Pedro per Style IT (08-27/18)
Di Giovanni Grassi • Foto di Michael Schwartz • Stile di Fabio Immediato Relazionato: servizio fotografico / elenco di articoli
Figlio di oppositori di Pinochet, Pedro Pascal ha vissuto da rifugiato in Danimarca e negli Stati Uniti. Poi l’incontro con il cinema «per conoscere il mondo» e il successo nelle serie tv, da Il Trono di Spade a Narcos.
È in un motel degno di un horror movie l’appuntamento con Pedro Pascal, l’attore conosciuto da tanti come l’ispettore Javier Peña della serie Narcos, ma che le donne hanno apprezzato in primis come il principe Oberyn Martell ne Il Trono di Spade. Non siamo lontani da Orange County, dove questo 43enne nato in Cile e cresciuto da rifugiato prima in Danimarca e poi negli Usa (i suoi genitori, sostenitori di Salvador Allende, dovettero lasciare il Paese dopo il golpe di Augusto Pinochet) ha trascorso gran parte della sua adolescenza.
Impegnatissimo, tra le riprese di Wonder Woman 2 e la post produzione di If Beale Street Could Talk, il film tratto dal libro di James Baldwin Se la strada potesse parlare e diretto da Barry Jenkins, il regista premio Oscar di Moonlight, Pascal è davvero nel momento clou della carriera perché è tra gli interpreti «latinos» più richiesti a Hollywood. Non solo lo vedremo il 14 agosto con Denzel Washington in The Equalizer 2 di Antoine Fuqua, ma uno dei suoi film più attesi per il prossimo anno è Triple Frontier di J. C. Chandor da una sceneggiatura di Mark Boal, produttore e autore di The Hurt Locker.
«Sì, il lavoro va bene e mi offre esperienze straordinarie, che quando ero studente mai avrei immaginato, anche se le sognavo passando i pomeriggi al cinema mentre mia sorella mi faceva ascoltare sino all’esaurimento Like a virgin di Madonna» dice ridendo mentre un giradischi continua a ripetere la canzone di Sia, Fire meet gasoline, nel cui video si vede Pascal al fianco di Heidi Klum in quella che è stata definita «una delle più sensuali sequenze dei videoclip». D’altronde inquadrarlo solo nel suo lavoro d’attore è limitativo: tra le altre cose, fa parte a New York di un gruppo teatrale ed è attivo anche come regista.
«Ho sempre avuto un progetto: esistere e non solo vivere, cercando un modo di esprimere le mie idee e inseguendo le mie passioni. La realtà individuale è fatta di tante tappe, crisi, sogni, conquiste, disfatte. E non dimentico mai che, come cileno, ho conosciuto e studiato le tragedie di un Paese, dalla colonizzazione spagnola alla dittatura e alla democrazia».
Quale era, e forse è, il suo primario obiettivo? Volevo una vita interessante ed emotiva. Desideravo conquistare il senso della bellezza in ogni cosa. Sono cresciuto sentendomi parte di un albero genealogico che non voleva barriere, confini, discriminazioni: da Santiago siamo finiti in Danimarca, poi a San Antonio in Texas, quindi a Orange County in California e a New York. Sognavo leggendo i fumetti di Flash Gordon, ascoltavo le canzoni di Iggy Pop, avevo paura guardando film come Lo squalo, vivevo avventure con Indiana Jones, divoravo libri e andavo sempre in piscina perché desideravo diventare un nuotatore professionista: quando a 11 anni divenni in Texas campione statale di nuoto, mi sentii al top del mondo. Allora non sapevo ancora che la vita avrebbe preso altre svolte…
Quando decise di diventare un attore? Mi piacevano tutti i film con Steve McQueen e Paul Newman e l’idea che lavorando in Paesi sempre diversi avrei conosciuto il mondo mi stimolava. Per me i viaggi significano rottura, cambiamento d’abitudini e ricerca di nuovi equilibri.
Tra i tanti luoghi in. cui è stato quali sceglierebbe? Camminare sulla Grande Muraglia per The great wall di Zhang Yimou è stato come trovarmi su un’altra galassia. Nel Sud dell’Italia, nelle isole della Sicilia come Lipari e Stromboli ho provato una simbiosi con la natura che mi è necessaria, anche se mi considero un uomo che ha sempre, o quasi, bisogno di sentirsi una metropoli intorno. New York resterà per sempre il mio habitat, ma un’altra delle città che prediligo è Madrid.
E cosa le piace fare nei momenti liberi? Quando ho tempo per me stesso ascolto spesso musica: viviamo in un continuo bombardamento di immagini e questo è il mio modo di smussare ogni violenza. Mi piacciono tanti compositori e band, da Erik Satie ai Gun N’ Roses, e il fare musica insieme per me è la vera democrazia.
Quale ricordo ha dei suoi inizi professionali? Allora, e ancora adesso, mi piaceva leggere, scrivere, creare storie, viaggiare con i personaggi più svariati tra realtà e fantasia. La recitazione come maniera di esprimermi è venuta dopo e via via è diventata il baricentro intorno al quale raggrumare tutte le esperienze nel mondo dello spettacolo e, in primis, delle mie giornate.
Deve molto a Il Trono di Spade. Perché, a suo parere, questa serie ha avuto e continua ad avere un successo globale? Perché parla di regni, battaglie, povertà, classi sociali, mescola il fantasy alla fantascienza e all’horror, in un misto di riferimenti al Medioevo e all’eterno realismo della politica, dei rapporti e degli scontri umani, tra draghi con gli occhi accesi e individui che hanno coraggio, paura, certezze e dubbi.
Che cosa vuole ancora dalla sua carriera? Incontri e stimoli da parte di personaggi quanto mai diversi tra loro. Ma desidero anche dialogare con il pubblico, che per me significa socialità, contatti autentici con le persone più disparate. Voglio eleganza nella mia vita e a questa parola oggi così abusata, io do il significato di generosità.
Come vive le rivalità con i suoi colleghi attori? Astraendomi, creando ovunque io sia una porzione di esistenza dove gli amici, le personeche scegli e che ami hanno un posto preciso e non si parla solo di noi stessi, dei nostri problemi, ma del mondo. Tuttavia da sempre ritengo che la competizione, così come l’ambizione, sia una molla indispensabile nella vita: la rivalità ci impone anzitutto di battere noi stessi e, in fondo, è anche per questo che sogniamo le nostre mete, andiamo avanti o torniamo indietro e ci proiettiamo verso qualche miraggio. Se oggi che è all’apice del successo dovesse scrivere la sua epigrafe quale sarebbe? «Prendi in mano il tuo banjo e vai a suonare» perchè nella vita è importante fare quello che davvero vuoi e non diventare ricco e famoso.
Pedro for OrangeC (04-28/14)
By Pat H. Broeske • Photographer: Kyle Monk
Related: photoshoot / list of articles
The Viper Prince
Orange County school of the arts alumnus Pedro Pascal auditioned for an uncompromising role on ‘Game of Thrones.’ He got the part. Now will he survive?
Movie outings were a family ritual when young Pedro Pascal lived in Newport Beach. So it was no surprise when the teenage Pascal made “a seamless transition from ‘I want to be Indiana Jones’ to ‘I want to play Indiana Jones.’ ”
His latest transition was equally seamless. The veteran stage and TV actor already was an avid fan of “Game of Thrones” when he got an audition for the hugely successful HBO medieval fantasy series. Pascal snared the role of Prince Oberyn Martell, aka the Red Viper, debuting last month amid great secrecy and anticipation.
