Pedro Pascal Names the One Zombie Movie He Thinks Is a Masterpiece

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Pedro Pascal recently told Variety that while there are a lot of zombie movies and shows, he believes one film in particular revitalized the genre.

Pascal believes the 2002 film 28 Days Later was pivotal in changing the zombie genre. While the creatures in the movie are infected with a virus that causes rage, rather than being classic undead, he says it fundamentally altered how people discussed these types of stories. He considers the film a masterpiece, and although he doesn’t recall it being a massive success when it was released, it had a huge personal impact on him.

I remember watching 28 Days Later – it was written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle – and being genuinely scared. It follows a courier, played by Cillian Murphy, who wakes up after being in a coma to find London completely empty and everything fallen apart. The fear really stuck with me, it felt like it seeped into my bones. I even had some pretty vivid dreams after seeing it, but they weren’t bad nightmares, more like intense, adventurous ones.

Pascal was really impressed with the movie’s ability to be both thrilling and intellectually engaging. He was so fascinated by it that he joked he could dedicate an entire podcast episode to discussing it. What he loved most was seeing how much of an impact it had on later works, including shows like The Walking Dead and many large-scale remakes.

The actor admitted he started to feel exhausted and uninspired after doing too many similar projects. He’d almost lost his passion for the genre, but working on HBO’s The Last of Us reminded him why he enjoyed it in the first place.

He just finished the second season of The Last of Us, which aired in mid-2025, and is now preparing for the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu in theaters on May 22nd. This will be the first time his Star Wars character has been the main focus of a film.

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2026-01-29 20:45