Pedro Pascal as Alex Serian in Behemoth!. Film still, not a festival photograph. Image: Searchlight Pictures.
Pedro Pascal took his cello everywhere for several weeks before filming. At an October 2 press conference, he called Behemoth! his hardest creative challenge for a role. Even learning to hold the bow had to be compressed into one week.
He plays Alex Serian, a gifted musician who returns to Los Angeles after 20 years away. Writer-director Tony Gilroy’s film follows that homecoming, with Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor and Will Arnett among Pascal’s costars. Its October 2 festival premiere comes ahead of a December 4 U.S. theatrical release.
Learning the instrument was only part of the role
Pascal also recalled practicing Mozart in Vienna, while making sure the music did not distract him from Alex’s story. His preparation had to serve the character as well as the musical scenes.
Alex’s professional life is already established before the homecoming: he is a former child prodigy from a musical family and has worked with an orchestra in Chicago. His return to Los Angeles takes him into recording music for Hollywood films, while unresolved family matters remain part of the story.
Why Gilroy wanted to film an orchestra
Gilroy explained that watching film-score recording sessions helped inspire him. Before a session begins, the musicians can look like strangers doing unrelated things. Once they start playing, they work together immediately, drawing on routines that are already familiar to them.
He was interested in the speed of that change: dozens of individuals responding as one working group. The players’ shared routines interested him as much as their individual abilities. He described how the group returns to that same way of working, session after session.
Music also affects how the film is put together. The story uses flashbacks, and original film compositions accompany different periods of Alex’s adulthood. Alex’s changing circumstances therefore appear alongside the work he does for other movies, rather than being confined to a single concert.
How Pascal worked with Eva Victor and Will Arnett
Pascal said playing Alex did not make him feel like the only central figure on set. He described each scene partner as the most important person in Alex’s experience at that moment. “When Eva was there, it was their movie,” he said. He approached his scenes with Arnett in the same way.
That approach let him respond to different actors while he was there each day. His account is about sharing attention in individual scenes, rather than treating the lead as the only person whose experience matters.
Victor comes to the film after writing, directing and starring in Sorry, Baby. Wilde’s directing credits include Booksmart and Don’t Worry Darling, while Arnett starred in Is This Thing On?. They join Alexa Swinton, Kaya Ralls, Erik Griffin, JoBeth Williams, Margarita Levieva and Hank Azaria in the ensemble.
Behemoth!: music and the ensemble
3 screenshotsGilroy’s return to directing a feature
Behemoth! brings Gilroy back to a story outside Star Wars. His earlier directing work includes Michael Clayton, Duplicity and The Bourne Legacy. He also wrote the first three Bourne films and co-wrote Rogue One: A Star Wars Story before creating Andor.
For Andor, Gilroy has spoken about understanding why every character acts as they do, even when the audience opposes them. He also described thrillers as stories about people under pressure, where an outside problem makes existing difficulties harder to ignore. Those comments come from his work on Andor, not from a claim that Behemoth! repeats that series’ plot.
The new film has its own production team: Gilroy produces with Sanne Wohlenberg and John Gilroy. Wohlenberg’s previous work includes Andor and Chernobyl, and John Gilroy also produced Andor. They are credited as producers here; Tony Gilroy is the film’s writer and director.
When Behemoth! reaches U.S. theaters
Behemoth! was selected as the Centerpiece of the 64th New York Film Festival, with its world premiere scheduled for October 2 at Alice Tully Hall. Gilroy, Pascal, Victor and Arnett took part in the festival’s October 2 discussion. That festival appearance is separate from the film’s general theatrical release.
The U.S. theatrical release is set for December 4, 2026. As of October 3, no U.S. streaming service or streaming date has been confirmed. The film is not already available to watch at home; the announced December date is for cinemas.
See the Behemoth! cast and release details on our film page.