It’s one more sign that the 39-year-old Pascal is much in demand. He recently portrayed an FBI internal-affairs officer on USA Network’s “Graceland,” now is shooting episodes of CBS’ “The Mentalist”, and is co-starring in the film “Bloodsucking Bastards”.
As for “Thrones,” which he shot last summer in Northern Ireland and Croatia, he’s proving to be a smooth scene-stealer—and not just because his character is an equal-opportunity lover (bedding men and women). What’s ahead for Oberyn? He quips: “An HBO SWAT team will come down on me if I say too much.”
Oberyn Martell is from the land of Dorne. And you? I was born in Santiago, Chile. But my family left when I was 9 months old. We were given political asylum in Denmark. It was the mid-’70s and my parents were young and liberal. It was a dangerous time, and they were lucky they got out with their lives.
How old were you when you moved to Orange County? I was 11. I went to middle school in Corona del Mar and to high school in Los Alamitos—so I could attend the Orange County School of the Arts.
You also trained in New York. Yes, and I lived the typical struggling actor’s life there. I came back to L.A. after attending the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. But mostly I’ve lived in New York.
You’ve done some name changing as an actor. You were Pedro Balmaceda in early TV and stage credits. And, briefly, Alexander Pascal. Balmaceda is my father’s last name; Pascal is my mom’s last name. After she passed, I took her name. When I started out, I was struggling with not necessarily fitting into what a “Pedro” might look like to some casting directors. There wasn’t the familiarity with the vastness of Latino culture that we now have. But, my name is Pedro. And whether it was going to limit me or give me opportunities, it was something that I had to risk. It was my name.
You’ve done a lot of episodic TV work: “Buffy,” “The Good Wife,” “C.S.I.,” “Red Widow.” Do you play a certain type? I can’t say that I have too identifiable a type. Most times I’m glad I don’t, because I get to play very different characters. There wasn’t anything charming about the lawyer on “The Good Wife.” He was a pretty sleazy guy, but he was also suited and very clean-cut. I’ve been a military commander in Colombia, a lawyer for the state’s attorney office, and on “Homeland,” I was majority counsel for the Senate.
And you’re a vampire. Yes, in “Bloodsucking Bastards”, which is a very broad, gory comedy—sort of “The Office” meets “Fright Night”. It’s about corporate office drones taken over by vampires. I’m the corporate takeover guy—and the head vampire.
Do you get to have fangs? I get to do it all, from wearing fangs to full-on horror. I’m only getting my feet wet in film. I’ve done little parts here and there. This is my first major film role.
“Game of Thrones” is also major. How was the audition process? They cast out of London. I was in California at the time, and was asked to put myself on tape. A friend of mine hand-held my iPhone while he read the scenes with me. The audition was seen by the show creators, David Benioff and Dan [D.B.] Weiss, who sent this really articulate email asking if I would be willing to record it again with an acting adjustment. I decided to take the process a bit more seriously at that point and paid somebody to do the audition with proper lighting and with proper sound. [He laughs.] A few weeks after my first audition I found myself in Ireland, shaking hands with the creators of the show and two executives from HBO. I thought they’d brought me over for another audition. Even after a costume fitting and a stunt rehearsal, I still hadn’t understood fully that the part was mine. When the trip was over, I called my agent: “Did I get the part?”
You were quoted as saying Oberyn is a lover and a fighter. It has more to do with the way he lives his life. He’s all passion. Whatever he feels, he does. He’s uncompromising and he doesn’t care what consequences he may face because of his actions.
The show is famous for its nudity among other things. In the episodes we’ve seen, you’re bare-chested. Are you gonna show even more skin? The great thing about the character is you can never know what to expect because he’s a man who does what he wants, when he wants. So in one moment, he can start a fight with you, or ask you to go to bed with him, offer you some wine, or smash a fresh bottle against a wall. [He] flips on a dime. So whether or not we see more skin or blood is totally up for grabs.
You’ve said your character has a “noble agenda,” seeking revenge for his sister’s death. But in Episode 3, he’s offered the chance to be an advisor to the king, who represents the enemy. How do you explain that? I think for Oberyn Martell, to get as close to his enemies as possible is nothing but advantageous. But the seduction of power, for anyone, is inevitably dangerous, no matter where a person’s “integrity” exists at the start. That’s the thrilling aspect of the show that keeps everyone on their toes. Because as fantastical as the world is, the characters are all written as human beings, flaws and all.
Will your character return in Season 5? Oh, I can’t tell you that.
Any plans to visit Europe this summer? You’re looking for spoilers.
School Days Pedro Pascal ‘s mother helped him apply to the Orange County School of the Arts He auditioned, and made the cut.
Getting There “My family lived in Newport Beach so I got an interdistrict transfer [to attend the school, which then was in Los Alamitos]. There was a lot of carpooling, a lot of different kids coming from different districts. I remember there was this drop-off point in the parking lot of South Coast Plaza. And I would sit with my parents and wait to be picked up. Once I got my driver’s license, they were so relieved.”
Life at OCSA “When I was there, the school did not have an independent campus. They had trailers on the grounds of Los Alamitos High and had this abandoned middle school that was close enough to walk to. It was all very makeshift and innocent at the very beginning, which is kind of cool,” says the 1993 graduate, who visited the Santa Ana campus last fall to do an alumni master’s program. “I was so floored by the new facilities—and by the students.”
Favorite Place in O.C. “The beach at Little Corona. It’s so tiny, and the tide pools are so beautiful.”
Pedro for Esquire ES (11-10/19)
By Ana Trasobares • Photographer: JuanKR • Sylist: Kristen Ingersoll Related: photoshoots / list of articles /
en Español 🇪🇸
It’s a splendid day in Beverly Hills, but even more when Pedro Pascal walks through the door. The protagonist of Narcos and in some chapters of Game of Thrones, is one of those guys who just show up and give a good vibes. And there’s no pretending. Hours go by and not only does he not disappoint, but he goes on to more: nice, kind, affectionate, joker - very Latin and very normal. This meeting in Los Angeles coincides with the premiere of his latest work, The Mandalorian,the most anticipated series by the amount of followers that the Star Wars universe drags. On November 12, Disney+ will launch its streaming platform in the US, Canada and the Netherlands and, among its offering, the first season of this series. While in Spain we will have to wait until March 31. We spoke on the phone with its protagonist.
Who is the Mandalorian? He is a lone gunslinger who lives adventures on the edge of the galaxy, one of those that appears in the famous Star Wars canteen where some play music, others play cards, others make or end a deal… all seem to live outside of the law.
Why have you been so excited to star in this series? When the creator and director, Jon Favreau, called me, I was really crazy because I, like millions of children, have grown up admiring the Star Wars universe. George Lucas is an icon of our culture, he belongs to our happiest memories, so it didn’t take me half a second to say yes.
What was the first movie you saw in the saga? I saw the first 3 installments in a movie theater in San Antonio, Texas, when I was very young. My father was a doctor and a die-hard movie buff. He took us to the movies three times a week.
