‘Elite’ Star Manu Ríos Talks Becoming Friends With ‘Really Funny’ Pedro Pascal While Filming ‘Strange Way of Life’

“Elite” breakout star Manu Ríos will be at the Cannes Film Festival to celebrate the premiere of “Strange Way of Life,” Pedro Almodóvar’s romantic Western short headlined by Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke and co-starring Ríos. At the Met Gala, Ríos shared with Variety that most of his scenes are with both leading men. But during their time off-camera, “I spent a lot of time with Pedro. He’s the best. It was pretty hot because we shot in the desert in the south of Spain, so it was a lot of time without doing anything and just talking.”

He continued, “He’s a really funny guy. It was so much fun.”

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“Strange Way of Life” marks Almodóvar’s second primarily English-language project, after his short “The Human Voice” in 2020.

The Cannes screening will be followed by a conversation with Almodóvar and his filmmaking team.

Almodóvar said in a statement announcing the Cannes premiere that the film’s title “alludes to the famous fado by Amalia Rodrigues, whose lyrics suggest that there is no stranger existence than the one that is lived by turning your back on your own desires.”

During an appearance on Dua Lipa’s podcast in December, Almodóvar described the movie as “queer Western, in the sense that there are two men and they love each other.”

Also on tap for Ríos is the upcoming Spanish-language Netflix series “El Silencio.” He said he hasn’t spoken to Pascal about appearing on “The Mandalorian”… yet.

“I would do it, of course, whenever he wants,” Ríos offered.

And he would love to join the superhero world: “My favorite one I would say is Spider-Man.”

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