Pedro Pascal

José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal (Spanish: [xoˈseˈpeðɾo βalmaˈseða pasˈkal]; born April 2, 1975) is a Chilean and American actor. Known for his portrayals of parental figures, he has starred in television series and blockbuster films. His accolades include an Actor Award, in addition to nominations for a Golden Globe Award and four Primetime Emmy Awards. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.

After nearly two decades of taking small roles on stage and television, Pascal's breakout roles came as Oberyn Martell in the fourth season of the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2014) and as Javier Peña in the Netflix crime series Narcos (2015–2017). He achieved international stardom for his leading roles as Din Djarin in the Disney+ science fiction series The Mandalorian (2019–2023) and Joel Miller in the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us (2023–present), earning him a reputation for portraying adoptive father figures. His performance in The Last of Us earned him numerous accolades, including a SAG Award for Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama Series.

In film, Pascal gained further recognition for starring in Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Gladiator II (2024), Materialists and The Fantastic Four: First Steps (both 2025). His other films include The Great Wall (2016), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), The Equalizer 2 (2018), and Triple Frontier (2019). He also provided voice work for the animated film The Wild Robot (2024).

On stage, Pascal has appeared in various theatre productions. He made his Broadway debut as Edmund in a 2019 adaptation of King Lear.

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The internet's daddy didn't happen overnight. Pedro Pascal spent nearly two decades as a working actor — Law & Order, The Good Wife, guest spots on everything — before Game of Thrones cast him as Oberyn Martell in 2014. Eight episodes. One duel. Eternal impact.

What followed was the most unlikely A-list run in Hollywood: Narcos' Javier Peña (2015–2017), then The Mandalorian (2019–), where he built an icon while wearing a helmet for three seasons. Then The Last of Us (2023–) as Joel Miller — the performance that earned him Emmy nominations and turned a video game adaptation into prestige TV's biggest swing.

The Chilean-born actor's specialty is the wounded protector — men who've lost everything and find one more thing to fight for. Wonder Woman 1984, Gladiator II (2024), and now Reed Richards in The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025). Pascal didn't just become a star. He became the moment.

The backstory is as dramatic as any of his roles. Born José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal on April 2, 1975, in Santiago, Chile, his family fled Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship when he was an infant — his parents sought political asylum, first in Denmark, then in the United States. Raised in Orange County and San Antonio, Texas, he studied acting at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. What followed was nearly two decades of the grind: guest spots on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Law & Order, The Good Wife, Graceland, The Mentalist, and dozens more — a journeyman actor paying dues in one-episode increments while his famous friends (he's been close with Sarah Paulson since the 90s) broke through first.

Now he's the moment. After The Last of Us turned him into prestige TV's reigning leading man, Pascal stacked the filmography: Gladiator II (2024) as the conflicted general Acacius, the voice of the fox Fink in DreamWorks' The Wild Robot (2024), Celine Song's romantic drama Materialists (2025), and Reed Richards — Mister Fantastic himself — in The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), planting him at the center of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's next era. He hosted Saturday Night Live (2023), earned Emmy nominations for The Last of Us, and was named to the Time 100 in 2023. Nearly thirty years after he started, the overnight success is finally, undeniably, here.