Is that why you became an actor? Sure, because of him [laughs]. He got me the idea by taking me so much to the movies. I must have been 3 the first time I went. Normal for those images to stay with me, right?
Listening to an actor so beloved in Spain on the other end of the phone is sometimes strange but other times feels familiar. He speaks Spanish
fluently, with some Latin expressions and others in English, but they all come from his soul, because he is one of those who have grown up between two worlds. His family left Chile when wasn’t even a one year old, fleeing from the Pinochet dictatorship. Denmark was their first destination as political refugees, and the US was the country which later welcomed them and saw them grow. Texas, New York, Madrid, Los Angeles, Bogotá, Mexico City, London, Santiago de Chile… places he likes to call as home.
“Now that I am in the middle of my life, that I have just turned 44, it is very interesting for me to stop and think where I am from. The answer is not easy because I feel like an absolute nomad. I come from anywhere because I am capable of living wherever I play ”.
With your resume and the current situation around you, it is impossible not to wonder about political refugees in general and the Trump wall in particular. We are all afraid and anxious about the actions that Trump is taking. One tries to understand the historical and political context that we live in, but the only thing that is clear to us is that we are hoping that these are the last steps of a fascist, and the only thing he sells us is fear and lies. What is happening economically and culturally, that we have to live these extremes? We should all have the same rights because we all have the same needs.
How would you define Trump? If the ego were an image that would be Trump. This is their politics inside and outside of the US, and it is very disheartening not knowing yet who will win, the good guys or the bad guys. How am I going to feel safe with a person who doesn’t want to help others when they have the power to do so?
Do you think he will last long in power? I don’t know, nor are the limits or the ethics of politics that should maintain the balance in society very clear. It scares me to see the truth die, because the truth is worth less every day. This is why we are so lost.
Pedro Pascal does not want to continue talking about politics. He says he would understand perfectly if someone told him that he was getting where they were not called, so we changed third.
As the protagonist of Narcos, let’s talk about drugs. In Europe, many think that legalizing them would end drug trafficking. Do you agree? Drugs are a recurring theme for fiction because they portray a society, culture and intrigues that occur around them because they are illegal.
And what do you think? …What can I tell you, since my genes are of very liberal and left-wing blood, okay?
And he laughs. Caught the hint, there is no choice but to talk about cinema and after climate change.
Is the power of the Latin entertainment sector in the US appear to be true? Yes, because the Latino public is getting better and better, so the Latin marketing and industry is also getting very strong. In this sense, Hollywood and cinema are lagging behind and should adapt to the new times, as streaming platforms do. These new avenues of entertainment do reflect reality by telling stories that represent the Latino public. After all, it is just another business.
How do you imagine the planet in 2050, if we continue to take care of it so little? What scientists have been spreading for years must be put into practice. It is the least we can do if we want to save our home for future generations. It is also important that governments and those in power enforce these rules. As long as no action is taken, we will continue to oscillate between fear and hope.
Are you an activist? My contribution, in addition to the small and necessary daily gestures, is not having children [laughs] …
Seriously? There is a current that encourages not having offspring so as not to end the planet’s resources. You are one of them? [More laughter]… well, I don’t agree with applying measures to control the birth rate because having a child is a very emotional need, so I fully understand parents because, I am Uncle Pedro, by the way. I have ten nephews and I assure you that without them I could not live. If we do things well, it is positive that people continue to have families …
And he starts laughing as he shares a reflection, “pathetic”, as he says: “As I am still single and childless, I can afford to drink water from a plastic bottle without feeling horrible, right?”
Looking forward to seeing you in The Mandalorian and next June in theaters in Wonder Woman 1984, we say goodbye to Pascal with one last question that we hope will bring you good proposals.
Pedro, when are you coming to work in Spain? Please, I’m looking forward to being invited! Put it in big letters, that I would love to work in Spain! As soon as I can, I will escape and go to see you.
Pedro for EW (11-20/20)
By Chancellor Agard • Photographer: Radka Leitmeritz Related: photoshoot / list of articles
Human connection. It’s vital. Especially in a year like 2020. Especially for Pedro Pascal. So it’s ironic that the 45-year-old’s highest-profile success to date is working with an adorable animatronic puppet, inside a chrome helmet he famously can’t take off. “It is why I wanted to do this show. Selfishly, I knew [the Child, a.k.a. Baby Yoda] was likely to make people fall in love with the show,” says Pascal of tackling the title role on The Mandalorian, the Emmy-nominated hit Star Wars series, which returned for its second season on Disney+ in October.
The Chilean-American actor has an eye for choosing projects where he’ll stand out, from popular network procedurals including The Good Wife, The Mentalist, and Law & Order to his breakout roles as the charming — and horny — Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones and, soon after, DEA agent Javier Peña on Netflix’s Narcos. But it’s the stoic bounty hunter safeguarding a frog-egg-eating 50-year-old toddler that’s made him a household name. The new season of The Mandalorian followed Pascal’s galaxy-traveling warrior as he searched for the home of the Child, generating countless memes in the process.
Playing the Mandalorian has been one of the hardest and most unique experiences of Pascal’s career to date. At this point, it’s no secret that he wasn’t physically under the helmet as much as he would’ve liked in season 1 and recorded his dialogue in post-production to match what his doubles, stunt actors Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder, did on set in the armor. Giving a largely vocal performance was a challenge for a physical actor like Pascal, who is almost unrecognizable when you compare his turns on The Good Wife and Game of Thrones, for example, because of how he carries himself. Yet, being on set way more in The Mandalorian season 2 didn’t make his job any easier because he still had to figure how to make Mando compelling while also being as economical as possible in his physical movements and vocal performance.
“I’m not even sure if I would be able to do it if it weren’t for the amount of direct experience that I’ve had with being on stage to understand how to posture yourself, how to physically frame yourself into something and to tell a story with a gesture, with a stance, or with very, very specific vocal intonation,” says Pascal, who believes his collaborative relationship with creator Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni, a.k.a. his “Mandalorian papas,” also helped him inhabit the role in season 2.
Speaking of collaboration: Working with comedian Amy Sedaris, who plays gruff Tatooine mechanic Peli Motto, was one of the highlights of The Mandalorian’s sophomore season. “I followed Amy Sedaris around like a puppy. [I was] like, ‘Hey again. I’m not leaving your side until you wrap,’ and she’s like, ‘Cool,’” Pascal says. “I love the Child — it really is adorable — and it is so fascinating to see it work, but somebody who makes you spit-laugh right into your helmet will always be my favorite thing.“
Pascal longed for those kinds of interactions during quarantine, which proved difficult for the actor who was living alone in Los Angeles. But he lights up, is even giddy at times, when the conversation turns to bonding with the Community cast right before a charity table read back in May (he filled in for Walton Goggins), or FaceTiming his friends to celebrate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ election victory on Nov. 7. "Ahhhh! Ahhhh!” Pascal exclaims, reenacting the joyous calls with buddies like Oscar Isaac that Saturday morning. “It was screaming and jumping and dancing and crying…. I very arrogantly took screenshots of everything and [shared them], like, ‘I am a part of this!’”
“I’d be less nervous playing tennis in front of the Obamas than I was seeing a reunion of these people that I think are brilliant and have this incredible chemistry with each other and stepping in and having really, really, bad technology in this new space that I had moved into. I really resented having to actually participate acting-wise because there were instances where it was way too much fun to watch.”
