Pop Culture Advent 2023: Door 1

WELL. That was quite the year wasn’t it? I don’t know where to quite begin. I DO know I’m still trying to detangle (in the best way!) the cultural phenomenon that was Barbenheimer. And I’m sad that I don’t have the creative skill to Wes Anderson my life in an amusing Tik Tok.

Anyhoo, let’s get cracking, there’s pop culture to over analyse. Behind DOOR ONE is….

Pedro Pascal

Ellie’s protector, Baby Yoda’s pal, and Internet Daddy, Pedro Pascal has had quite the year.

The Chilean-American actor was already familiar to many through his work on The Mandalorian, and before that, he’s been steadily building a CV with credits on Buffy, Narcos, Law & Order, and most notably as Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones.

But his career has been elevated this year due to his role as Joel in HBO’s The Last of Us.

The weekly angst-fest that was TLOS was one of the televisual events of the year, (I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt they had their emotions put through a cheese grater from Episode 3 alone), but since that role, Pascal has been nominated for an Emmy, and named as Time magazine’s Top 100 influential people.

Pascal also did what any person in the Pop Culture-zeitgeist does and hosted SNL.

There’s a number of fun sketches from that night, but worth noting is:

Mario Kart

Protective Mom (A Character he also reprised during Bad Bunny’s episode in October)

And my own personal favourite, Fancam Assembly

Pascal also turned up at The Oscars….

…..The Met Gala….

….and this delightful bakery in Glasgow baked him on a cookie.

(Unsurprisingly they’re currently sold out, but you can contact the bakery, Rude Cookies, here)

Aaaaaand Pascal rounded the year off by co-starring with Ethan Hawke in Pedro Almodóvar’s short film, A Strange Way of Life. Telling the tale of two cowboys who reunite after twenty five years, but have unfinished business. If you’re in the UK, you can rent the film from MUBI.

Cheers Pedro for a great 2023!