Pedro Pascal

Biography

Pedro Pascal is an American actor of Chilean descent. Pedro had been acting for more than 2 decades, but all in minor roles here and there, He got his break break through Game Of Thrones, his role was widely popular and attracted critical acclaim, and since then his career has got an exponential rise, from playing titular role in The Mandalorian, to playing main roles in numerous movies and Series.

Pedro is known for playing the titular role in the sci-fi series The Mandalorian, for playing "Oberyn Martell" in the Game of Thrones series, Javier Pena in the drug cartel drama Narcos, Joel Miller in "The Last of Us" among others.

His recent works include playing Lucien in The Uninvited (2024), Penis Collector in Drive Away Dolls(2024), Clint in Freaky Tales(2024), Silva in Strange Way of Life(2023) among others.

Family- Childhood

José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal was born on 2nd April 1975 in Santiago, Chile to José Balmaceda Riera, a fertility doctor and Verónica Pascal, a child psychologist.

Parents

His parents had to leave Chile because of the political conflicts, his parents took asylum in Denmark and then moved to United States. He grew up in California & Texas.

When Pedro was just 9 months old, because of the political turmoil in Chile, Pedro's parents sought asylum at the Venezuelan embassy in Santiago. They were later granted asylum in Denmark and then moved to the United States.

Pedro mostly grew up in San Antonio, Texas until 11. Then the family moved to Orange County, California. His parents travelled frequently to Chile, they have a big family there, When Pedro was 20, his parents moved permanently to Chile, his younger siblings mostly grew up in Chile and settled there.

Siblings

His sister Lux Balmaceda Pascal (born 1992) is an American-Chilean actress and transgender activist. Lux was born as Lucas Balmaceda, shemade her transition to transgender woman public in February 2021. She is known for works such as La Jauria, Narcos, Juana Brava and others. She is younger than Pedro.

His sister Javiera Balmaceda has worked as CA & AU at Amazon Studios, Latin America. She has worked as an addicitional crew on the series Pan Y Circo. Javiera is the oldest of Balmaceda siblings, 

He has another sibling in Nicolás Balmaceda, he is a PhD scholar in Pediatric neurology. Nicolas Balaceda is the youngest of the siblings.

His paternal surname Balmaceda is a bit difficult for the Americans to pronounce, after his mother's death Pedro chose her surname as a tribute to his mother.

Balmaceda- Allende family

The Balmaceda family is of Basque descent. It is a very influential family in the Chilian politics. Allende family is of Spanish descent, they are based in Santiago and are very influentical in the Chilean politics

His mother is related to socialist Chilean President Salvador Allende, Marxist revolutionary Andrés Pascal was her cousin.

Education

• Orange County School of the Arts: He attended the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA). He graduated from the school in 1993.
• Tisch School: He attended NYU's Tisch School of Arts in 1997.

Career

He waited tables initially during the beginning of his acting career. Primal Fear (1996) was the first movie he auditioned for, it eventually went to Edward Norton.

Pascal made his debut in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer(1999) in a small role that lasted one episode. Role of Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones(2014) made him popular, Role of Javier Peña in Narcos (Netflix series) is popular as well.

Some of his popular movies are: Hermanas(2005), I Am That Girl(2008), The Adjustment Bureau(2011), Sweet Little Lies(2011), Bloodsucking Bastards(2015), Sweets(2015), The Great Wall(2016), Kingsman: The Golden Circle(2017).

He has had recurring roles in Undressed(1999), The Good Wife(2009-2011), Lights Out(2011), Red Widow(2013), Graceland(2013), The Mentalist(2014), Game of Thrones(2014), Narcos(2015-)

Some other TV series he had minor roles in are-  Good vs. Evil, Downtown, Touched by an Angel, NYPD Blue, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Without a Trace, Law & Order, Nurse Jackie, Brothers & Sisters, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Charlie's Angels, Wonder Woman, Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe, Body of Proof, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Nikita, Homeland, The Sixth Gun, Exposed.