His appreciation for those around him has only grown during the pandemic. Before flying to Budapest to film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent with Nicholas Cage, Pascal leaned on his bubble for support. Community’s Gillian Jacobs, for example, hosted him for an outdoor socially distanced pizza night every Saturday in the early weeks of lockdown. (He suspects that’s why he was recruited for the sitcom’s table read when Goggins couldn’t participate.)
“The friends that got me through it are absolutely everything to me and very beautifully marked in my head. I’ve got old friends and new friends that literally did nothing short of parent me through the experience,” says Pascal, who has “survivor’s remorse” for being in Europe right now. “I feel guilty not being [in the States] with my friends through [this tumultuous time] but also grateful that, individually, I was able to gain a little bit of separation from the stress of it.”
Those tight bonds helped redefine, or at least clarify, what success means to him. “I want to make sure that my relationships are right, and I want to make sure I’m nurturing meaning in a sustaining way, and that won’t necessarily be related to getting good jobs and making lots of money,” he says. But he’ll take them — as he did for both of his 2020 projects, about which he’s thrilled. And how could he not be, starring in two of the year’s most feverishly anticipated properties?
Besides The Mandalorian, Pascal appears in Patty Jenkins’ superhero epic Wonder Woman 1984, which has endured a Homeric journey to its release (read: several pandemic-related delays). Thankfully, the odyssey is almost over because Warner Bros. recently confirmed that it will open in both theaters and on HBO Max on Dec. 25. Pascal is stoked audiences will finally see his turn as the villainous Maxwell Lord because playing the greedy dream-seller pushed him out of his post-Game of Thrones action role comfort zone.
“With Wonder Woman, [Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig] are doing the action, baby, and I’m doing the schm-acting!” he says, hilariously elongating that final syllable. “I am hamming it up!” (Indeed, Pascal reveals Cage inspired his performance in one particular scene.)
But Pascal felt he was up to the challenge because everything he needed was right there in the screenplay, which Jenkins co-wrote with Geoff Johns and David Callaham. “I didn’t have to take something and figure out how to put more flesh onto it. I had to achieve getting into the skin of what was being presented to me,” he says, contrasting the experience with playing a DEA agent for three seasons on Narcos. “For me, Colombia was almost the central character, and then I was allowed to make him depressive and to tonally interpret what the character was. And in this case [on Wonder Woman 1984], there was just so much for me to meet rather than to invent.”
He continues: “That was an incredible delight and challenge because Patty Jenkins is a director who loves actors and when she sees she can ask for more, she does. And there isn’t anyone better, in my experience, to give more to.”
Pedro for GQ (07-19/18)
Written by Joshua Rivera • Photographer: Daria Kobayashi Ritch • Stylist: Lucy Armstrong Related: photoshoot / list of articles
The star of forthcoming blockbusters The Equalizer 2 and Wonder Woman 1984 talks about Hawaii, becoming an action hero in your 40s, and getting your ass kicked by allergies.
Pedro Pascal has noticed my sniffling. “Do you have allergies?” he asks. “You have a cold? Or do you have a cocaine problem?” It’s spring, the season when our bodies rebel against us. I tell him about the allergies I’ve had since I was a kid. He tells me to get a neti pot.
“I love drugs,” he says, pausing to make sure I know he’s talking about the over-the-counter kind, but for him, nothing’s worked better than that weird-ass contraption. “It’s kind of gross, but it really, really helps.” He offers to text me a photo so I know what to get at the drugstore.
“I’ve been to such extreme locations,” the star says from Oahu, where he’s filming a scene he describes as “survivalist.” This latest role, in a movie he can’t share the title of, is kicking his ass, and at 43, he’s feeling it. “My body is like, Dude, you were down for this ten years ago! When are you gonna play a psychiatrist?” Hawaii is good to him, though. “At the end of the day, it’s a caress being here. There aren’t any snakes, there’s no deadly spiders. It rains a lot, but it’s never cold. The locals are just too cool. It’s the kinda place where you get your ass kicked if you’re an asshole.”
Still, he’s been away from New York City for too long. He was close last fall, in Boston filming the movie you’ll see him in next, The Equalizer 2. But it’s been a while, and it’ll be a long while yet till he gets back—he’ll be leaving Oahu soon for London and Wonder Woman 1984. But maybe after that, he’ll finally get to stick around for a while. Maybe do a play. He misses being onstage in New York, where he hustled in theater and on cop shows for 20 years. It’s where he first got his ass kicked by allergies.
“I wanted a shotgun to my head,” he says. “It just fuckin’ murdered me.” Then he got a neti pot, and it made New York a bit more bearable. He tells me about his nomadic upbringing—he was born in Chile but left as an infant because his parents were political refugees. He has no memory of Denmark, where they first landed, so San Antonio—where he lived until age 11—is the first home he remembers. Then middle and high school in Orange County, California, before finally taking off for NYU.
“There were never any roots,” he says. “In my second year [of college], my family moved back to Chile. I wonder whether if I would have stuck it out, had I still had a cushy house to go back to in Southern California. Because I wasn’t going to go back to Chile. I have tons of family there that I knew from visiting while I was growing up, but I already knew I wanted to be an actor and had the very, very naive goal of succeeding as an actor.”
He laughs as he says this, because at every turn Pedro Pascal never fails to feel like the most pragmatic person in the world who just happens to have an absurd dream of being an actor, a dream he was happy to try out for 20 years before his breakout Game of Thrones role. He speaks plainly, as if his career were a set of cabinetry he had carved and installed himself, using readily available methods and materials. And despite his recent successes and popularity, he still seems to feel a bit apprehensive about it all.
“I think that’s a thing you can’t really shake, either from our Latin blood or from the consistent inconsistency of our careers,” Pascal says. “It all seems like an accident when things work out, and maybe it is. Part of it is sort of an accident. I just remember being so terrified when I graduated college, because I knew this was a thing that had to happen, and I couldn’t conceive of it happening and I couldn’t conceive of not doing it. I think that kind of never goes away.”
I tell him that feels true to me, in my bones. Not just as a writer but as a Latin-American.
“Yeah, it’s an immigrant, Latin thing,” he says. “I should unpack that more for myself. My parents are political refugees. I saw their struggle and their success, and my father—although he became a successful doctor—he never let go of the fear of it all being taken away.”
Pedro for New Potato (07-7/14)
Written & photograped by Danielle Kosann (when she met Pedro…) Related: photoshoot / list of articles
We can’t deny that all of us (male and female alike) were basically in tears when Game of Thrones’ Oberyn (aka Pedro Pascal) was killed during his fight as champion for Tyrion Lannister. To our delight though, upon recently seeing Much Ado About Nothing at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park, we learned that Pascal’s head is still very much intact – and looking better than ever for that matter (For those confused, Pascal’s demise on GOT involved a kind of head-squeezed-until-exploding situation).
It’s hard not to have an instant crush on Pedro Pascal, something you’ve definitely gaged from these photos, and that you’re about to gauge from his interview below. Tonight is the last night Pascal can be seen on the Delacorte’s stage as the perpetually-plotting villain Don John, so you may want to stop over and wait in line for tickets. We personally met up with Pascal at The Smith Lincoln Center – a favorite restaurant of ours around the park – to chat on all things Game of Thrones, Shakespeare, and his idea of the perfect first date (ladies, get out your moleskins)…
From start to finish, what would be your ideal food day? I’d start with very strong, very tasty espresso, runny eggs and buttery toast, someone to share blueberry pancakes with, and then more coffee. A burger and a shake (or a beer – or both) for lunch, and at some point, gin and oysters. And someone with me to remind me to eat some greens.
