STACK #155 Sep 2017

CINEMA FEATURE

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Pedro Pascal has been making a big impact on the small screen over the last couple of years, with an eye-catching turn in Narcos , and an eye-gouging performance as Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones . And now the talented Chilean-born American actor is making an impact on the big screen in the pivotal role of Statesman’s Agent Whiskey in Kingsman: The Golden Circle . We spoke to Pascal about working with whips, the influence of Burt Reynolds on the role, and trying not to lose his balance… WHISKEY to GO GO

Tell us about Agent Whiskey. Agent Whiskey is an agent in the Statesman agency, which is the US equivalent of Kingsman. The way Kingsman exists in the first movie, as a heightened cultural representation, is exactly the same for Statesman. They’re under the guise of a tailor shop; we’re under the guise of a distillery. Our agent names are based on liquors. I’mWhiskey, Channing Tatum is Tequila, Jeff Bridges is Champ for champagne, and Halle Berry is Ginger Ale. We’re cowboys. Do the names indicate characteristics? Should we read anything into your character being calledWhiskey? You can. You absolutely can. He’s definitely a bit dark. He’s a bit dangerous.

working on it with Matthew for a while. He had seen the first season of Narcos and found that it matched what he was looking for as far as Agent Whiskey was concerned. He started talking to me quite early in the process and we worked a lot on the character, through a process of auditioning, essentially, without really knowing if I would get the part. And I did, and I got to work on everything we had done together.

"Tequila" Channing Tatum

"Ginger Ale" Halle Berry

make me look as cool as a suggestion of Burt Reynolds, then this is a success for me.

There’s a lot of the feel of classic 1970s Burt Reynolds in the role, including the cockiness and the moustache.Whose idea was it to go down the Reynolds route? I think Matthew incorporated it by envisioning me in it. I was up for that in such a huge way. If you

Is he on the rocks?

Did you look at Burt Reynolds movies? Obviously you’re not playing him, but just to get a flavour of his personality. No, I’m not playing Burt Reynolds, but I was watching Burt Reynolds movies before doing this. My favourite was The Longest Yard .

I would take him neat.

How did you get involved? Through Matthew [Vaughn, director]. When I finally got the part it was late in the day, but I was

Burt Reynolds

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SEPTEMBER 2017

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