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5 of cult actor Pedro Pascal’s most unexpected roles
Game of Thrones, Narcos, The Mandalorian… At 50, the Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal, now a major television star, is racking up hit series. After portraying a general in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, the actor returns to one of his most iconic roles. Nominated for an Emmy in 2023 for his performance in The Last of Us, he is back in the second season of the post-apocalyptic epic. This is a perfect occasion for Numéro to look back on his most unexpected roles—from a subpar TV movie to an iconic 2000s series.
by Alexis Thibault.
Playing the elegant Prince Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones, a top DEA agent in Narcos, and a bounty hunter in the Star Wars universe (The Mandalorian), the 50-year-old Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal has become television’s new darling.
The most unexpected roles of Pedro Pascal, star of The Last of Us
Since 2023, he has played Joel Miller in The Last of Us, a brilliant adaptation of the 2013 video game. Following a brief detour into action films with Gladiator II—in which he starred opposite Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, Pascal is back in the HBO post-apocalyptic series. Indeed, he’s part of the cast for season 2, alongside Bella Ramsey and Catherine O’Hara. With the first episode of this new chapter released on Monday, April 14, Numéro takes a look back at some of Pedro Pascal’s more obscure beginnings in the early 2000s.
The victim of a giant spider in Earth vs. The Spider (2001)
At just 26, Pedro Pascal played a nameless goth in Earth vs. The Spider, a TV remake directed by Scott Ziehl of the 1958 sci-fi movie by Bert I. Gordon. In this version, a chemical turns a man into a grotesque Spider-Man-like creature, much like Jeff Goldblum in The Fly. Pascal’s character doesn’t fare well in the encounter.
Greg the teen in MTV’s Undressed (1999)
In 1999, Pedro Pascal portrayed Greg in three episodes of MTV’s Undressed, an anthology series focusing on various teenage couples. A tame version of Skins, the show recently resurfaced online with a scene where a young Pascal delivers the now-iconic line: “You’re either gay or you’re not… period.”
A vampire gang’s victim in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1999)
Also in 1999, Pascal landed his second TV role as Eddie in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He briefly chats with Buffy Summers on a college campus at night, referencing Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. The scene takes a dark turn when Eddie is ambushed by a gang of vampires, forcing Buffy to take action and later unfortunately get rid of Eddie…
A music video for Sia and Heidi Klum’s lingerie line (2014)
In 2015, Pascal starred in the music video for Sia’s Fire Meet Gasoline, a sultry clip co-starring model Heidi Klum. Just a year after his breakout role in Game of Thrones, the short film was also a campaign for Heidi Klum Intimates. It’s since been rediscovered by fans of The Mandalorian and The Last of Us.
Dio the goth in NYPD Blue (2001)
Pedro Pascal made a fleeting appearance in NYPD Blue in 2001. In the ninth episode of season eight, he plays Dio, a goth in a long black coat, questioned by officers. During the interrogation, he suddenly speaks in an invented satanic language. “My character had a pentagram in his palm, I licked it and started speaking some kind of Latin or whatever,” he later recounted on Hot Ones.
Gladiator 2 (2024) by Ridley Scott, starring Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal, in cinemas November 13 2024.
