The role Pedro Pascal calls “the ideal experience”
It feels as though Pedro Pascal‘s ascension as an actor will never end. Over time, he’s become one of the most cherished performers of his generation, having now starred in the likes of Narcos, The Mandalorian, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and the recent hit horror-drama show The Last of Us.
All the success that Pascal has experienced, though, must be owed to him playing Oberyn Martell in season four of HBO’s epic fantasy show Game of Thrones, based on the famous novels by George R.R. Martin, and the actor is more than aware of the fact that he ought to respect his first big break.
“Game of Thrones was this incredible, ideal experience really of getting to play this beautifully written, iconic character who has a big in and a big out in one very, very solid season of the series,” Pascal once told Entertainment Weekly. “All I can really say is I had the time of my life, and I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for that role.”
When Pascal was shooting for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent with Nicolas Cage, he was fortunate enough to visit Dubrovnik in Croatia, which is where much of the filming for the fantasy show took place. During that second visit, Pascal was reminded of his time playing Oberyn.
“We were shooting in Dubrovnik spitting distance away from that arena where I got my skull crushed in,” the actor added. “I got to revisit it around the same time of year that we shot that Game of Thrones [episode]. It was like a full circle for me.” Evidently, Pascal is grateful for his first big break and respects his beginnings in the big time.
It was Game of Thrones that led Pascal to star opposite Cage in the aforementioned movie, and in the same interview, he admitted that the experience of working with such a big star taught him a thing or two, mostly about appreciating the kind of work that actors are fortunate enough to dedicate their lives to.
“Nicolas Cage was amazing to work with,” Pascal said. “He helped me remember how much you need to care about the work. He just brought the best out of me. There were many instances where he did something that was just so funny and so unexpected and yet so familiar because I had seen him do such interesting, wild takes. To be in a scene with him and to see him do these things, it was very special.”
