Stars are constantly rising and falling in Hollywood but this is definitely Pedro Pascal’s moment. The Chilean-born actor has been riding a massive wave of momentum since the 2010s and has developed into one of the biggest household names in the business. The actor got his start with small roles in procedurals on TV, but since his breakout role as Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones, the man has been on fire.
Pedro Pascal currently stars in one of the most popular shows on TV, The Last of Us, and has been turning heads left, right, and centre. While most of us didn’t see the rise of this talented performer and internet heartthrob, Pedro Pascal is here to stay and will likely be around for years to come. Here, we take a look at the man himself and his career so far and what he’s been up to since his early days.
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Pedro Pascal: The early years and start in the business
Real name José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal, the actor was born in Santiago, Chile on April 2, 1975. Born to two medical professionals. His mother, Verónica Pascal Ureta, a child psychologist and father José Balmaceda Riera, a fertility doctor. Pascal has three siblings, an older sister, a younger brother and a sister. His parents were politically active and part of the resistance movement against the Pinochet dictatorship. Due to his parent’s political involvement, the family sought refuge in the Venezuelan embassy shortly after his birth and were later relocated to Denmark. The family ultimately made their way over to the United States, where they have remained since.
Definitely an unusual upbringing, Pascal has always remained rather honest and vocal about his political and ideological standings. His younger sister, Lux, also an actor, came out as transgender and Pascal was openly in support of LGBTQ+ and trans rights.
Pedro Pascal has resided in New York since 1993, which probably helped him gain a closer look at theatre. Before starting out in the film industry, Pedro got a lot of experience under his belt as both an actor and director on stage. He won several accolades during his time as a theatre actor for his part in Orphans, an International City Theatre production.
Pedro Pascal’s early years in the business were dominated by a string of smaller roles in TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Good Wife, The Mentalist, and even Law and Order: Criminal Intent. A majority of these roles weren’t recurring ones, but he seemed to have made enough of an impression on the showrunners and casting agents of Game of Thrones. As one of his first major recurring roles, Pedro stepped into the shoes of Oberyn Martell, one of the most explosive and mysterious characters on the show.
As Martell, Pedro Pascal truly showcased his range, shifting from sly and charming to deviously lethal in a matter of seconds. The role garnered widespread acclaim as both the audiences and studios began to take note of the actor as a major force to be reckoned with.
Pedro Pascal on Game of Thrones: Oberyn arrives on the scene
Over the years, Pascal showcased his range and proved himself a capable and versatile actor. Oberyn Martell was one of the most popular characters from the books but was always meant to be more of a red herring than an actual threat to the Lannisters. However, Pascal’s measurable charm and guile in his performance helped him become one of the most popular characters in Season 4 of Game of Thrones. He garnered not just praise from critics and fans alike, but his performance propelled him to greater heights in his career.
Pedro’s time on Game of Thrones might have only been 7 episodes long, but he made enough of an impression on the audience. Since his turn as the Viper of Dorne, Pedro’s stock has risen considerably which helped him bag his next major role as Javier Pena in Netflix’s Narcos. His turn as the street-smart DEA agent helped endear him to the audiences in a big way and further showcased his talent to play more subdued roles.
Once he had proved his mettle in TV, it was time for Pascal to hit the silver screens and make waves as a major movie star. The actor would go on to star in major blockbuster studio productions like Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Wonder Woman 1994, The Equalizer 2, and If Beale Street Could Talk. While most of these movies featured Pascal in a massive way, it would be a dual-protagonist movie with Nicolas Cage that would really change things around for Pedro Pascal – The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.
More: Pedro Pascal revisited the Game of Thrones site where his character’s skull was crushed
The Unbearable Weight of Pedro Pascal and Nicolas Cage’s Charm
“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”, directed by Tom Gormican, starred Nicolas Cage as a fictionalized version of himself and Pedro Pascal as a shadowy but charming drug lord. The pair wouldn’t have been the most obvious one to make, but the results of it were clear for everyone to see. Pascal shined in his role as the goofy drug lord and his unbelievable chemistry with Nic Cage helped propel the movie to massive heights and made it one of the year’s surprise hits.
