{"id":2310085,"date":"2026-03-03T11:18:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T11:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2310085"},"modified":"2026-03-03T11:18:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T11:18:34","slug":"lewis-pullman-on-spaceballs-2-avengers-doomsday-and-new-stardom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/lewis-pullman-on-spaceballs-2-avengers-doomsday-and-new-stardom\/","title":{"rendered":"Lewis Pullman on Spaceballs 2, Avengers Doomsday, and New Stardom"},"content":{"rendered":"

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JENNIFER LIVINGSTON<\/span><\/figcaption>

Polo shirt ($545), trousers ($2,095), and shoes ($1,195) by Giorgio Armani; Dome ring ($5,740) by Jacquie Aiche.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Before Lewis Pullman takes on a new role, he decides whether the difference between who he is and who he\u2019s playing is a worthy challenge\u2014or a warning to heed. \u201cOftentimes my gut instinct is a rush of hot fear through my blood. I can\u2019t do this,\u201d Pullman says, leaning on the counter at the Dinosaur Coffee shop in Los Angeles, not far from where he calls home. His eyes are slate gray. They\u2019re kind, but a little like twin hurricane swirls. He\u2019s wearing dusty boots, cargo pants, and a frayed button-down flannel over a white T-shirt. Occasionally, his eyes disappear beneath the brim of a bent cap, marked with a red Pegasus. \u201cI have never done anything I\u2019ve been proud of when there hasn\u2019t been any fear behind it,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n

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Jennifer Livingston<\/span><\/figcaption>

Jacket ($2,720), sweater ($1,660), trousers ($1,540), and shoes ($975) by Loro Piana; HardWear bracelet ($33,500) by Tiffany & Co.; socks ($28) by Anonymous Ism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

To really understand the kind of actor Pullman has become, you\u2019ve first got to consider the kind of guy he is. He\u2019s practical. Reliable. There\u2019s an easygoing attitude about him, but also no nonsense. That\u2019s why he\u2019s the rare performer who stands out not for being flashy but for his quiet sturdiness, demonstrating strength without declaring it. It\u2019s no wonder Pullman\u2019s most memorable roles are in ensembles, like stalwart friend-to-everybody Lieutenant \u201cBob\u201d in Top Gun: Maverick<\/a><\/em>; \u201cBob\u201d again in Marvel\u2019s Thunderbolts*<\/em><\/a>, as the nobody who is engineered into the superhero Sentry; and his most recent work in the historical drama The Testament of Ann Lee<\/em>, playing the unwavering brother of Amanda Seyfried\u2019s trembling religious prophet. Pullman doesn\u2019t steal scenes from other actors; he protects them, guides them into place, and it\u2019s that quiet resilience that is elevating him from supporting player to leading man. <\/p>\n

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Jennifer Livingston<\/span><\/figcaption>

Sweater, shirt ($940), and jeans ($1,900) by Dior; L.U.C Quattro Mark IV watch ($55,100) by Chopard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

The first thing you might know about the thirty-three-year-old: He\u2019s the son of actor Bill Pullman, the roguish Lone Starr who saved the galaxy in Mel Brooks\u2019s Star Wars<\/em> parody Spaceballs<\/em>. (Then helped save it again from roving alien invaders as the inspiring U.S. president in Independence Day<\/em>.) Lewis grew up not just in L.A. but on the family\u2019s livestock ranch in Montana, where his parents put him to work. \u201cAt the time, when you\u2019re a kid, you don\u2019t want to be doing it, but very quickly it became something that I craved and loved,\u201d he recalls. \u201cDoing something physical was such a good feeling.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Jennifer Livingston<\/span><\/figcaption>

Shirt ($330) and trousers ($440) by Officine G\u00e9n\u00e9rale; sneakers ($60) by Vans; socks ($15) by Apthcry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Montana is also a place his parents fell in love with while they were falling in love with each other. Lewis pulls out his phone to show off a snapshot of his mom and dad in the late \u201970s, visiting the Big Sky State when Bill was a teacher and doing Shakespeare in the Park in a place known for its vast wilderness. Bill and Tamara look like teenagers in the photo, and they\u2019re eating ice cream sandwiches at a gas station, on their way to the future. \u201cYou meet your parents wherever you meet them,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cI would kill to meet my mom at that truck stop, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jennifer Livingston<\/span><\/figcaption>

