Pedro Pascal

José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal ([xoˈse ˈpeðɾo βalmaˈseða pasˈkal]; born April 2, 1975) is a Chilean-American actor. Pascal portrayed Oberyn Martell in the fourth season of the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones and Javier Peña in the Netflix biographical crime series Narcos. He has also starred as mercenary Pero Tovar in The Great Wall (2016); as Agent Whiskey in Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017); as Dave York in The Equalizer 2 (2018); and as Francisco "Catfish" Morales in the heist drama Triple Frontier (2019).

Pascal plays the title character in the Disney+ Star Wars live-action series The Mandalorian (2019–present), and will appear as Maxwell Lord in the 2020 Warner Bros./DCEU film Wonder Woman 1984.

Early life and education

Pascal was born in Santiago, Chile. His mother, Verónica Pascal Ureta, was a child psychologist and his father, José Balmaceda, is a fertility doctor; his younger brother Lucas Balmaceda is an actor in Chile. Pascal has Spanish roots from a Basque grandfather and Majorcan grandmother.

Pascal's parents were Allende supporters and were involved in the opposition movement against the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in Chile around the time of Pascal's birth. Because of this, soon after his birth, Pascal's family was granted political asylum in Denmark. The family ultimately moved to the United States, and Pascal was raised in Orange County, California and San Antonio, Texas. Pascal was involved in competitive swimming during his early years and took part in the state championships in Texas at the age of 11, but immediately stopped competitive swimming after getting into drama class. He studied acting at the Orange County School of the Arts and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Career

Pascal has appeared in several television series, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Good Wife, Homeland, The Mentalist, and Graceland. He appeared as kidnapper Reggie in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Weeping Willow". He was cast in the pilot for the 2011 Wonder Woman television adaptation, but the show was never picked up. In June 2013, he was cast as Oberyn Martell in the fourth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones. Pascal stated that he was a huge fan of Game of Thrones before being cast as Oberyn and was ecstatic to join. In 2015, Pascal was cast in the role of U.S. DEA agent Javier Peña in the Netflix original show, Narcos. In the movie Bloodsucking Bastards (2015), Pascal portrayed the vampire Max.

Pascal has extensive stage experience as both an actor and director; he received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and Garland Award for his role in the International City Theater production of Orphans, and has performed in classical and contemporary works. He has appeared Off-Broadway in Maple and Vine by Jordan Harrison, Beauty of the Father by Nilo Cruz, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Based on a Totally True Story, Trista Baldwin's Sand, David Greenspan's Old Comedy, Terrence McNally's Some Men, and Shakespeare in the Park's 2006 production of Macbeth. He is a member of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company.

In April 2015, Pascal co-starred with Heidi Klum in the music video for Sia's "Fire Meet Gasoline". In 2017, he starred as Agent Whiskey in Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Golden Circle and as mercenary Pero Tovar in The Great Wall. In 2018, Pascal co-starred as Dave York, the primary antagonist in the thriller sequel film The Equalizer 2; the film starred Denzel Washington.

Pascal plays the title role in the first live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian, which debuted on Disney+ in November 2019. He starred as Francisco "Catfish" Morales in the heist drama Triple Frontier (2019). He was cast as Maxwell Lord alongside Gal Gadot and Chris Pine in the DC Extended Universe film Wonder Woman 1984, directed by Patty Jenkins; the film is scheduled to be released in 2020.

Personal life

Pascal is a native speaker of Spanish and is fluent in English. He has lived in New York City for over 20 years.