earth from a planet-devouring Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer.
The so-called “First Family of Marvel” also cast Vanessa Kirby, who plays Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, aka Human Torch, and the super strong Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing.
In the interview, Pascal talked about the process of stepping into the Fantastic Four world set in a retro-futuristic 1960s:
“The theater of that is something to step into. I don’t know if I’d do it well, but they had to keep on pulling me back from a very Mid-Atlantic early sixties kind of like talk."
"They had a dialect coach that was sort of gonna help us into that kind of dialect. And I took to it so well … They were like, ‘Uh, talk more like yourself.’”
Reed Richards in the comics was originally born in Central City, California, so maybe production had a point in sticking to Pascal’s usual accent. But the actor did have difficulty holding back the '60s accent as the Fantastic Four is set to introduce Marvel fans to a whole new and exciting universe, preluding the Avengers: Doomsday saga.
Pascal elaborated on his production note:
“I had a hard time doing that, ‘cause I was so into the era, which for me was something to step into so that it’s different than what we’ve seen before. I mean, I think that what they’ve created is something that we haven’t seen.”
You can watch Pascal's explanation in the video below.
- YouTube youtu.be
Born in Santiago, Chile, Pascal was raised in Texas and California and is fluent in both Spanish and English. He has done accent work ranging from a subdued and gravelly voice for Din Djarin in Disney Plus’ The Mandalorian to an “imperial accent” with a mix of British and American tones as General Acacius in Gladiator II to a Latin American accent as Javier Peña in Netflix’s Narcos.
Pascal even showed off his hilarious Southern California accent in a satire sketch for Saturday Night Live:
- YouTube Saturday Night Live/YouTube
Regardless of production notes were received, fans are looking forward to seeing Pascal’s depiction as the leader of the Fantastic Four. Early projections are positive for a big box office opening between $125 to $155 million.
Fans had some thoughts about Pascal's controversial accent note:
In the Vanity Fair interview, Pascal also discussed his past roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Game of Thrones, and The Materialists. In 2024, Pascal won Best Actor in a Drama TV Series for his work as Joel Miller in HBO’s The Last of Us.
Referring to his role as Joel Miller, you can watch the whole Vanity Fair interview below.
- YouTube youtu.be
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