Pedro Pascal has signed on to star in director Todd Haynes’ upcoming drama De Noche, about a cop (Pascal) who has a passionate and unexpected love affair with a younger boarding school teacher (Danny Ramirez) in Los Angeles in the 1930s. After becoming a target of the city’s corrupt political machine, they are forced to flee to Mexico.
“This story, with Pedro Pascal and Danny Ramirez in the two leads, arises out of an era — all too relevant to our own — of domestic corruption, racial exploitation and global terror,” Todd Haynes said (per Variety). “But it emerges as a testament to the inexplicable powers of desire and love to survive and overcome even the most crippling of human barriers.”
Originally, Pascal’s role was going to be played by Joaquin Phoenix, who brought the project to production studio Killer Films in the first place and who developed it alongside Haynes and Jon Raymond. However, Phoenix pulled out of the movie shortly before shooting was set to begin in 2024, leaving the rest of the cast and crew in a lurch. Producer Christine Vachon called the situation “a nightmare.” Having a big name like Phoenix involved was a big part of the reason the movie was able to get off the ground at all, and it wasn’t certain if there was a path forward without him.
Pascal makes a great substitute. There was buzz about him potentially replacing Phoenix in August of last year, but it was unclear whether it would work with his schedule, given that Pascal usually keeps a very packed calendar. This year alone, he’s appearing in two huge tentpole movies: The Mandalorian and Grogu in May and Avengers: Doomsday in December. But he’s also long made room for smaller, more intimate projects. In 2025, he appeared in smaller movies like Materialists and Eddington (alongside Phoenix, funnily enough) as well as huge movies like The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Somehow, he manages to do it all.
This Isn’t the First Time Joaquin Phoenix Has Gotten Cold Feet at the Last Minute
Joaquin Phoenix has developed a reputation for pulling out of productions shortly before they begin, or trying to. After the situation with De Noche broke, actor James McAvoy shared that Phoenix was originally going to play the lead role in M. Night Shyamalan’s film Split but “ditched it two weeks before the shooting,” which is when McAvoy was called in. Phoenix also threatened to quit Ridley Scott’s historical epic Napoleon, although he ultimately stuck with that one long enough to mildly disappoint audiences everywhere.
As for De Noche, there’s no release date set, but at least things are moving forward. French indie outfit MK2 Films, which is also the studio behind current Best Picture nominee Sentimental Value, stepped up to provide financing as well as handle international sales. Todd Haynes has a long history of turning out high-end dramas, many of them with queer themes, like Velvet Underground, Far From Heaven, and Carol. With talent like Pascal now on board, presumably to stay, De Noche looks like one to watch.
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