José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal is a Chilean-American actor who gained recognition for his roles in popular television series like Game of Thrones and Narcos. Born in Santiago, Chile in 1975, Pascal is the son of a child psychologist named Verónica Pascal Ureta and a fertility doctor named José Balmaceda Riera. Pascal has an older sister, Javiera, a younger brother, Nicolás, and a younger sister, Lux, who is an actress and transgender activist.
Pascal Early Life
Pascal was raised in Orange County, California, and San Antonio, Texas. Pascal attended the Orange County School of the Arts and graduated in 1993 before attending New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he graduated in 1997. A federal grand jury indicted Pascal's father in 1995 for his involvement in events at a fertility clinic he ran with two others. Following this, Pascal's father, mother, and two youngest siblings returned to Chile. Pascal maintains that his father did nothing wrong. Unfortunately, Pascal's mother died by suicide in 1999. After her death, Pascal began using her surname professionally as a tribute to her because he felt that Americans had difficulty pronouncing his original surname, Balmaceda.
Pascal as an Actor
Pascal has appeared in several popular television series, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Homeland, and The Mentalist. He was also cast as Oberyn Martell in the fourth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones and U.S. DEA agent Javier Peña in the Netflix original show Narcos. Pascal has extensive stage experience as an actor and director and has received several awards for his performances in classical and contemporary works. He made his directorial debut with the play underneathmybed in 2008 and is a member of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company.
Here is a list of all the acting roles of Pedro Pascal:
Film Credits
1996: Burning Bridges, Alex (short film); credited as Pedro Balmaceda
1997: Window Shopping, David (short film); credited as Pedro Balmaceda
2005: Hermanas, Steve
2008: I Am That Girl, Noah
2009: Iris, Billy (short film)
2011: The Adjustment Bureau, Maitre D’ Paul De Santo
2011: Sweet Little Lies, Paulino
2015: Bloodsucking Bastards, Max
2015: Sweets, Twin Peter
2016: The Great Wall, Pero Tovar
2017: Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Jack Daniels / Agent Whiskey (nominated for Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Rumble in 2018, shared with Colin Firth & Taron Egerton)
2018: Prospect, Ezra
2018: The Equalizer 2, Dave York
2018: If Beale Street Could Talk, Pietro Alvarez
2019: Triple Frontier, Francisco 'Catfish' Morales
2020: Wonder Woman 1984, Maxwell Lord (won Golden Tomato Award for Fan Favorite Actor of 2020)
2020: We Can Be Heroes, Marcus Moreno
2022: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Javi Gutierrez
2022: The Bubble, Dieter Bravo
2022: House Comes with a Bird, Nico (short film)
2023: Strange Way of Life, Silva (short film)
- 2024: Freaky Tales
- 2024: Drive-Away Dolls
- 2024: The Uninvited
- 2024: The Wild Robot
- 2024: Gladiator II
- 2025: Eddington
- 2025: Materialists
- 2025: The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- 2025: Avengers: Doomsday
- 2025: The Mandalorian & Grogu
Television Credits
1999 Good vs. Evil Gregor New Episode: "Gee Your Hair Smells Evil"; credited as Pedro Balmaceda
1999 Downtown Voice Episode: "Hot Spot"; credited as Pedro Balmaceda
1999 Undressed Greg 3 episodes; credited as Pedro Balmaceda
1999 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Eddie Episode: "The Freshman"; credited as Pedro Balmaceda
2000 Touched by an Angel Ricky Episode: "Stealing Hope"; credited as Pedro Balmaceda
2001 NYPD Blue Shane 'Dio' Morrissey Episode: "Oh Golly Goth"; credited as Alexander Pascal
2001 Earth vs. the Spider Goth Guy Television film
2006 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Reggie Luckman Episode: "Weeping Willow"
2006 Without a Trace Kyle Wilson Episode: "Candy"
2008 Law & Order Tito Cabassa Episode: "Tango"
2009 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Kevin 'Kip' Green Episode: "The Glory That Was..."
2009–2011 The Good Wife Nathan Landry 6 episodes
2010 Nurse Jackie Steve Episode: "Twitter"
2011 Lights Out Omar Assarian 4 episodes
2011 Brothers & Sisters Zach Wellison 2 episodes
2011 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Special Agent Greer Episode: "Smoked"
2011 Charlie's Angels Frederick Mercer Episode: "Angels in Paradise"
2011 Wonder Woman Ed Indelicato Television pilot
2011 Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe Comandante Veracruz Television pilot
2012 Body of Proof Zack Goffman Episode: "Falling for You"
2012 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Kyle Hartley Episode: "Malice in Wonderland"
2013 Nikita Liam Episode: "Aftermath"
2013 Red Widow Jay Castillo 4 episodes
2013 Homeland David Portillo Episode: "Tin Man Is Down"
2013 The Sixth Gun Special Agent Ortega Television pilot
2013–2014 Graceland Juan Badillo 10 episodes
2014 The Mentalist Marcus Pike 7 episodes
2014 Game of Thrones Oberyn Martell Recurring role
2015 Exposed Oscar Castro Vargas Television film
2015–2017 Narcos Javier Peña Main role (seasons 1–2), lead role (season 3)
2019–present The Mandalorian The Mandalorian / Din Djarin Lead role
2020 Home Movie: The Princess Bride Inigo Montoya Episode: "Chapter Two: The Shrieking Eels"
2021 Calls Pedro Voice role; Episode: "Pedro Across the Street"
2021 Animal Himself/narrator Episode: "Octopus"
2022 The Book of Boba Fett The Mandalorian / Din Djarin 3 episodes
2023–present The Last of Us Joel Miller Lead role
2023 Saturday Night Live Himself (host) Episode: "Pedro Pascal/Coldplay"
2023: Housebroken
- 2025: Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special
In addition to his television work, Pascal has appeared in several films, including Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The Great Wall, and The Equalizer 2. Since 2019, Pascal has portrayed the title role in The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars television series, and has starred in The Book of Boba Fett. In 2023, he played the lead role of Joel Miller in the HBO drama series The Last of Us.
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