Bella Ramsey wonders if the Internet’s “daddy” nickname for Last of Us co-star Pedro Pascal has worn out its welcome.
At some point after Pascal made his debut as Joel to Ramsey’s Ellie on the HBO hit — and of course, concurrent with his ongoing run as Grogu’s Mandalorian guardian — he was dubbed a “daddy” by the Internet, to a degree that he is frequently asked to weigh in on the nickname on red carpets (worst example here) and in interviews.
Ramsey, in a new Vanity Fair interview, says, “I very much played into it at the beginning, but now I’m worried it’s gone too far.
“I don’t know whether [Pedro]’s still loving it; I need to ask him.” Ramsey adds. “He’s a global phenomenon as he should be, because he’s pretty spectacular.”
Pascal, during a recent Hollywood Reporter roundtable with peers Jeff Bridges, Evan Peters and Kieran Culkin, saw the discussion about their Emmy-worthy craft detoured by an inquiry into his “daddy” persona.
“Yeah, I am having fun with it…,” he said, speculating that the online discourse was born of his parental roles on The Mandalorian and now The Last of Us. (Pascal himself has no children IRL.)
“It seems a little role-related, I think,” he posited. “There was a period where the Mandalorian is very daddy to baby Grogu. Joel is very daddy to Ellie. These are daddy parts. That’s what it is.”
Are you (more than) ready for Pascal’s “daddy” nickname to be retired?
