Jennifer Aniston and Pedro Pascal set tongues wagging back in March after being spotted on a dinner date with it later being reported the Hollywood stars had been enjoying some ‘no string attached fun’. But a source now tells Closer that while Pedro, 50, is enjoying their casual arrangement, Friends star Jennifer 56, is becoming too clingy, leaving the Last of Us star to make excuses and give her a wide berth.

The insider tells us, ‘It was fun for a while when it was new and exciting, but now it’s a bother for him. Most of Jen’s relationships with men are casual and she can take it or leave it, but she changes when she starts liking a guy and she likes Pedro. It seems every time she’s had a cocktail or three, she’s texting him and wanting him to come over. She’s become too needy for him. She wants to discuss her problems with him and get his input and he doesn’t have the time for the emotional stuff.

‘This isn’t what he signed up for. He assumed Jen knew the score. He doesn’t want to hurt her or end their friendship and he’s trying to be polite about it, but if Jen doesn’t get the message soon, he may have to.’

Pedro and Jennifer were first spotted spotted dining at West Hollywood’s Tower Bar at the Sunset Tower hotel, with the rumour mill going into overdrive that Pedro could be on his way to becoming the next Mr Aniston. The images came after it was reported in February how Jen had been enjoying a string of secret dates, with a source saying at the time, ‘Jen is very good at flying under the radar. That’s why her dating life seems so dead – it’s all happening behind closed doors. She much prefers to control the situation. Anytime word gets out that she’s seeing someone, it’s under the microscope and it puts added pressure on things. She’d rather not deal with that until it’s serious.’

It has also been reported that Pedro is joining the cast of Jennifer’s Apple TV+ series with Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show, when it returns for a fourth season later this year. Following the images of Hollywood’s hottest potential new couple emerging online, Gladiator II actor Pedro denied that they were anything more than friends. Speaking on the red carpet of the premiere of The Last of Us season 2, he said, ‘Jennifer and I are very good friends. I got to have dinner on Saturday. It was a fun martini dinner.’

And on his birthday at the start of April, Jennifer fuelled speculation of a romance between the pair when she posted online, ‘A lot of people are reporting that their faith in humanity is riding entirely on whether or not Pedro Pascal is as nice as he seems. Can confirm – as nice as he seems. Happy birthday, PP!’

And our source says it is Pedro’s kindness that is putting him in a tricky position as he attempts to cool off his relationship with Jen.

‘This has put Pedro in a terrible position because he’s such a caring guy, the last thing he wants to do is hurt Jen in any way,’ the source continues. ‘He never would have gotten together with her casually if he thought she was going to get attached like this.

‘He’s quite shocked it’s taken this turn because she was so blasé about it at first. She does have a reputation for being quite the maneater, so he never expected that she would want a traditional relationship with him, or any sort of commitment at all. He was very up front from the start about where he’s at and the sort of bandwidth he’s got for his personal life. He’s working at a breakneck pace right now, he barely has time off and when he does, he wants to spend it relaxing. He was under the impression they would get together when their schedules aligned and not sweat it the rest of the time. And for a while that is exactly how it was working.

‘But now he’s getting guilt trips from her when they go a long time without seeing each other and it’s not what he signed up for. He feels like the rules of the game were changed without any discussion, which is a little annoying. He wants to be there for her as a friend, but he genuinely doesn’t have time to even be someone’s part time boyfriend, nor does he want to.’

The pair’s rumoured romance comes at a time when Pedro is busier than ever having had his star rise to new heights since the launch of The Last of Us in 2023. Since, he has had roles in Gladiator II and The Uninvited. Later this year, he will make his debut in the Marvel universe as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, a role he will reprise next year in Avengers: Doomsday. He will also step back into his role as Din Djardin in the movie The Mandalorain and Grogu in 2026.

Our source adds, ‘He’s at the pinnacle of his career right now, his workload is enormous, and he’s also a very gregarious person, he has a lot of friends, and he values his autonomy and freedom to do what he wants, when he wants. He cares about Jen and wishes they could stick to having fun together but at this point he’s trying to extract himself from the situation because he doesn’t want to risk her getting more attached and fact is, he can’t give her what she wants. He feels badly because he does care about her, but he just isn’t in the same place in his life. The unfortunate part is they do have a lot of friends in common, so it’s going to be tricky to navigate.’