In the already stellar cast of If Beale Street Could Talk, there are several strong cameo and guest appearances from talented actors, including Brian Tyree Henry, Dave Franco, and Finn Wittrock — a very charming Diego Luna also makes a brief but impactful appearance in a couple of scenes. But did you know this film is also a vehicle for an excellent uncredited appearance from one of today’s biggest stars, Pedro Pascal?
Yes, it does seem like the very talented Pascal is everywhere these days. And of course, we're still crying after the season finale of The Last of Us. But it is a delightful surprise to see him appear in If Beale Street Could Talk, especially in what could be considered a pretty sneaky role (although rest assured, the fans are already all over this information — just check TikTok).
What Is 'If Beale Street Could Talk' About?
Released in 2018, If Beale Street Could Talk follows a young Black couple in 1970s New York. Tish Rivers (KiKi Layne) and Fonny Hunt (Stephan James) have been friends their whole lives, and after beginning a romantic relationship, decide to move in together. After a scuffle with a racist police officer, Fonny is falsely accused of rape and sent to jail. Soon after, Tish learns she is pregnant, and she has to rely on the support of her family while also doing all she can to try to prove Fonny's innocence. Unfortunately, the police officer's false testimony is bolstered when the victim, Victoria (Emily Rios), misidentifies Fonny in a lineup. The family tries to reach Victoria but learns she's returned to Puerto Rico. Tish's mother, Sharon (played by a stellar Regina King, who went on to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role), travels there in an attempt to convince Victoria that her testimony is incorrect. But first, she has to go through Pietro Alvarez, played by Pascal.
As projects go, this was an incredible one for all the creators and performers to lend their talents to, even uncredited. Based on a book of the same name by visionary James Baldwin, the romance/drama film was director Barry Jenkins' follow-up to his Oscar winner, Moonlight, and it received extensive awards and acclaim of its own. Many of the most stalwart film fans will attest to watching entire movies for just a glimpse of their favorite performer, sometimes slogging through an entire filmography to be a completionist. Some people take a Letterboxd list as a challenge. Thankfully, this film is just one of many high points in Pascal's incredible career.
Why Pedro Pascal's Scene Is So Important
Although Pascal's scene comes very late in the film, almost at the end, and only lasts roughly three and a half minutes, it's still a pivotal point in the story and a highly impactful part for Pascal to play. It's also a unique scene in that neither of the main characters is present, giving King a chance to really shine opposite Pascal, and it's an extremely grounded and present moment when much of the rest of the tale is seen through Tish's eyes in dreamlike imagery.
Pascal does several incredible things in these three and a half minutes. His performance is tied to what strong scenes should be and accomplish. Although films are, of course, comprised of a series of scenes connected by plot, many screenwriters would say that each scene should be like a film in miniature. A scene should tell its own story, with a beginning, middle, and end, and should have conflict that ties to the larger themes of the movie. Actors working in these scenes should bring that rise and fall, that conflict and resolution, to their performances. And that's exactly what Pascal does here.
Pedro Pascal Gives This Small Role His Absolute All
There are plenty of actors who might have seen this as a throwaway scene, a day to phone it in, but Pascal understands the value of what this character brings to the story, and he takes the audience on an emotional journey. He enters the scene with aloof confidence, keeping King at arm's length, speaking Spanish and barely meeting her gaze, turning away often to blow cigarette smoke. He sits leaning away from her. He's defensive, trying maybe a little too hard to seem disinterested.
When Sharon tells him who she is and mentions Victoria's name, there is a moment of more direct connection, and Pietro appears slightly thrown. He maintains their eye contact better now, even while claiming to not know what she's talking about. When she presses him, he gets defensive but then shifts his focus, more concerned for Victoria's well-being. There's even a bit of sexual tension as he looks Sharon up and down, unwilling to believe she's a mother.
Then Pietro changes focus again, asking Sharon to look at where they are and who he is — really, it's implied, he's nobody. He's less confident. He can't help her, he says, but when she insists, he examines a family photo Sharon presents. He gets extremely quiet, understanding the pain he and Sharon have in common before finally, wordlessly, agreeing to help her.
Barry Jenkins Praises Pascal's Performance
It's a masterful scene, both in writing and performance. For conflict, the sequence contains not only the push and pull of one character needing something and another refusing. There's the struggle for power between them, as Jenkins points out in the director's commentary for the film. The dynamic leans toward Pietro in the beginning, with Sharon entering out of her depth and needing his help. It's also, Jenkins says, about the trauma they both experience, as well as Victoria and Fonny's trauma.
And the range that Pascal displays here is truly incredible. In the commentary track, Jenkins says of Pascal's performance, "It felt like we need someone who, again, is in the film for a very short period of time, but could, in the course of this scene, go through these waves where you see this connection start to build. And Pedro, who is just one of the biggest fans of James Baldwin in the world, just truly understood what was necessary in this sequence."
Even small roles like this can be vehicles to demonstrate the extent of an actor's talent. Take Judd Hirsch’s Oscar-nominated performance in The Fabelmans as another example. It was brief but emotional, and powerful enough to shift the story dramatically. This is just one moment in Pascal's career that shows he's one of the strongest and most thoughtful actors working today.