Pedro Pascal, the Chilean who conquered American TV stardom

Pedro Pascal is the actor of the moment. His career has skyrocketed since his first major role in Game of Thronesin 2014, and went on to star in NarcosNetflix production, in 2015.

Now he seems to be reaching his peak with his role as Joel Miller in The last of usHBO series based on the video game published by Sony in 2013, making waves on social networks with each episode, and with the arrival of the third season of The Mandalorianseries spinoff from Star Wars. The third season of the Disney Plus star production premiered last Wednesday, March 1.

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Banned

The destiny of Pascal, 47 years old and born José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal, is inextricably linked to the political situation in Latin America in the 1970s. Pascal was born in Santiago de Chile on April 2, 1975, barely two years after President Salvador Allende committed suicide in the Palacio de la Moneda to avoid being reached by General Augusto Pinochet’s coup.

Pinochet seized power and unleashed a murderous campaign against Allende’s allies and leftist political organizations in Chile, using the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) as a weapon to identify, arrest, torture and disappear alleged “dissidents”.

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This hunt affected Pascal’s family. His parents, Verónica Pascal and José Balmaceda, were targeted by DINA when they helped a leader of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionario, primary enemy of the Pinochet regime. It was Andrés Pascal Allende, a relative of Pascal’s mother.

A contingent of secret police agents went looking for Pascal’s father at a hospital where he worked, forcing the family to flee Chile with Pascal still in his arms. Verónica and José were taken care of for some time in the Venezuelan embassy in Santiago, until they were able to safely flee the country in 1976 with their children.

They fell first in Denmark, then in Texas (United States), where the family settled until they were able to return to Chile in 1995, five years after Pinochet’s departure from the presidency. Pascal was the only member of his family, now consisting of his two parents and his siblings Lux, Nicolás and Javiera, to remain in the United States.

A race that needed time to shine

Pascal decided to stay to pursue his dream of becoming a recognized actor; Since he was little, he said he wanted to be a director, and he was an avid consumer of 80s movies.

Pascal’s belated shine in the film industry (he is already 47 years old) is due to several factors: many directors put him in the stereotyped role of macho, violent, criminal, Latino actors. Therefore, he had many supporting roles in it Law and order and in CSI. His mother’s suicide in the year 2000 also left a mark on his life and career.

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“I think about her every day,” the actor confessed to his cousin Paula Coddou in an interview written for the Chilean newspaper Third. “Since I don’t pray, I can’t say I have a habit of feeling her close, but I live for her even though she’s gone, and that makes sense to me.”

The Role That Changed His Life, vol to pour unsuccessful and small roles in crime series, was that of Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones, HBO’s critically acclaimed fantasy drama series based on the book series written by George RR Martin. Pascal joined the HBO mega-production in its fourth season, starring in seven episodes.

“It was a dream, you know?” Said the star of The last of us to the British version of the magazine GQ. “It was a great role, at the height of the popularity of the showin a perfectly written season, with a perfectly written role.”

Almost immediately, Netflix chose him to play Javier Peña, a DEA agent, in the series’ first season. Narcoswhere he prosecuted Pablo Escobar during the height of violence Colombia suffered in the 1990s thanks to the drug trade.

In 2018 there was another big leap in his career: he won the lead role in The Mandalorianin which he plays Din Djarin, a stoic bounty hunter and protector of Grogu, popularly known as Baby Yoda.

The Mandalorian was Disney’s bet to engage consumers in the stream, until then dominated by companies like Netflix and Hulu. Pascal and Grogu’s charm worked: The Disney platform ended its first six weeks of launch with 26.5 million subscribers.

The third season promises to be a journey of redemption for Pascal’s character, as well as more adventures with Grogu, a viral internet sensation. It will have Giancarlo Esposito, star of it back break badly And You better call Saul, as the villain Gideon Moff. Also Christopher Lloyd, who played Doc back to the futuregets a special role in one of the episodes, according to the American media The Hollywood Reporter.

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However, the role for which Pascal is currently a critical darling is that of Joel Miller The last of us. The show follows the journey of Joel and Ellie Williams, a teenager who is immune to the infection that has swept the series’ world and who holds the key to developing a cure.

The series, produced by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, is in its sixth installment and is a critic favorite online, with a 97% rating from critics on the site. Rotten tomatoesand it’s a trend every time a new episode comes out.