What are some pre and post shoot routines? Pre-shoot, I’m just muttering, “Don’t f*ck it up,” under my breath. Post-shoot, relief or despair over having or having not f*cked it up. And barking. I usually bark.
Most memorable moment on set… For me, it was sitting between Charles Dance and Lena Headey during Tyrion’s trial and watching them, Sibel Kekilli, Peter Dinklage, the extras, design and creative team and entire crew work their magic. All I had to do was sit there and take it in from one of the best views in the house.
Do people snack on that set? What do they have? In Belfast there is a lot of tea going around. In Croatia, there were cheese and ham sandwiches that I couldn’t stop eating.
How did you prepare for your role as Oberyn? The preparation for the role really came from talking with the show’s creators, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, and one of the show’s directors, Alex Graves. They invited me into dialogues about the character very early; what motivates him, what makes him human. They were very trusting and generous, so there was a lot of room to explore, and to let the imagination run free. The writing was so good, so that really did most of the work. The stunt team put me in some Wushu training with a master of the form for a couple of weeks before I started, and very intense fight rehearsals throughout.
How did you prepare for your role as Don John in Much Ado About Nothing? The major difference for me in doing a play, as opposed to TV or film, is the rehearsal process. Six days a week for four to five weeks (usually) you’re rehearsing, and it’s during that process that I find the character – a character that becomes even more clear to me in performing before a live audience over and over again.
What’s it like going from playing a hero to a villain? They’re both equally fun. The best part is discovering the qualities of a bad guy that don’t make him much different than a hero – that make him just like any of us.
What did you always have with you on set during your ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ rehearsals? My script! And coffee.
What would be your last meal? Who would it be with? Something bad for me, with my family.
Have you ever done a workout or diet specifically for a role? What was it? Up until now, I’ve really only relied on the physical demands of whatever role I’m playing at the time. Like one character is a boxer, another can helicopter a spear through the air, and this one [Don John] sits on his ass and bitches all day. I’ve yet to face something that would mean experiencing a specific physical transformation and have always been curious if I’d be up for the challenge. I hope so.
Your idea of the perfect first date… A date that doesn’t feel like a date. And hopefully by the end, or throughout, very good kissing.
Words to act by… One word. Relax.
If you could host a dinner party with any five people living or dead, who would be there? What would be your quote-of-the-evening to all? Carrie Fisher, James Baldwin, Henry Miller, Salvador Allende and Karen O. I wouldn’t have a quote for all. With this company, I would just shut up and listen.
And, most importantly…do you still have a headache? I’m feeling much better, thank you.
Pedro for Interview (9-18/14)
By Sarah Paulson • Photographer: Anthony Batista • Stylist: Julie Ragolia Related: photoshoot / list of articles
“Pedro and I were really inspired by French film noirs like #armyofshadows and #lesamurai and wanted to play in that world.“ Anthony Batista
As Oberyn Martell, the foreign Prince on Season Four of Game of Thrones, Pedro Pascal is cocky and clever; smooth and seductive. Though he only appeared in seven episodes, Pascal’s Red Viper stole the season. His demise—unexpected and ultraviolent—is permanently seared into the memories of fans, which, on a show as perilous as Game of Thrones, is quite a feat.
Pascal didn’t come out of nowhere; the Chilean-American actor and NYU grad began acting in films, theater, and television since the late ’90s. His role on HBO’s most cinematic series, however, made him famous and sought after. He is currently living in Colombia filming Narcos, the new Netflix original series about the Medellín drug trade co-starring Boyd Holdbrook. Here, he talks to one of his oldest and dearest friends, American Horror Story actress Sarah Paulson.
PP: Do you have at least two questions? Have you done your research?
SP: I’ve known you since I was 18, is that enough research? I think that’s enough research.
PP: [laughs]
SP: I do have questions. They’re all written down. Are you ready for this? Where are you sitting right now?
PP: I’ve just come up to my room to the exact same spot where we were Skyping about 12 hours ago. I have a beautiful view of Medellín, Colombia. The sun is shining.
SP: I think people are very curious—and by people I mean, like, one person in the entire world—about how we met. Do you remember your first impression of me and do I remember my first impression of you? Was there a particular bonding moment? Did we ever go through a period of estrangement? These are the questions I have.
PP: [laughs] I have answers to all those questions, I just don’t know if you want to hear them. I met you, Sarah Paulson, in September of 1993, my first month in New York City. I was really lucky because my first friend at NYU lived in Brooklyn, Kristen, and went to high school with you, so your guys’ posse kind of adopted me.
SP: And do you remember the names of the people in that posse besides Kristen?
PP: I remember everybody! There are a couple of things that I probably shouldn’t say about all of us—we were 18-year-olds in New York City in 1993. [But] I remember all of us going to the Upper East Side. I insisted that we all go see that movie Fearless.
SP: Yeah, Fearless. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.
PP: There were eight of us sitting next to each other and, as I remember, we were all sobbing by the end of it.
SP: Then we walked into the park and saw Woody Harrelson. Remember that?
PP: Yeah, that’s right. We were the two people who knew exactly who he was and fanned out a little bit. Nobody else cared. We had our little celebrity sighting moment and that, in retrospect, was our first step towards bonding, which cut to, I’m pretty sure that night, drinking 40s, me being on Romi’s shoulders running down Fifth Avenue, and getting knocked down by a cabbie. [laughs] I think you were on somebody’s shoulders too.
SP: I sure was. I remember that so clearly. It’s a wonder we survived. When I think about the debauchery, the things that we did, the kind of shit we were pulling and the way we were behaving, I don’t even know how we made it to the next morning, much less 20 years later.
PP: Do you remember your perfect Wednesday Addams costume on Halloween that you added fangs to? I bet you don’t remember that.
SP: I don’t really remember it. What did I do? I wore a button down? What did I do?
PP: You had the perfect braids. You had the perfect Wednesday Adams outfit. But then your added element was fangs - the cool kind that attached to the teeth.
SP: That’s so boring; you’re an idiot.
PP: I liked it.
SP: Did we go through a period of estrangement? I think we went through a period where we didn’t talk as much, but it was never because we were fighting.
PP: You were the first of all of us that started working and never stopped. You went to Los Angeles, and we didn’t reconnect until a few years later.
SP: Until you came to Los Angeles.
PP: I came to L.A. for a bit and then went back to New York. Even after going back to New York, we somehow went into chapter two of our friendship that - we attached to each other and haven’t been able to let go.
SP: That is for damn sure. I think when you get knocked off by a cabbie and you see Woody Harrelson and you see Fearless all in one day, you’re either bonded for life or you’ll never see each other again.
PP: It’s a very powerful seed. Think of everything that we’re actively editing in our minds. [laughs]
SP: Oh yeah. That’s just not ready for consumption by masses of people - or the one person that will read this, no offense. [laughs] Here’s my question. I didn’t know this about you, or if I did, I forgot it. Apparently you acted out scenes from Poltergeist (1982) as a child. Is that true?
