Pedro Pascal Steps In After Joaquin Phoenix Exit and Keeps LGBTQ Film ‘De Noche’ Latino-Led

Pedro Pascal has built a career on arriving at complicated moments and making them feel intentional. His latest role does exactly that. After months of uncertainty, false starts, and industry speculation, Todd Haynes’ long delayed film De Noche is officially moving forward again, with Pascal at its center and with renewed financial backing from the French company MK2 Films.

The project, which stalled in 2024 after Joaquin Phoenix exited days before filming was scheduled to begin, is now set to start production in March, according to Variety. What once seemed like a near collapse has reemerged as one of the most closely watched auteur projects of the year, anchored by one of the most visible Latino actors working in Hollywood today.

For Pascal, whose Chilean roots and immigrant background remain central to his public identity, the role represents another step in a career defined by range and cultural significance.

A Noir Romance Set in a Corrupt Los Angeles

De Noche is described as a subversive love story inspired by classic film noir, set in a 1930s Los Angeles shaped by political corruption, racial exploitation, and the looming presence of war.

In the film, Pascal plays a hardened and disenchanted detective. Danny Ramirez portrays his younger lover, a boarding school teacher whose life unfolds far from police precincts and backroom deals. Their relationship begins unexpectedly and intensifies under pressure, placing both men in the crosshairs of the city’s political machinery.

As their connection deepens, survival becomes the priority. The pair flee to Mexico, searching for freedom and safety in a landscape shaped by exile and reinvention, themes that quietly echo Pascal’s own family history.

The screenplay was written by Haynes alongside longtime collaborator Jon Raymond. It marks the first time Haynes has directed Pascal, bringing together a filmmaker known for emotional precision with an actor known for emotional restraint.

“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,” Haynes told Variety in an official statement. “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.”

Pedro Pascal’s Career and Latino Visibility

Pascal’s presence in the film carries a lot of cultural weight. Born in Chile and raised in the United States after his family fled political persecution, he has spoken frequently about growing up between languages, identities, and expectations.

In recent years, he has moved fluidly between blockbuster franchises and independent cinema. He headlines Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Avengers: Doomsday while also appearing in A24 productions such as Materialists and Eddington. He previously starred in Pedro Almodóvar’s queer Western A Strange Way of Life alongside Ethan Hawke, signaling his long standing commitment to complex storytelling.

In an industry where Latino actors are often confined to narrow archetypes, Pascal has carved out space for characters defined by interiority rather than stereotype. His role in De Noche continues that trajectory, positioning a Latino actor at the center of a romantic noir rooted in vulnerability, danger, and emotional risk.

Danny Ramirez, who reunites with Pascal after The Last of Us and their shared involvement in Marvel projects, brings his own Latino background into the narrative. Together, their casting reinforces the quiet normalization of Latino actors inhabiting roles rarely written with them in mind.

The Collapse After Joaquin Phoenix’s Exit

Before its revival, De Noche became known for reasons unrelated to storytelling.

In September 2024, with sets constructed and distribution secured, Joaquin Phoenix abruptly left the project days before filming was scheduled to begin in Guadalajara. The decision halted production immediately and left hundreds of crew members without work.

Christine Vachon, one of the film’s producers and a longtime Haynes collaborator, later described the situation as devastating.

“Lo más trágico para mí es que Todd tiene 62 años. Hay un número finito de películas que podrá hacer en su vida,” she said during a talk at the San Sebastián Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “La idea de que su tiempo fue desperdiciado y de que una película no sea el resultado de esos años de trabajo cercano con Joaquin, esa es la verdadera tragedia. Como comunidad cultural, perdimos la oportunidad de tener otra película de Todd Haynes. Eso es simplemente criminal.”

Translated, Vachon expressed frustration that years of creative collaboration had been lost and that the cultural community had been denied another Haynes film.

Phoenix offered little explanation. During the Venice Film Festival presentation of Joker: Folie à Deux, he said he did not feel comfortable sharing his perspective without the other creatives present.

A source close to production later told Variety that Phoenix had gotten “cold feet” over starring in the film.

For months, the project appeared frozen.

Rebuilding With New Support and Renewed Confidence

The revival of De Noche became possible through financial backing from MK2 Films, the influential French company behind projects such as Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent.

MK2 is handling international sales, while domestic rights are being co represented with Cinetic Media. Production is led by Vachon and Pamela Koffler of Killer Films, with Paloma Negra Films, Jonathan Montepare, and Steven Demmler also involved.

Months after the collapse, Haynes had suggested that the film might return “in another form.”

“What happened this summer was tough,” he said. “But the film itself and the script itself may resurrect in a different form someday.”

That prediction has now materialized.

After Joaquin Phoenix hastily exited Todd Haynes’ next film, potentially squashing its chances to be made, Pedro Pascal has officially stepped into the lead role’s shoes.

Will you be watching Pascal’s latest project?