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The internet can’t get enough of two Star Wars franchise alums, Pedro Pascal and Oscar Isaac. The pair both carried the banner for the series separately, with Pascal on television and Isaac on the film side. Despite their characters being so far apart in time and space in that fictional universe, though, the pair are extremely close friends in real life.

Their careers have brought them to very different places, over the years, but to similar destinations. Pascal worked his way up the primetime drama ladder before breaking out in film, while Isaac spent much of his time grinding in indie dramas. But they always stay in touch, and even though they rarely appear on screen together, they can barely get through interviews without mentioning each other.

Oscar Isaac and Pedro Pascal have been friends for ages

The Card Counter actor met his pal from The Last of Us way back in 2005. They shared the stage in a theater production called Beauty of the Father. They had an instant rapport from the moment they met. They crossed that threshold into lifelong friendship when they got serious, though, and bonded over their shared issues being typecast due to their latino heritage.

Those serious talks punctuated a fun atmosphere working on stage together. Pascal explained what it was like working live crowds together in an  interview with Wired.

“He played a ghost, which meant that the living characters in the story could not see him. I had to do my scenes, and he would physically be there, but because my character couldn’t see him, he could f**k with me, all in front of live audiences, as much as he wanted, trying to get me to crack up or forget my lines.”

Isaac thinks of Pascal as ‘family’ these days

The internet’s favorite acting pals appeared together in the 2019 action-thriller Triple Frontier. Otherwise, their friendship is so notable because they simply like hanging out, and constantly talk about each other in interviews. It’s the rare example of a pairing fans clamor for on screen, mainly because of how well-liked the two are together when they’re just goofing around.

It’s such a close friendship, that a recent Esquire piece went to Isaac for background on their primary subject, Pascal.

“He’s my family,” Isaac said, explaining how it feels to watch the Mandalorian star have so much success lately. “And I don’t have a f**king clue about the fame part of it—I just see somebody who’s finally really getting the recognition that he’s due.”

Like Pascal, Isaac enjoys mixing up family-friendly franchise work with more serious projects

Pascal is still working on The Mandalorian, and may appear in a film related to that series. But now that the third Star Wars trilogy has long-since wrapped up, Isaac has been far away from the Star Wars universe that his old friend now headlines.

But that hasn’t kept him away from franchise work, according to IMDb. In between those big, weighty roles like A Most Violent Year, he’s still carving out a space in the world of massive franchises. He led Marvel’s Moon Knight series for Disney Plus.

He’ll return to Marvel-related work soon, albeit working under Sony this time, in the animated feature Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. He also has another superhero project in development with director Ben Stiller, called The Great Machine. There, he’ll play a superhero turned politician, based on the critically-acclaimed comic book series Ex Machina (not to be confused with the disturbing science fiction film Ex Machina that Isaac also starred in).

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