PP: Yes, it’s 100% true. I tricked my parents, my poor parents. Back when Poltergeist came out in movie theaters, PG-13 did not exist. PG-13 didn’t come into form until after Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Doom (1984).
SP: Ladies and gentlemen, Pedro Pascal the film buff and the MPAA all-star.
PP: [laughs]
SP: Nerd alert!
PP: Steven Spielberg’s name was all over Poltergeist and E.T. was out the same year, which every single parent took their child to. So despite Poltergeist being a horror movie, I convinced my parents to let me see it. It was terrifying. I guess this says a lot about me as a six-year-old, because I loved it. [laughs]
SP: The number of horror movies that you’ve taken me to is copious. You have a problem. No matter how bad they are, you drag me to them.
PP: I don’t take you to the super gory ones!
SP: On the nights when I’m like, “Ugh, what do you want to do?” And you’re like, “Let’s go see a movie,” and there are 17 movies I will not see, you want to take me to all 17 of the ones that I don’t want to see. I’m not going to say the titles because I don’t want to offend people, but you know exactly the two that I’m speaking of specifically.
PP: But those two were super gory.
SP: It’s not even that. It’s just the idea that you thought it might be good. You really tried to convince me that it would be good.
PP: [laughs] I’m going to take you to a scary movie one of these days.
SP: You were like a master manipulator since the time you were six and it still happens. “It’ll be fun, I promise!” And it just cuts to me throwing popcorn at you.
PP: What about all the horrible movies you’ve made me see?
SP: No! Nuh-uh! I don’t think so! I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re going to have text me and explain what you’re talking about. But I have a question about the Poltegeist thing. Was that the moment, or was there a moment that preceded that, where you thought, “I want to do what they’re doing?” I know that happened to me with a movie I saw when I was young.
PP: I think ’80s-era Steven Spielberg definitely shaped a lot of [my] fantasies. I particularly focused on Poltergeist. I just found it so fascinating; it got inside my imagination. Even if you watch it now, it really holds up. There’s not another horror movie that is actually a family drama. But it was definitely around that time. I would go to the movies very often with my father, because he just loved to go to the movies. He wouldn’t really play by the rules - my parents were so young and they were Chilean immigrants in San Antonio, Texas. It was all about going to movies, rock concerts, and Spurs games. And the primary influence in my life was movies. It was an interest that never went away. The first fucking thing that we did when we met was go to the movies.
SP: Yeah, exactly. Was there anything else in your childhood that you thought about doing besides acting?
PP: No. Can you believe it?
SP: I can believe it. I wanted to be a veterinarian or a marine biologist. Then I realized that I’d have to a, be a doctor or a scientist and b, I’d have to cut animals open and euthanize them. It ended pretty quickly.
PP: When we realized that we would actually have to be smart…
SP: [laughs] Exactly! I’d have to use my brain other than the creative part. Do you remember any moment when everything kind of clicked and it became clear that you would pursue acting as a profession?
PP: When I was in middle school, we had moved from Texas to Orange County. I didn’t fit in and it was pretty lonely. The way that I was occupying my time, I started reading plays and renting the classics. I was 13 or 14—before I could get a driver’s license and drive to somebody’s house or to a party. My parents had to have been worried because that was all I did. That’s how I ended up seeing Mike Nichols’s movies—Who‘s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and The Graduate.
SP: How funny. I had a Mike Nichols thing too. That was one of my early entrances into film. I don’t know how we’ve never discussed this.
PP: Do you remember seeing Who‘s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and just having your face melted off?
SP: Yes! I do. I just watched it again because I’m absolutely obsessed with Sandy Dennis. One of my first jobs ever, [someone] told me that I reminded him of her. I didn’t know who she was and I was so embarrassed that I didn’t know who she was. But that’s not why I’m obsessed with her. She’s genius. Her performance in Virginia Woolf is beyond. Did you have an imaginary friend ever?
PP: I never had an imaginary friend, just imaginary circumstances. I was so into the Indiana Jones movies and I would constantly reenact circumstances. I broke my left arm three times, two of which were me trying to be Indiana Jones. The first time, I tied sheets together and tried to climb the side of my house after I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark. The second time, I was riding a horse and trying to gallop as fast as I could, like Indiana Jones, and got thrown from the horse. The third time I was bit older and it didn’t have anything to do with trying to be Indiana Jones.
SP: Do you remember your first audition?
PP: I remember perfectly. It’s going to date me in such a hardcore way.
SP: Everyone knows how old you are anyway so go ahead. There’s no hiding from that.
PP: I know. My first audition was for Primal Fear (1996). Do you remember that movie? With Edward Norton.
SP: I remember you auditioning for it. I remember you telling me all about it.
PP: I was totally in over my head. I auditioned for that in New York and then I went to L.A. for it. I didn’t get it and was unemployed for about 10 years.
SP: [laughs] That’s not true. You did Buffy the Vampire Slayer early on. What were the other TV shows? Didn’t you do more than one?
PP: Didn’t we both do a Touched by an Angel within a year of one another?
SP: I sure did! [laughs] That was back when Touched by an Angel was almost a version of Law and Order, it was a rite of passage; everybody was on Touched by an Angel. I remember also they paid well. But do you remember, when you were on Buffy, feeling some kind of excitement that you were on this show that was so watched?
PP: Buffy was one of the first jobs that I got. I was so excited to be on it, mostly because people in my life that I respected so much, my best friends and my sister, were obsessed with the show. Obsessed with it. I wasn’t watching it at the time. I have [since] introduced myself to the whole Buffy experience. It was cool because it was the fourth season premiere; Joss Whedon directed the episode. I always die. In everything. Even to this day, all these years later, I still die.
SP: The way you die in Game of Thrones is really memorable. I don’t remember how you died in Buffy, I’m sad to say.
PP: Buffy fans remember.
SP: I know the answer to this, but I imagine that people are interested on some level: How were you cast in Game of Thrones? Was it a long audition process?
PP: I found out about the role and I taped [an audition] with my iPhone. I told you that the fourth season was absolutely ruined for me because I had just taped the 17 pages audition for this amazing new part. You said, “Send that to me immediately.” You showed it to Amanda Peet, who is one of your best friends. The two of you watched it, liked it -
SP: No, we more than liked it. We flipped out.
PP: Why don’t you tell the story then?
SP: [laughs] You can’t say this about yourself because it would make you a total asshole, and I don’t think you believe this about yourself anyway, but it was so fucking brilliant. I sent it to Amanda and she showed it to David [Benioff; Peet’s husband] right then. The rest of it has to do with casting directors and auditions and other things that happen.
PP: They had to see a ton of other people.
SP: We watched “The Red Wedding” at my house—I had seen it and you hadn’t seen it, and I made you watch it with me.
PP: I don’t know how you watched it a second time. I could not have watched it alone.
SP: I almost threw up. I remember what a rabid fan you were of the show. When you found yourself on the set for the first time, when you had watched the show the way you watched it, what was that like? What does that do to your brain? Besides make your head pop off. [laughs]
PP: [laughs] It was so surreal it made my head explode! I’m not expecting to have something be as weird as that anytime soon. It was the strangest of circumstances where all of a sudden I am stepping onto the set and talking to Charles Dance while he’s sitting on the throne.
