Pedro Pascal was so dismayed by the way he looked in Wonder Woman 1984 that he decided never to go clean-shaven again.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps star played villain Maxwell Lord in the DC Comics film released in 2020. In the movie, directed by Patty Jenkins, Pascal is seen without his trademark facial hair.
“I grow such s*** facial hair, but if I were to shave it all off… I really look very [awful]. Strongly disagree with a clean shaven me,” the 50-year-old told LADBible.
“I was so appalled by the way I look in Wonder Woman 1984. I loved the movie, but I was so appalled by the way that I looked that I never have gone back, unless it were completely necessary.”
The Game of Thrones star added that he would’ve shaved for his role as Reed Richards in the Fantastic Four film if he were asked to, but noted that it was a “very collaborative creation for all of our looks in the movie”.
Pascal’s portrayal of Reed Richards with a moustache has sparked a mild backlash from superhero purists who point to the fact that his character traditionally does not have facial hair in the comics.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, the star said: “I’m more aware of [the] disgruntlement around my casting than anything I’ve ever done: ‘He’s too old. He’s not right. He needs to shave.’”
According to Wonder Woman 1984’s costume designer, Lindy Hemming, Pascal’s appearance in the film was partly inspired by Donald Trump’s looks in the 1980s.
“That’s helpful to look at Donald Trump, isn’t it?” Hemming told CBR at the time. “There is something about the period of Donald Trump and being a businessman, isn’t there, of being rather sleazy, a little bit, and a bit goofy [in the] hair and a lot of talk. So that’s why he’s there.”
Jenkins, meanwhile, has suggested that Trump served as just one of a number of inspirations for the character.
“He’s one of them,” Jenkins told Screen Rant. “I mean honestly, the funny thing is he is [an influence], but [...] I don’t want to get political, it’s not about being political.”
Elsewhere, The Fantastic Four: First Steps has opened to mostly positive early reactions from fans. In a three-star review, The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey said that while the set designs are a “space-age dream”, the film jerks around far more than it needs to with dialogue disintegrating too much into “unfunny banter”.
