Overcompensating made its premiere on Prime Video on May 15, and it's easily one of the downright funniest and overall best new shows of the year. The raunchy comedy series takes place at the fictional Yates University, where closeted freshman Benny (Benito Skinner) overcompensates his way into denying his truth and remaining in the closet. Obviously, that doesn't work.
The series features an excellent ensemble cast surrounding Skinner in the leading role, including Mary Beth Barone as Benny's sister Grace, Wally Baram as his love interest-turned-best friend Carmen, Adam DiMarco as Grace's frat bro boyfriend Peter, Holmes as Carmen's wild roommate Hailee, and Rish Shah as Benny's crush Miles. Overcompensating also welcomes guest stars like Connie Britton, Kyle MacLachlan, James Van Der Beek, Charli XCX, and Megan Fox (as Benny's imaginary poster-girl confidante).
During the show's premiere event, Variety caught up with star, co-creator, writer, and executive producer Benito Skinner and asked him to share his dream casting for Overcompensating season 2, which hasn't been confirmed by Prime Video but needs to happen. Skinner name-dropped Pedro Pascal, the beloved star of The Last of Us and The Mandalorian, as his pick to play Carmen's "daddy."
Benito Skinner wants Pedro Pascal in Overcompensating season 2
Variety's Marc Malkin got Skinner to spill his desire to have Pedro Pascal to appear as a guest star in Overcompensating season 2, but he isn't picky about which role he could play. While he provided Carmen's dad as an option, Skinner said that Pascal could play "any daddy" or even a teacher at Yates University. The star-creator shared his invite directly to the camera and directly to Pascal:
"Pedro, it's me. Come play Carmen's daddy or whoever you want, any daddy, any teacher. We need ya! Come on down to Yates University. We're ready. Love you!"
Seriously, Pascal as Carmen's father is some rather inspired casting. Because there are only eight episodes in the show's first season, the only parents we really get to meet are Benny and Grace's, who are played to eccentric perfection by Connie Britton and Kyle MacLachlan. A second season would allow Skinner and the writer's to continue to expand this world and meet new family members.
We don't meet Carmen's family in season 1, but we learn quite a bit about them from her through stories. It's her point of view, so who knows if that's the full reality. Relationships are so complicated. What Carmen tells us, though, is that following her brother's death, her parents otherwise shut down and didn't pay much attention to her. She's also still deeply grieving her brother's loss.
While it would be great to see Pascal come visit Yates as Carmen's dad and let loose with a hilarious comedic performance, Carmen will also need to have an emotional heart-to-hearth with them. She feels completely removed from them. In the first episode, they dropped her off at school and didn't even get out of the car. Their relationship has some major repairing that needs to be done.
Even though Pascal's a super-busy movie star who's constantly in demand and starring in the biggest titles, there's totally a way for him to squeeze a guest role in Overcompensating season 2 into his schedule. First order of business is for Prime Video to renew the amazing new series, and the second is for Skinner to not give up on his "daddy" dream casting. We believe in you, Benny!
Watch Overcompensating only on Prime Video.