Jacket ($3,700), sweater ($1,650), trousers ($1,900), sneakers ($1,350), and sunglasses ($861) by Brunello Cucinelli; socks ($15) by Apthcry; Villeret Extraplate watch ($13,100) by Blancpain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

When Pullman went off to college, he majored in social work at Warren Wilson College in rural North Carolina, where manual labor was part of the curriculum. That\u2019s where he learned to be part of a team\u2014perhaps as useful for working on a film as any theater degree. \u201cYou would do your regular courses and classes like any other college, but on top of that you have to do a minimum of fifteen hours of work per week towards the school,\u201d he explains. \u201cPhysical work. There\u2019s the library crew; there\u2019s weaving crew, where they take the wool from the sheep; there\u2019s paint crew, heavy-duty crew, which is like janitorial work. And there\u2019s land and stuff that needs to be tended. It\u2019s an actual farm. I was on the tractor division of the landscaping crew. So I would work a lot with the farm.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jennifer Livingston<\/span><\/figcaption>

Shirt ($20,200), tank ($1,625), and trousers ($1,150) by Herm\u00e8s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

After college, his social-work degree landed him a job at an Asheville homeless shelter, but he eventually returned home and entered the family business. Call him a nepo baby if you like, but Lewis worked hard to prove himself. \u201cIt\u2019s all really supportive,\u201d says Pullman, who will act alongside his dad as the son of Lone Starr in the upcoming Spaceballs 2<\/a><\/em>. Although it\u2019s something everyone asks him about, he says he never felt like he was stuck in the old man\u2019s shadow. \u201cWe\u2019re both like, How awesome is this that we both love the same thing and we can learn from each other?\u201d <\/p>\n

They\u2019ve acted before in movies, back in 2017 when Lewis was just starting out as a performer. They appeared together in the western The Ballad of Lefty Brown<\/em> and were both cast in the tennis drama Battle of the Sexes<\/em>, although they didn\u2019t share a scene in that one. Spaceballs 2 <\/em>reunites them in the movie where he first saw his dad onscreen.<\/p>\n

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Jennifer Livingston<\/span><\/figcaption>

Sweater ($995) and trousers ($595) by Ralph Lauren Purple Label; sneakers ($90) by Converse; Top Gun pilot\u2019s watch ($8,900) by IWC Schaffhausen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

\u201cGod, that\u2019s strangely a question I haven\u2019t<\/em> been asked,\u201d says Lewis, who nibbles on a fingernail while he remembers his first brush with a Bill Pullman movie. \u201cIt might be Spaceballs<\/em> because we weren\u2019t going to be watching While You Were Sleeping <\/em>or something like that,\u201d he adds with a laugh. \u201cBut that\u2019s a comedy and a good kid movie.\u201d He remembers being especially worried about Lone Star in the Mel Brooks spoof because that was his dad \u2026 not a character. \u201cAs a son, you pay attention to weird things,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cI couldn\u2019t separate them. It was my dad<\/em>. There are parts where John Candy is Barf and his tail hits my dad in the face. I felt such great empathy for him! All I could think about for the whole movie was, Why did that happen?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why he believes it\u2019s good that they are playing relatives in the sequel. \u201cIt is wild because, as a son, you do have hardwiring to pick up on micro expressions or subterranean mood shifts and stuff like that,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd to try and cut those wires is hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jennifer Livingston<\/span><\/figcaption>

Jacket ($3,695), sweater ($950), shirt ($595), and trousers ($625) by Canali.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

The Testament of Ann Lee <\/em>was a different challenge. In the film, he plays a secretly gay man in the era of the 1700s when that was not just forbidden but an unforgivable sin, and yet he is among the most faithful to follow his charismatic but volatile sister as she founds the notorious Shaker movement that ventured from the unwelcome confines of Great Britain to the even more dangerous shores of North America, just as revolution is beginning to unfold. It\u2019s not just emotionally taxing, but the movie is also a musical of sorts, filled with melodic incantations adapted from real Shaker hymns. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t sing,\u201d he says, but director Mona Fastvold (producer and cowriter of The Brutalist<\/em>) didn\u2019t want her radical pilgrims to sound like pitch-perfect Broadway stars. \u201cThat\u2019s me in the movie,\u201d Pullman says. \u201cShe wanted to unravel the training and make it feel like it could be your neighbor and your mom or your friend. So there are very organic, warts-and-all voices in there aside from Amanda. I would never do something where they\u2019re like, \u2018You\u2019re going to need to be an amazing musician.\u2019 I would say, \u2018Well, there\u2019s going to be a million other guys that are better for the job than that.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