SP: That is so crazy.
PP: My first day [we shot] one of Oberyn’s final scenes, which was this long scene with Peter Dinklage.
SP: That’s just so insane.
PP: It was all downhill from there.
SP: Besides Oberyn, who is your favorite Game of Thrones character and who do you think should rule?
PP: This is Interview making you ask me these questions right?
SP: Yeah.
PP: [laughs]
SP: People want to know about it.
PP: Can I ask you who your favorite character is on Game of Thrones?
SP: It’s Arya. Do you have a problem answering the question because of your personal feelings for the actors playing the parts—how much you love them and you don’t want anyone to feel bad?
PP: That does sort of distract me, but also there are so many goddamn characters and I like so many of them.
SP: Okay, then let me change the question then. Who would you like to play on that show? Male or female.
PP: Arya.
SP: Yeah, me too. Do you think she should rule the throne?
PP: There are obvious answers. I love Arya. I think Arya and Tyrion are brilliant characters. I think Daenerys is a brilliant character. I think Cersei is a brilliant character.
SP: Those are predominantly women. I like it.
PP: Isn’t it interesting that so many of our favorite characters are female characters and Game of Thrones gets a lot of criticism.
SP: I think some of the most powerful women on television are on that show. And by powerful, I mean they are three-dimensional female characters. Who do you think should rule?
PP: Tyrion would be the greatest ruler of Westeros. That’s a no-brainer.
SP: [laughs] What was the day of your death scene like? Was it somber?
PP: There wasn’t any part of it that was somber. Everyone thought it was hilarious that my head was being smushed like a watermelon. Everyone was so fascinated by the special effects of it. We had a lot of fun. It was me clowning around with a guy who was seven feet tall and 200 pounds in this beautiful location in Dubrovnik.
SP: How has your life changed since the show? What can you feel acutely and what can you feel in a more general way?
PP: There’s a side of it—like leaving the apartment and running into someone who wants to take a selfie with you where they’re crushing your head.
SP: [laughs] And shaking it where you can feel them shaking.
PP: [laughs] You’ve obviously been exposed to that sort of attention much earlier than I have.
SP: It wasn’t until American Horror Story.
PP: I would hold the camera so often for people—I would be taking the picture for you guys. I got a more intimate impression of that type of attention through you. [But] it’s been nothing but positive. It’s opened doors for me that had been closed for many years.
SP: Can you talk to me a little bit about Narcos? How long have you been shooting?
PP: We literally just started. It’s a series directed by José Padilha—really great guy. It’s partly this story of the U.S. mission to capture or kill Pablo Escobar, played by Wagner Moura, who’s amazing.
SP: I really have one more specific question: is there anything a person must possess in order to be a good actor? Do you think you can learn to be a good actor or is it something that you’re born with?
PP: This is something you and I talk about every few years. Generosity is key, in my experience, to fulfilling the potential of a part or a story.
SP: Do you think you can learn to be good?
PP: I think a person can learn. Basically, I think anything is possible.
SP: So the more present you are in your life, the more it can inform your ability to do a good job in your work?
PP: Yes. What you are re-enforcing to me, all the time.
SP: What are you talking about, you nut bag?
PP: [laughs]
SP: You do the same for me, dodo.
PP: Alright, birdbrain.
SP: Okay, listen, ass-munch.
PP: Snake penis.
SP: A big penis? I’ll take it.
PP: No, an actual penis that belongs to a snake.
SP: Oh a snake’s penis! There’s nothing weirder than trying to wrap up an interview with someone who’s your best friend.
PP: Goodbye, I love you. Goodbye Interview. Goodbye, Sarah Paulson.
Pedro for LA Times (09-22/17)
By Meredith Blake •
Photographer: Brian Vander Brug Related: photoshoot / list of articles
When Pedro Pascal was a 26-year-old struggling actor, he moved into a cheap, one-bedroom apartment in Red Hook, Brooklyn. For much of the past 15 years, he strung together rent in the time-honored New York tradition of waiting tables and booking the occasional guest spot on “Law & Order.”
By his mid-30s, Pascal, who studied acting at New York University, was finally gaining steam with recurring parts in “The Good Wife” and “Brothers & Sisters.” But the real tipping point arrived when Pascal was cast as sexually voracious swordsman Oberyn Martell in Season 4 of “Game of Thrones,” a part he found out about when a young actor he was mentoring auditioned for it. Pascal put himself on tape, and sent it to his friend, Sarah Paulson, whose best friend Amanda Peet happens to be married to “Game of Thrones” showrunner David Benioff.
The part opened up a wave of opportunities for Pascal, who was born in Chile but raised in Texas and Orange County. The 42-year-old can currently be seen in an expanded role as DEA Agent Javier Peña in the Netflix drama “Narcos” and as Whiskey, a lasso-wielding secret agent in “Kingsman: The Golden Circle.” After careful consideration, Pascal finally gave up the dilapidated Red Hook apartment last year.
You spent your adolescent years in Orange County. What was that like? I had a really hard time in Orange County. I was a nerd. I was watching foreign cinema when I was 13 and talking about how “Hope and Glory” should be a foreign film. We got HBO when I was 7. My parents would be in bed, “Children of the Corn” would be on at midnight and I’d watch it on mute. I was so obsessed with film and actors that I wasn’t a very good student. I was always in trouble, but my father would always take us to the movies. I wanted to do that since I was a little kid.
The story of how you got cast on “Game of Thrones” is pretty amazing. What made you so sure you were right for Oberyn? He was dangerous. I’m not dangerous, but I have a sharp nose. I will probably be playing bad guys forever because of my face. There was something so sexy about the character. I loved stepping into that fantasy. One of the things that the creators told me was just by mention of his bisexuality there was a flamboyance the actors started to attribute to the character in their auditions. That never occurred to me. He seemed so male to me. The fact that he was bisexual had nothing to do with his exterior persona. I loved him as much as showrunners [David Benioff and D.B. Weiss] did, and they saw that. So it didn’t matter that the casting director had never heard of me, HBO had no idea who the … I was. They knew what they wanted and they made it happen.
There was a group on Reddit for straight men who said they were “Gay For Oberyn.” What did you think of that? It’s so wonderful. I think it’s all a spectrum, right? Straight men can have — do have — crushes on other men. It doesn’t make them gay, it doesn’t make them bi. I was super-flattered. The guys that picked on me in middle school in Corona del Mar probably have a crush on me now. Maybe they had a crush on me then and that’s why they picked on me.
Has working on “Narcos” changed your understanding of the war on drugs? The specific Colombian history of these violent years breaks my heart a little bit. These are incredible people who feel that they can’t really escape this association of being a narco-state. The experience of living and working in Colombia is in complete contrast to the story we’re telling. I don’t like the idea of advancing a sensationalist portrait of the drugs and the violence and the extravagance, though I know it fascinates and should be told as authentically as the budget can afford. But the violent association with Latino culture is an intense contrast to what it is to be Latino. It’s not part of my experience at all.
Filming on location in Colombia, did you ever encounter resistance because of what the series is about? There was never any kind of protest. What you would get is like a middle-aged woman taking her mother out for a walk in the evening as the breeze was beginning to set in and flirtatiously asking, “What are you guys making?” And you’d tell her it was a show called “Narcos.” And she’d go, “Tell a nicer story.”
