{"id":6266,"date":"2026-08-20T12:37:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6266"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:37:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:37:18","slug":"christine-vachon-on-why-landing-pedro-pascal-to-replace-joaquin-phoenix-in-de-noche-gave-todd-haynes-the-happy-ending-he-deserved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6266","title":{"rendered":"Christine Vachon on Why Landing Pedro Pascal to Replace Joaquin Phoenix in \u2018De Noche\u2019 Gave Todd Haynes the \u2018Happy Ending\u2019 He Deserved"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\u201cBeing a film producer is like childbirth. You really have to forget the pain or else you wouldn\u2019t keep doing it.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\n\tSo claimed Christine Vachon, speaking at the\u00a0Variety<\/em>\u00a0Lounge at Edinburgh International Film Festival, where the prolific indie film icon gave a brief insight into the pain \u2014\u00a0but also joy \u2014\u00a0of producing. It\u2019s something she\u2019s famously been doing for more than three decades and with a growing host of directors, including Todd Haynes, John Cameron Mitchell, Rose Troche and Celine Song, to name just a small few. Indeed, Killer Films, the company she co-founded with Pamela Koffler, last year celebrated its 30th anniversary. <\/p>\n

\n\tBut the \u201cchildbirth\u201d comment came in reference to Haynes\u2019 latest film, \u201cDe Noche,\u201d which has had more than its fair share of ups and downs. The gay romance, set in Mexico in the 1930s, was originally due to star Joaquin Phoenix, before the actor abruptly pulled out just days before production was due to start, sending the project into free fall (a reminder that forced Vachon to have a large gulp of wine during the Variety<\/em> Lounge conversation). But it was thankfully resurrected, this time with Pedro Pascal in the lead and shot last year. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think we got the happy ending that we deserved, or that Todd deserved, which is Pedro Pascal ultimately playing the role,\u201d Vachon said. \u201cAnd the glass half full version of that is everything happens for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile Vachon noted there weren\u2019t any \u201cdrastic\u201d changes made to \u201cDe Noche\u201d after swapping its leads, she said that the film was originally based in Guadalajara, but once resurrected moved to Mexico City. \u201cAnd obviously, Pedro brought his own interpretation of the character to the script.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tVachon was in Edinburgh for the first time since opening the film festival with Haynes\u2019 \u201cVelvet Goldmine\u201d in 1998 (and claims she remembers the \u201cfantastic party\u201d held for the film). This time, she was attended as producer on \u201cPretty Babies\u201d by Tyler-Marie Evans, another debut director to add to her growing roster of filmmakers she\u2019s helped launch into the industry. <\/p>\n

\n\tBut even after 30-plus years of doing so, Vachon said she still maintained the same level of excitement when discovering new voices like Evans (with whom she\u2019s already working on another feature). <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI kind of feel in some ways it\u2019s the antidote. It\u2019s the secret sauce that you need as a producer,\u201d she explained. \u201cBecause the business is so hard, and it\u2019s very hard not to get cynical. And cynicism, to me, is the great creativity killer. We all love the nasty person at the edge of the room who says what no one else will say. On the other hand, if you listen to that voice all day long, you don\u2019t want to make art.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut first-time filmmakers are often \u201ctelling the story they\u2019ve spent their whole life waiting to tell, and you can\u2019t be cynical around that,\u201d she added. \u201cSo I think for Killer, part of what\u2019s kept us going, the vampire blood or what have you, are the young filmmakers who come in and you see their excitement and you see their fearlessness \u2014\u00a0and it just makes you realize why it\u2019s worth doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Christine Vachon discussed replacing Joaquin Phoenix with Pedro Pascal on De Noche and the excitement she still gets when discovering new filmmakers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4640,2695,4758],"class_list":["post-6266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-christine-vachon","tag-edinburgh-film-festival-2","tag-variety-lounge-edinburgh"],"yoast_head":"\nChristine Vachon on Why Landing Pedro Pascal to Replace Joaquin Phoenix in \u2018De Noche\u2019 Gave Todd Haynes the \u2018Happy Ending\u2019 He Deserved - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6266\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christine Vachon on Why Landing Pedro Pascal to Replace Joaquin Phoenix in \u2018De Noche\u2019 Gave Todd Haynes the \u2018Happy Ending\u2019 He Deserved - 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