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Jennifer Livingston<\/span><\/figcaption>

Sweater ($995) and trousers ($1,095) by Dolce & Gabbana; shoes by Mars\u00e8ll; Villeret Extraplate watch by Blancpain; chevron ring ($650) and band ring ($550) by John Hardy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

In the year ahead, Pullman is producing his first film, the surreal romance Wishful Thinking<\/em>, in which he costars with Maya Hawke as a couple whose turbulent relationship begins to supernaturally affect world events. He\u2019ll appear in the big-screen adaptation of Remarkably Bright Creatures<\/em>, starring Sally Field as a woman who forms a friendship with an aquarium octopus. You\u2019ll also see him as \u201cBob\u201d\/Sentry again when he returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as part of the sprawling cast of Avengers: Doomsday<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going back to the serum of the human archetypes that our art is built off of,\u201d says Pullman, who notes that despite its vast cast, Doomsday<\/em> is not just a cameo fest. \u201cEvery character has their moment that builds the dimensions of them,\u201d he says. \u201cThe Russo brothers did that so well. They do not want anyone just sitting in the background. They really took to heart the responsibility of having some of the best actors in the world all together. There\u2019s a lot of really exciting pair-ups that happen. A lot of fans will be really excited. It\u2019s so fun to dream about. What if A and B would work together? Would B and D would work together? <\/em>You get to see a lot of those fantasies come into fruition.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Jennifer Livingston<\/span><\/figcaption>

Jacket and jeans, Givenchy by Sarah Burton; Henley by Extreme Cashmere.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

He compares the superhero saga to ancient epics but halts before venturing much further. \u201cTalking about Marvel is always such a funny dance of saying nothing while still words are coming out of your mouth,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s only one part of his life that is even more guarded. He\u2019s dating actress Kaia Gerber, who has a famous parentage of her own\u2014her mom is the original supermodel, Cindy Crawford. Despite their being two showbiz kids, their relationship is not on display. It\u2019s the part of Pullman\u2019s world that he politely keeps off-limits to the public. \u201cYou find your boundaries between work and life,\u201d he explains. \u201cAnd you protect those things that are sacred to you as much as you can, because there\u2019s already so much that is out of your control as an actor.\u201d <\/p>\n

While Pullman may try to connect some true part of himself to every role he plays, knowing what doesn\u2019t belong to the rest of the world is exactly what brought him here.<\/p>\n

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Story by Anthony Breznican<\/em>
Photographs by Jennifer Livingston<\/em>
Styling by Nick Sullivan<\/em>
Grooming by Melissa Dezarate using Allies of Skin<\/em>
Esquire Executive Design Director: Martin Hoops<\/em>
Esquire Visual Director: James Morris<\/em>
Esquire Senior Entertainment Director: Andrea Cuttler<\/em>
Editor in Chief: Michael Sebastian<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.esquire.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JENNIFER LIVINGSTONPolo shirt ($545), trousers ($2,095), and shoes ($1,195) by Giorgio Armani; Dome ring ($5,740) by Jacquie Aiche. Before Lewis Pullman takes on a new role, he decides whether the difference between who he is and who he\u2019s playing is a worthy challenge\u2014or a warning to heed. \u201cOftentimes my gut instinct is a rush of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2310086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[440682,447500,447499,274717,447498,310911,285684,444016,447497,438951],"class_list":["post-2310085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-collection-anthony-breznican-exclusives","tag-collection-kings-of-style","tag-collection-movie-profiles-and-interviews","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-92b6dff9-e4e2-4233-8a9a-2f12ea502674","tag-displaytype-long-form-article","tag-locale-us","tag-read_time-7","tag-shorttitle-the-sudden-ascent-of-lewis-pullman","tag-subsection-movies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Lewis-Pullman-on-Spaceballs-2-Avengers-Doomsday-and-New-Stardom-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2310085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2310085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2310085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2310087,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2310085\/revisions\/2310087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2310086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2310085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2310085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2310085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}