Pedro Pascal Is Hollywood's Newest Heartthrob: Take a Look at His Thriving Career on the Screen

Good things come to those who wait — just ask Pedro Pascal, the Chilean-American actor who, in the last few years, has rapidly risen to fame for his work across numerous movies and TV shows.

It was his 2014 role as Oberyn Martell in the HBO phenomenon Game of Thrones that catapulted the then-39-year-old-actor's career. Today, the 48-year-old finds himself nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series – Drama and an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series for his role in HBO's The Last of Us.

Here, we take a look at the career of Pedro Pascal over the years, in addition to some of our favorite movies and TV shows that he's starred in.

Pedro Pascal's origin story and early work

Born in Santiago, Chile, his family fled the country when he was very young during the rise of Augusto Pinochet, seeking asylum at the Venezuelan embassy in Santiago before ultimately receiving political asylum in Denmark and then moving to the United States.

Pascal discussed in an interview for Interview Magazine with fellow actress and close friend Sarah Paulson his initial interest in acting, and when he realized he wanted to pursue acting professionally.

"When I was in middle school, we had moved from Texas to Orange County. I didn’t fit in and it was pretty lonely. The way that I was occupying my time, I started reading plays and renting the classics. I was 13 or 14 — before I could get a driver’s license and drive to somebody’s house or to a party. My parents had to have been worried because that was all I did," he recalled.

Before making it big in Hollywood, Pascal appeared in a number of popular television series including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Touched by an Angel and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. However, it wasn't until 2014 where he achieved star status for his work on Game of Thrones.

Pedro Pascal's pivotal role

Pedro Pascal joined the cast of Game of Thrones in 2014 during the fourth season as Oberyn Martell, one of the most beloved supporting characters a part of the series for the way he strayed from the status quo. Despite his gruesome demise, this was a chance for Pascal to truly shine — and shine he did. From there, parts continued to come his way.

David Benioff, Game of Thrones showrunner, discussed Pascal's performance in an interview with Variety. "Once we saw the entire season there was no doubt Pedro was going to be a star. I thought he deserved more recognition, frankly. Was he nominated for any awards? He should have been. But Dan and I were thrilled that we gave Pedro a job that helped his ascent, because he’s an absolute gem of an actor and a man."

Another one of his prominent roles came in Netflix's Narcos. The crime drama ran from 2015-2017, and Pascal starred as DEA Agent Javier Peña. The series chronicled the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar throughout seasons 1 and 2, and in season 3, followed the story of the Cali Cartel.

Pedro Pascal shows us "the way"

After Narcos, Pedro had roles in a few major big screen productions including Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) The Equalizer 2 (2018) and Triple Frontier (2019), before taking on yet another one of his most revered roles as the title character in The Mandalorian on Disney+.

Related: Catch Up With ‘The Mandalorian’ Cast — And Find Out All We Know About Season 4

Although his face has very rarely been seen within this role as the revered bounty hunter, he provides his voice for the iconic character, known to most as the fierce protector of the adorable and beloved Grogu, more commonly known as Baby Yoda.

“You know, there have been so many surreal moments. I think that there have only been surreal moments as far as this is concerned,” Pascal told StarWars.com, looking back on his initial meetings with show creator Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni. “There was meeting Jon and Dave before I got the job, and being invited into a room [where] every inch of all four walls was covered in story illustrations of the entire first season. That was something that I'll never forget.”

Pedro Pascal recent movies and TV shows

In 2020, Pedro Pascal played the role of Maxwell Lord in Wonder Woman 1984 and Marcus Moreno in We Can Be Heroes. Robert Rodriguez, director of We Can Be Heroes, discussed Pascal's range in an interview with Den of Geek.

“He reminds me of Harrison Ford in a way, he’s like this everyman type guy. He can be funny, he can be really intense, he can be very heroic but in We Can Be Heroes he kind of has to be a dweebish dad where it’s just all about him and his daughter [YaYa Gosselin].”

Related: Young Harrison Ford: Amazing Throw-Back Photos that You Have to See to Believe

Pascal continued, "He played that really well and was then also able to become this superhero. He can be very human and warm. In The Mandalorian he does a similar type of thing but with that heart. But he can play intense too. He’s got a wide range.”

Even more recently, Pascal could be seen in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)—which produced one of the most popular "reels" of last year — alongside Nicolas Cage and The Bubble (2022).

However, it's his role in the debut season of HBO's The Last of Us that has people talking.

Pedro Pascal as 'Joel' in The Last of Us

The post-apocalyptic drama series stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, two survivors of a deadly fungus-induced-apocalypse who must lean on one another on their quest of survival.

The series, which was adapted from a video game of the same name, received a total of 24 Emmy nominations (which will air on January 15th), with a Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama for Pascal, and three Golden Globe nominations (airing on January 7th) including Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series – Drama for Pascal

While season 2 of the hit series has been confirmed, there's no word as to when we can expect to see it on our screens. Either way, we can't wait to see what else is in store for Pedro Pascal and the movies and TV shows he takes on next. Tune in to the Golden Globes on January 7 at 8:00 PM EST and the Emmys on January 15 at 8:00 PM EST.

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