Matt Damon'S Star-Spotting Sixth Sense: How Pedro Pascal Shone Even In A Cut Role

Spotting a Star Before the World Knew

Pedro Pascal has the kind of talent that leaves a mark, even when he's barely on screen. Need proof? Just ask Matt Damon. During a chat on The Howard Stern Show, Damon shared his first impression of Pascal while filming the 2011 sci-fi romance 'The Adjustment Bureau.'

Damon recounted, "I’ve done cameos and things, and it’s a very, very, very difficult thing to do." While reflecting on being a day player in films, Damon remembered a particular moment that stood out. "I did a movie with Emily Blunt called The Adjustment Bureau, and we were shooting a scene in New York... there was this throwaway part of a maitre’d... and it got cut out of the movie," he said.

Unforgettable Talent

Despite the scene being cut, Pascal made an impression that neither Damon nor his co-star Emily Blunt could ignore. "But I remember Emily and I went and sat down and this maitre’d walked away, and they cut, and we both looked at each other, and Em goes, ‘That guy’s really f---ing good,’” Damon continued. "And I said, ‘Yeah, what the f---? That guy was really good. There was something just incredibly interesting, but real and natural…' And years later, I found out it was Pedro Pascal."

“Just his presence, we both recognized it immediately. And it was Pedro.”

In 'The Adjustment Bureau,' Damon plays David Norris, a young congressman who falls for a ballerina, played by Blunt, while facing mysterious forces that aim to keep them apart.

Reflecting on Early Roles

The conversation with Stern also brought up Damon's own early career experiences. Stern recalled Damon's one-liner in the 1988 rom-com 'Mystic Pizza,' a role he snagged over Ben Affleck.

Stern asked, "When you got that one line in Mystic Pizza... is it harder in a sense to deliver one line rather than a monologue?" Damon reflected on the experience with enthusiasm, "I remember that as being... It was three nights of shooting... and I just remember being so excited, feeling like I can’t believe that I’m here."

Damon and Affleck were on the show to promote their new Netflix movie 'The Rip,' but it was these nostalgic moments that truly captured the audience's imagination. Catch more celebrity updates and entertainment news with our EW Dispatch newsletter.