The song Pedro Pascal wants played at his funeral: “It was a moment”
Over the past few years, Pedro Pascal has seen his stock rise exponentially. Notably, the Chilean actor first burst onto the scene in 2014 as Oberyn Martell in the fourth season of HBO’s hit fantasy epic, Game of Thrones.
While the charismatic character was one of the season’s highlights, Pascal’s role would be limited, given that his character’s skull is crushed to a pulp during a duel with the vicious killer, The Mountain, in episode eight of the series. A shocking but memorable piece of TV, it set a precedent for Pascal’s rise.
It wouldn’t be long before fans saw Pascal back on the screen, though, with him consistently displaying the scope of his dramatic aptitude. His next role of note came as real-life DEA agent Javier F Peña in the hit Netflix crime series, Narcos. The show tells the tale of Colombian narcoterrorist and drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, the leader of the Medellin cartel. Notably, his fall is also depicted as part of the series, with the rise of the brutal Cali Cartel shown in season three, with accompanying narration from Pascal himself.
Since then, Pascal has delivered a host of prominent roles. However, his most celebrated is undoubtedly the stoic title character of the hit Disney+ Star Wars series, The Mandalorian. Earning the love of fans through his intergalactic heroics and reluctant guardianship of the Force-sensitive child Grogu – better known as ‘Baby Yoda’ – Pascal’s prior experience in action-oriented titles really came to the fore, as did his dramatic aptitude. With the third season on the horizon, fans should be expecting yet another emotional whirlwind, courtesy of the power of Pascal’s efforts in bringing Jon Favreau’s writing to life.
Elsewhere, Pascal has recently gained the most tremendous critical acclaim of his career. This comes off the back of his performance as Joel in HBO’s TV adaptation of the hit post-apocalyptic video game, The Last of Us. In April 2022, he also made good on the comedic flourishes of The Mandalorian when starring opposite Nicolas Cage in the ridiculous action comedy, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.
Given that Pedro Pascal is such a hot property at the moment, he’s been an ever-present fixture in the media. When speaking to NME for their ‘Soundtrack of My Life’ segment, he revealed an interesting nugget of information – the song he wants to be played at his funeral. Somewhat surprisingly, Pascal picked the 1984 Prince epic ‘Purple Rain’.
Pascal is a noted lover of the band The Cure, even claiming himself to be somewhat of a superfan of the gothic British band. So while Prince certainly has the right to be considered a worthy funeral march, one might have assumed that Pascal would have pointed to the morose musings of Robert Smith and his band. But it would seem that Prince represented a very particular moment for the actor.
Expressing his love for the late musician, he said, “Prince is the fucking greatest. I was in London when I found out that he died. I was in a hotel and I had already ordered room service. Someone came to the door, and I was crying. They asked if I was okay, so I told them the truth and then they started crying too. We hugged. It was a moment.”
‘Purple Rain’ remains one of the most pertinent moments of Prince’s extensive catalogue. A track with peaks and troughs, it represents life itself in many ways, as Prince tries to reconcile the love and hate of the world into one existence. For this reason, and many more, it might be the greatest funeral song of all time.
