Cannes 2023; Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke join the list of notable names having worked with Pedro Almodóvar

Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke appearing in a movie together? Though we know the internet’s third for Pascal, those of us who grew up with a young Hawke and his appearances in Reality Bites and Before Sunrise have a similar thirst that young ‘uns have for Mr. Pascal. So imagine an exploding Venn diagram involving Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke with news that their short-film will be screened at Cannes 2023 - directed by none other than Pedro Almodóvar.

Strange Way of Life is the latest film by the acclaimed Spanish director, which brings together the Internet’s daddy and the 90’s heart throb for the western-themed drama as Silva (Pascal) rides a horse across the desert to visit his friend Sheriff Jake (Hawke). They celebrate the meeting, but the next morning, Jake tells him that the reason for his trip is not to go down the memory lane of their friendship. Those lucky to catch screeners ahead of time have noted the very homo-erotic elements of the film, akin to Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, though at a running time of 31 minutes, perhaps not as epic.

It still has already been nominated for the festival’s Queer Palm award, that Cannes Film Festival introduced in 2010 with Gregg Araki the recipient of the very first award, and is scheduled to premiere May 17 at the festival - no doubt with the same fanfare one has come to expect during an Almodóvar festival screening. 

Almodóvar though has been one of cinema’s most respected and heralded foreign film makers, and has used his platform to help break the careers of many a Latin performer (see below for more.) Pascal, in talking about how he ended up being cast in the short film opposite Ethan Hawke, said that he would have done “anything” to work with the celebrated director. 

“It could have been anything that he asked me to do, and I would have done it without question,” Pascal told Insider. “He absolutely opened up an entire world of storytelling, colour, culture, rebellion, and sexuality that was just absolutely intoxicating, dangerous, hilarious, heart breaking, and encompassing the whole spectrum, but with such a signature style.”

So who else has worked with Pedro Almodóvar previously, and has he worked more prolifically with Spanish-language actors given his work as an foreign filmmaker, or has he cast any Hollywood names in his works previously?

Who has worked with Pedro Almodóvar previously?

Antonio Banderas 

Antonio Banderas has been a frequent collaborator with Pedro Almodóvar, appearing in several of his films. They first worked together in "Labyrinth of Passion" (1982) and went on to collaborate in films such as "Matador" (1986), "Law of Desire" (1987), "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" (1988), and "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" (1990). In recent years, they reunited for "The Skin I Live In" (2011) and "Pain and Glory" (2019).

Penélope Cruz 

Penélope Cruz is another prominent actor who has collaborated extensively with Pedro Almodóvar. They first worked together in "Live Flesh" (1997) and continued their partnership in films like "All About My Mother" (1999), "Volver" (2006), for which Cruz received an Academy Award nomination, "Broken Embraces" (2009), and "I'm So Excited!" (2013).

Javier Bardem 

Javier Bardem, a prominent Spanish actor, worked with Pedro Almodóvar in "Live Flesh" (1997), where he delivered a compelling performance. Although they have collaborated on a single film, their partnership resulted in critical acclaim for Bardem's portrayal.

Gael García Bernal 

Gael García Bernal, a Mexican actor, worked with Pedro Almodóvar in "Bad Education" (2004). Bernal's performance as a young aspiring actor navigating complex relationships in the film was highly praised.

Tilda Swinton 

It wasn’t just aspiring Spanish-language performers that benefited from working with Pedro Almodóvar - acclaimed British actress Tilda Swinton was the lead in Pedro Almodóvar's film "The Human Voice" (2020), his first English language film. 

Reviews for the film were positive, earning 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, with Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film four out of five stars, describing it as "a tale of someone isolated, regretful, anxious, unable to tell whether current arrangements are contingent or permanent, retreating into gestures of self-immolating despair