Pedro Pascal Pulled a ‘That’s Not True, Ellen’ on Dakota Johnson

In a cover story for Elle, Pascal called out his co-star for not remembering when and how they first met.

By Audra Heinrichs  |  May 15, 2025 | 1:24pm
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Pedro Pascal Pulled a ‘That’s Not True, Ellen’ on Dakota Johnson

This month, Dakota Johnson is Elle‘s latest cover star, and while I typically find these kinds of stories a little lackluster, this particular one is pretty charming. Probably because Pedro Pascal, Johnson’s co-star in the upcoming Celine Song romcom, Materialists, did the interviewing.

Among the topics of conversation were Pascal’s love of Fleetwood Mac: “They’re kind of in a religion category, a little bit, for me.”; Johnson getting rejected from Juilliard: “I think they were like, you don’t stand a chance. But thank you, I appreciate it.”; and their mutual interest in Carl Jung’s psychology. But the most amusing bit came when Pascal asked Johnson about how they first crossed paths.

“According to whose truth?” Johnson responded. “Do you want your story or my story?”

Johnson then launched into an anecdote about meeting Pascal at the Met Gala with Sarah Paulson before Pascal interjects with a correction: “That was the second time.” Ope! I believe that was his very own “Actually, that’s not true, Ellen” moment. Only, instead of denying the interjection as we all saw Ellen do, Johnson quipped back: “OK, the first time was on Raya.” Who said she couldn’t be charming? (Certainly not me!)

“It was the Golden Globes 2014. It wasn’t during the ceremony; it was the after bit, when they usher you out and you go directly into some kind of HBO party,” Pascal remembered. “You knew Sarah and so met me, and you were on your own. They probably wouldn’t give you a plus one. So, we banded together, and we looked after you.”

Meanwhile, Johnson’s memory failed her because she couldn’t recall one detail, let alone the many that Pascal did. Is this the only woman on Earth whom Pascal didn’t make a lasting impression on? Inquiring minds would like to know! Not only did Johnson not remember Pascal, but she also didn’t come off super kind when they met (again) at the Met.

“Well, I loved you the first time and then I didn’t think you were that nice to me at the Met Gala,” Pascal said. “You weren’t mean, but I was building the interaction of having already met you. And I had a moment of feeling a little stupid because it was like, ‘Oh, she doesn’t remember me.’”

Johnson explained that the Met Gala is like “The Twilight Zone” in that she isn’t able to connect with anyone properly, hence her coldness.

“By the way, this is not the first time I’ve had this conversation with you,” she fired back. “This is maybe the 37th time we’ve had this conversation. The 37th time Pedro makes me feel like an absolute piece of shit for not remembering him. My first impression of you was: ‘Wow, this guy is so cool. What a nice man that I’ve definitely never met before.’ And then I loved you very quickly.'”

 
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