'I need to confess exactly what happened when I made Pedro Pascal cry.'

There are a handful of acts that are sure to see you be swiftly, irreparably, and universally cancelled.

Posting an array of spoilers online before a pivotal episode has finished airing comes to mind, as does chartering a public jet to a billionaire's wedding while demanding the general public chew on soggy paper straws. Getting caught on a jumbotron while Chris Martin croons onstage could also see you become an outcast of society.

And now, due to recent events, I can add 'making the most beloved actor in the world, Pedro Pascal, cry' to the top of the possible cancellation list, naming myself as the main culprit.

But before you stone me to death like a young woman with a personality during the witch trials, please allow me to explain how this course of events unfolded and what led to these famous tears flowing.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), directed by Matt Shakman, and marking yet another outing for Marvel's first family.

The highly anticipated film stars Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / The Thing, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman, and Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic.

The four Marvel stars recently walked the blue carpet at The Fantastic Four: First Steps Sydney launch event and were met by a sea of loyal fans, some of whom had flown across the country, taken time off work and then waited for over thirty hours in line just for the chance to glimpse the stars who have brought to life their favourite comic book characters.

The intensity of this love, loyalty, and sometimes frantic energy stems both from the source material and the captivating cinematic universe Marvel has built up around these comic book properties, but also from the actors themselves, whose past work on critically acclaimed TV shows and mega-franchises alike has melded their own substantial fan bases with the Marvel machine. A recipe guaranteed to produce hysteria in the streets and ticket sales alike.

Much has been made of the palpable emotional bond that has seemingly formed between the four Marvel castmates during their global press tour, with a particular focus on the friendship between Kirby and Pascal, who have been intertwined (both emotionally and physically) in the public eye since their casting was announced in early 2024.

From an outsider's perspective, their bond was palpable from the moment I stepped inside a luxury Sydney harbourside hotel room to interview the duo the day after the Fantastic Four launch event nearly shut down parts of the city.

Listen to Vanessa Kirby and Pedro Pascal on The Spill, article continues below.

Sitting in two chairs side-by-side on a raised platform, designed to capture a view of the Opera House looming in the distance behind them, Pascal had his head gently laid on Kirby's shoulder while she smiled serenely at the crew peppered around the room, the calm energy around them a far cry from the frantic pace of the night before. Pascal also had his arm gently wrapped around his co-star's shoulders, but they calmly untangled themselves and stretched out their hands to shake mine as I settled in the seat across from them.

From the moment the cameras came alive to capture our interview, Pascal wrapped his arm back around Kirby's shoulders, and the easy body language between them instantly mirrored what the world had been seeing on red carpets for weeks.

Two people who have been in the trenches of an all-consuming project, making the steep jump from co-workers to friends, and now sharing a type of intimacy that, while not exactly isolating, does make them appear to live in a world all their own.

With this in mind, the beginning of our conversation quickly turns to how this bond first formed, their relationship behind the scenes, and the most surprising thing they learned about each other during those long days on set.

Upon hearing the question, Kirby immediately started shaking with laughter while Pascal turned to her with a stern look now covering his face.

"You, you hush, you," he hissed at her, before turning back to me. "She's got this look on her face already. Look, yes, I am a grump. No, I'm a grump. But I've actually been the least grumpy on this movie and on this press tour."

"The only reason I laugh is because, just look at his smile," Kirby said. "He doesn't stop smiling, he never stops smiling. But while we were filming, at about 6 pm if we had to go into overtime, then that's when he gets a little bit snappy. A bit cranky, because of the hour, but then it passes.

"I'm going to tell you a trait I have, and I'm going to tell the absolute truth here," Pascal continued. "We had to film these promo things for the film, and we were shooting all day long.

"Yes, the longest days, they went for over 18 hours," Vanessa agreed.

"And Joe (Quinn) and Vanessa, they were both popping off about how late it was and how we were all so exhausted," Pascal continued. "We're exhausted, just exhausted. She's pregnant (gestures to Kirby, who is pregnant with her first child) and the whole thing just got me very worked up. They get me all worked up, and my protective vibes get going. And then my shackles are up.

"And THEN, the two of them (Kirby and Quinn)," he continued, gesturing to Kirby. "They say 'Well, why don't we try it like this? Oh, why don't we try it like that? Can we have another go? Let's talk about this a little bit longer.

"Then I turned into a snappy turtle," he concluded.

"I had to go like this," Kirby jumped in, shaking her finger at him. "And say, 'Don't you get snappy with me.'

As the two of them laughed, I mentioned to Kirby that this opulent interview set-up and film rollout is a far cry away from the first time the two of us sat across from each other to talk about one of her projects. A day during her 2017 press tour for The Crown, where she had casually walked into the Mamamia office and our interview was filmed on a phone in a tiny meeting room.

I asked her, from that press tour to now, what the most surreal moment of her career had been. The moment where she couldn't believe her luck, a moment she couldn't have dreamed of, something she still pinches herself about in order to believe it's real.

I expected her to name the moment she landed one of her first blockbuster franchises, worked with a famed director, or came face to face with a celebrity she had grown up idolising who now admired her work.

Instead, she chose the moment we were in right then. Sitting with her friend Pedro Pascal, and the safety of his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"I actually think the fact that I'm sitting here next to one of my favourite people in my life…no, I actually get emotional thinking about it," she said, as her eyes began to slowly fill with tears. "Now I am actually welling up.

"I had accepted that you're not always going to find your best friends on things," she continued after taking a deep breath. "You know what I mean, like you might find it when you do theater when you were younger, and I did find that on The Crown. We definitely had that, and I've loved everyone I work with. But this is something else.

"This friendship is lifelong and it's very very deep. I think maybe it's the magic of the comics and maybe Matt Shakman's casting that he's put us together."

During her answer, Pascal had once again lain his head on her shoulder, but as he heard her description of their friendship, he slowly pulled away and removed his glasses. Putting his head down, he leaned forward and wiped away the tears that had started pooling on his face.

"Are you ok?," Kirby asked quietly, turning toward him, and he nodded, putting his glasses back over his still-shining eyes as she continued her answer.

"The surreal moment is going into something like this, that has so much love for it already, with him.

"We don't have to pretend, we don't have to pretend that we liked the experience or that we like each other. We're family. We actually are, and oh my God, we're really lucky.

"So this is a huge pinching myself moment, because I don't want to take this for granted, and I don't want to waste a second of it."

Watch our full interview with Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby for The Spill…

Marvel Studio's THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS releases in Australia on July 24.

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here for more entertainment news and recommendations.