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Pascal Petardi From stopping pucks in Canada to chasing demons in hollywood by Joey Franco
Lately, Pascal Petardi has had an interesting range of roles. The Montreal born actor -known to most Canadian audiences for his role in the award-winning show Rent-A-Goalie- moved to Hollywood just over two years ago, and has been flourishing ever since. he St. Leonard native just wrapped up a role on the much anticipated Angels & Demons, where Ron Howard cast Petardi as an Italian reporter. Before he could turn in his wardrobe on Angels & Demons, he was personally selected by David Mamet for the critically acclaimed and Emmy Nominated Show The Unit. In just over a couple of years in Hollywood, Petardi has found himself in high demand. Amidst all the hustle and bustle of life in LA, Pascal still manages to keep his Italian roots alive. Every Sunday, he has a traditional “Sunday Dinner” replacing his family members with his friends, mostly other actors and comedians from Canada. As well as being an excellent actor, Petardi is quite the culinary expert around the kitchen, just ask any of his friends.
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PI: It must have been nerve-wracking to audition for the much anticipated prequel to The Da Vinci Code. Was Ron Howard present at the audition? PP: Actually, when I auditioned for that, Ron Howard wasn’t there -he was probably shooting Frost Nixon at the time. Janet Hirshenson was there, who as a casting director has cast so many amazing movies, that she’s a bit of a star in her own right. So that was nerve-wracking. I ended up preparing the audition both in Italian and in French , and I ended up getting the role of the Italian reporter.
PI: Did you feel you either nailed the audition or you completely blew it? PP: I didn't know. Here's the thing about casting for movies. They usually cast off film, so they tape the audition. It's different from television where you go in three times to see the director, the producers, and then the network. So they're two completely different processes.
PI: How was the actual production of Angels and Demons? PP: Man, what a production that was. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. They rebuilt the St. Peters Basilica, they rebuilt the Vatican, and they rebuilt Piazza Navone! I’ve never seen such an incredible set in my life. It had like a 200 million dollar budget with about a thousand people just working behind the scenes. It was just unbelievable. They built this thing in a huge park, it would take me 20 minutes to get to the set, and they had a hundred golf carts driving people around. It was unbelievable!
PI: What was it like being around top-notch actors such as Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor? PP: Oh wow! I got to say these people are professional and you understand why they’re where they’re at. When it’s time to be on, they’re on, they do their job. They’re just the ultimate professionals. All of them are just such nice, professional, quiet people. When they’re not on screen, they do their thing and they’re quiet.
PI: From St. Leonard to L.A. you still maintain your tradition by hosting an Italian style “Sunday dinner”, who shows up to these gatherings? PP: Every Sunday, I have a bunch of people come over, whatever actor friends I know from Canada. Every Sunday we get together and I cook and I barbeque for them and I make a spaghettata and cut some salami and sausage and cheese, bread, red wine. It’s really important, because when you’re out here [L.A.], everybody who’s here is here for one reason, that’s just to work; and it could get lonely. You end up sharing camaraderie with these people and you support each other and you understand each other like nobody else can understand you. v
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