He has been part of TV movies like Earth vs. the Spider(2001), Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe(2011).

Game of Thrones

[Pedro Pascal in Game of Thrones and Indira Verma from Game of Thrones]

Pedro was selected for the role of Oberyn Martell(nicknamed the Red Viper) in the 4th season of Game of Thrones(2014), his character was the brother of Prince Doran Martell and was father of 8 illegitimate daughters called Sand Snakes. He auditioned for his part with an iPhone, a friend had shot his role on the phone.

He auditioned for his character in Game of Thrones with an accent, it was not in the original but the producers felt it was interesting and kept it. It was actually his father's accent.

Arya Stark- His favorite character from Game of Thrones. Tyrion, Daenerys, Cersei are his other favorites.

He appeared in the 2020 wonder woman movie titled 'Wonder Woman 84', he had previously appeared in another Wonder Woman series  in 2011 NBC pilot, which went unaired.

Filmography

Movies

Series

Video Game

Music Videos

Theatre/ Stage

Interesting Facts

• Pedro Pascal at the age of 11 competed in the Texas state championships in swimming.
• He stopped taking swimming professionally and took Drama classes seriously.
• He has lent voice to the character Paolo in the Video game Dishonored 2 (2016).
• He was hit by a cab in his 18th year when he was walking with his friends (Sarah Paulson & others) on the 5th avenue.
• He tricked his parents to let him see Poltergeist  the horror movie at the age of 6.
• He loves Horror movies, he apparently loves getting terrified. His best friend Sarah Paulson complains that he drags her to watch every horror movie.
• He thoroughly enjoyed- Movies, rock concerts, Spurs games in his childhood and youth
• Indiana Jones movies were his favorites while growing up. He was thrown off the horse he was riding while he was trying to imitate Indiana Jones.
• He likes 'Captain Crunch' Corn flakes
• He wants to act in a movie with his friends Sarah Paulson & Lena Headey in it.
• He is allergic to cats, he loves both cats and dogs. Dogs are his favorites.
• If he was not an actor he would have chosen to be a war journalist Or literature teacher.
• He prefers Black socks, feels they are more comfortable.
• He likes berries.
• Actor Oscar Isaac, his Triple Frontier (2019) co-star is a long-time friend of Pedro
• He has worked and lvied in Madrid city for some time.
• He is believed to have a secret TikTok account. [4]
• Starbucks fan: He hates milk, his usual order is- six shots of pure espresso on ice [4]
• 100 most influential people in the world 2023: He was named by the Time magazinein the 100 most influential people in the world list for 2023. [1]
• He is agnostic, and a progressive liberal in his world view.

Activism & Philanthropy

• He supported leftist Chilean politician Gabriel Boric in the 2021 Chilean presidential elections, he went on to become the president of Chile.
• He is pro-refugees, pro-LGBT, pro-equality. He often participates online in such campaigns.
• LGBT Transgender support: He supported his sister Lux who self identified as a female in 2021. "He has been an important part of this. He is also an artist and has been a guide. He was one of the first to give me the things that formed my identity" said Lux about his support. Expressing his hearty support to his sister, he posted "Mi hermana, mi corazón, nuestra Lux" ("my sister, my heart, our Lux.") in Spanish.

Friendship with Lena Headey

Pedro Pascal & Lena Headey share a very friendly relationship. They are often seen having fun together.

Image: Pedro Pascal with friend Lena Headey

Sarah Paulson & Pedro Pascal

Sarah & Pedro have been best friends for quite a while, her friendship has often got him good roles like the one in GoT. Tabloids have fondly called her his 'fairy godmother'. They have known each other since they were teenagers (met in September, 1993). They along with a few other friends (Kirsten, Romi..) used to go to movies together as teenagers. 

Image: Sarah Paulson and Pedro Pascal

Awards

Sources

1. Pedro Pascal on wikipedia
2. Pedro Pascal Theater/ Broadway list
3. Awards List
4. imdb bio page
5.