Pascal has repeatedly mentioned in interviews that he had always been a massive Nic Cage fan and has enjoyed several of his performances over the years. The film was essentially a love letter to the work of Nicolas Cage and his various eccentric performances over the years. Pascal played an unreasonably charming foil to his eccentricity and help elevate what was possible one of the most bizarre movie concepts in the modern day. The pair had a genuine level of chemistry and bonded over their love of film off-camera. This certainly helped the movie as the actors’ characters would often end up talking about cinema and film on camera, thus not needing much acting on their part.
How Pedro Pascal got the title role in The Mandalorian
The Mandalorian, much like most of Star Wars, was produced in utmost secrecy and the title role of The Mandalorian, Din Djarin, was mostly kept under wraps until finally being revealed to Pedro Pascal. The actor, in previous interviews, has detailed how the role was presented to him under layers upon layers of secrecy. The actor was called by show creator and writer Jon Favreau and with Dave Filoni (director and creator of Star Wars: Clone Wars) for a meeting. They met the actor in the parking lot of the production studio and waved him in. It was there that he was shown designs and concept art from the series as Filoni and Favreau gauged his reaction to the material.
Pascal saw designs of Baby Yoda (Grogu) and immediately recognized his potential to become a pivotal mascot for the show. The actor was shown around the massively imposing and marvelous “Volume” but his character was still not revealed to him. After much faffing about, Favreau presented him with the iconic Mandalorian helmet, which made the actor think he could be playing the infamous Boba Fett. However, Favrueau revealed that the show would be a space western starring Pascal as the mysterious “Mandalorian” whose name would later be revealed as “Din Djarin”. The actor immediately signed on to the project despite his face not being visible through almost the entirety of the show’s runtime.
I think that they thought that I knew — but I didn’t know — so I asked them finally: ‘What do you guys want me to do? What do you guys want me to play?’ And they seemed confused. They said, ‘You’re the Mandalorian.’ And I was like, ‘Holy s***. … Really?,” said Pascal in an interview.
While Pascal serves as the voice of The Mandalorian, it was later revealed that due to the nature of the character’s design and Pedro’s commitments to Broadway, the actor occasionally doesn’t appear on set and provides the vocal performance only. The show’s third Season is scheduled to come out in 2023.
See More: Pedro Pascal teases multiple Mandalorians and an epic battle in The Mandalorian Season 3
Pedro Pascal’s upcoming movies and TV series
Pascal currently stars in The Last of Us HBO series, which has grown to become one of the most successful shows on TV. The actor, along with the rest of the cast, has received massive critical praise and will most likely be up for several Emmys come awards time. The actor has a ton of things in the pipeline at the moment, including a TV series alongside actor David Harbour (Stranger Things) called “My Dentist’s Murder Trial”. Alongside this, he also has a movie up next directed by Giada Colagrande, starring Willem Defoe and Morena Baccarin, called “Tropico”.
Season 3 of The Mandalorian is also set to come out this year and is one of the most highly-anticipated shows of the year. Between The Last of Us and The Mandalorian, it is safe to say we will get to see more of Pascal throughout the year. The Last of Us HBO series has already been renewed for Season 2, so it will be interesting to see what the production timeline is on that and when we will get to see more of Ellie and Joel once Season 1 wraps.
Pedro Pascal’s Net Worth
While information such as net worth is hardly ever made public, Pascal has been reported to be worth around the $10 million mark. This was reported by CelebrityNetWorth (Take that with a grain of salt). The figure was arrived at considering the actor’s extensive work since the late 90s in both TV and Film.
As of late, the actor has consistently starred in major studio productions, including Warner Bros, Netflix, and HBO. It stands to reason that the actor has been able to command a higher salary since his breakout roles in Game of Thrones and Narcos. The actor also played the major villain in Wonder Woman 1994, which was one of the bigger-budget DCEU movies.
His role in HBO’s The Last of Us was also a high-profile signing and he is likely to be making major bank per episode. The show has also been renewed for Season 2, and given the show’s success – the actor will likely be able to bag even bigger roles in the years to come.
Who is Pedro Pascal dating?
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Pedro has largely eluded the media when it comes to his relationships (although he was subject of related discourse recently) and has kept things on the DL for the most part. The actor was linked numerous times with fellow co-stars, including Lena Headey (Cersei from Game of Thrones). Pedro Pascal was also said to be dating The Mentalist co-star, Robin Turney. Despite being linked to a couple of other actors several times over the last decade or so, there is little to no information about who Pedro Pascal’s girlfriend currently is.
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