Peña is essentially the lead character this season, and also took over as narrator. Is doing all that voice-over technically challenging? It was hard. Peña’s not a character who talks much. He doesn’t give much away. So it was nice for him to just be like alright, here’s how it is. It was really really important for us [to get it right] because the voice-over is such a strong aesthetic to the series. It has to be conversational, not too intrusive, not to hand-holdy-y. I think we pulled it off.
As a Chilean American, how do you get along with Colombians? Nobody likes Chile. We’re the dorks of Latin America, isolated by the Andes and the Pacific, so we don’t even know how to dance. But Colombians are the most polite. They won’t talk [badly] about other countries. I remember Chile was playing the Colombian football team and we were shooting a scene on an airbase and I had to step out of a plane. There were a lot of crew members and extras around. I stepped out and went, “Viva, Chile!” And it was just death stares from everybody. That’s where they drew the line.
Your parents fled Chile after Augusto Pinochet took power. Tell me about that. Then they were involved in the opposition. They helped somebody who’d been shot — a priest brought this person to my parents’ house. So then they went looking for my father at the hospital. He was a resident at one of the main universities in Santiago. He snuck out the back and got my mom and the advice they were given was to go into hiding, because no one was going to help them. Connections didn’t mean anything if you were on the list. They went into hiding for like six months and then they climbed the wall into the Venezuelan embassy and claimed asylum. We were given exile in Denmark and then ended up in San Antonio, Texas.
Did you ever sense that your family harbored any ill will towards the U.S., given its role in the coup? They were very strong progressive leftists. If you brought something home from a Texas public school system that was not right, some bad talk about Russia or people of color, that was nipped in the bud really, really fast. My parents loved the U.S.
“Kingsman” looks like it was a lot of fun to make. It was a very surreal blast. I had a complete magical love affair with London. I was in trailers next to Halle Berry and Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges. It was too ridiculous to be terrifying, although it was a little terrifying. There couldn’t be anything more glamorous than that cast, and there couldn’t be anything less glamorous than being in a harness for a week being spun around a rigged gondola and you have to go to the bathroom so bad.
So what’s hardest to handle, Whiskey’s lasso, Oberyn’s sword or Peña’s gun? The lasso was… impossible. You feel like a fool. I wanted it to be good enough for a couple of seconds of a frame, but you’d be surprised how long it takes to get that good.
What are you reading or watching these days? I loved “Big Little Lies.” I’ll get in so much trouble for saying this, but it was like real white-lady problems. The characters weren’t oblivious to their privilege. The show tonally was aware of some of the absurdity. I thought it dealt very well with trauma, and the performances were just sensational. Reese Witherspoon was bonkers. Laura Dern could read me the phone book. And it was just so suspenseful. I was wonderfully uneasy the whole time I was watching it.
Pedro para GQ España (9-4/17)
por María Contreras • Fotos: Giampaolo Sgura
Relacionados: Sesión de fotos / lista de artículos
Primero ‘Juego de Tronos’, después 'Narcos’ y ahora la gloria. Hablamos con el actor chileno sobre triunfar a los 40, su 'hermanito’ Miguel Ángel Silvestre, y de su inexistente rutina de entrenamiento.
Pedro Pascal se parece a Javier Peña, el agente de la DEA que interpreta en Narcos –la exitosa serie de Netflix – en su muy poca predisposición a cumplir las normas. No hablamos de incurrir en delitos, entiéndase. “No me gusta esconder mis sentimientos o tener que comportarme de una determinada manera porque lo exigen las reglas sociales. Tal vez por eso siempre estuve castigado en el colegio”, revela saltando constantemente del español al inglés.
El actor ha llegado al estudio de Londres que acoge este shooting procedente de Seattle, donde acaba de rodar una película indie, y en cuanto termine la entrevista volará hacia Los Ángeles de camino a la Comic-Con de San Diego. Una agenda intensa para un actor que hasta hace apenas cuatro años consideraba que aparecer en un capítulo de 'Nikita’ o 'Ley y orden’ era como un billete de lotería premiado. Curtido en teatro y televisión, Pascal había desarrollado “la habilidad profesional de sobrevivir”: “Voy a castings desde los 20 años, y había empezado a asumir que tal vez mi sueño no era viable y a plantearme que ganarme la vida con la actuación, aunque fuera de forma anónima, también podía considerarse un éxito. Además, en Nueva York estaba arropado por mi hermana y mis amigos, con los que siempre podía contar cuando me quedaba sin dinero. Pero entonces llegó 'Juego de Tronos’ y todo cambió para mí”.
Su breve paso por Poniente como el príncipe Oberyn le hizo abandonar por fin las filas de los eternos aspirantes a estrella. Una popularidad que 'Narcos’, cuya tercera temporada se estrena el 1 de septiembre en Netflix, no ha hecho más que apuntalar. Sin Escobar y sin Murphy, la trama se centra ahora en el cártel de Cali: “Es un imperio diferente que tiene más plata, más poder, más control y más disciplina, así que será mucho más difícil para mi personaje desmantelarlo, porque tienen sus manos en los bolsillos de todo el mundo”.Los españoles Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Javier Cámara o Tristán Ulloa se han incorporado al reparto, y decir que han congeniado bien con Pascal sería quedarse muy corto. “Miguel Ángel en particular es como hermanito mío. Nos conocimos en Estados Unidos hace tiempo y nos hicimos amigos al instante”.
Además, el 22 de septiembre lo veremos como el agente Whiskey en 'Kingsman: El círculo de oro’, la secuela de la película de espías de Matthew Vaughn que se convirtió en el sleeper-hit del 2015. Pascal se sumó a un elenco cuajado de estrellas (Jeff Bridges, Halle Berry o Julianne Moore entre ellas) gracias al empeño del director, que lo descubrió en la primera temporada de 'Narcos’ y quedó fascinado con su aura de actor duro a lo Burt Reynolds. “Cuando Matthew tiene claro algo, es inquebrantable. Porque yo me imagino que el estudio le preguntaría: ' ¿Pero quién es este Pedro Pascal?’. Él dice que aunque mi personaje es un arrogante también transmite vulnerabilidad, porque yo siempre espero que me rechacen. Y creo que tiene razón”.
Sin embargo, hacerse famoso rozando los 40 también tiene sus ventajas; por ejemplo, te piensas más lo de dilapidar tu sueldo en deportivos y yates: “Los yates no puedo permitírmelos. Sí que me he comprado un coche, pero es un Mini Cooper, así que no es terriblemente extravagante. Estoy ya muy hecho a mis costumbres, y creo que ese es el lujo: experimentar un cierto nivel de exposición cuando eres mayor, ya te has convertido en la persona que eres y hay ciertas cosas que es tarde para cambiar. Una novedad agradable de no estar sometido a presiones financieras es que puedo hacer cosas por la gente que me importa. Sé que me hace sonar noble, pero lo que más me gusta del mundo es estar en la posición de poder ayudar a alguien”.
En estos tiempos convulsos hay mucha gente a la que Pascal cree que hay que ayudar. Cuando él tenía pocos meses, su familia abandonó Santiago de Chile para escapar del régimen de Pinochet. Recibieron asilo en Dinamarca y después se trasladaron a EE.UU., donde Pedro y sus tres hermanos se criaron como gringos, primero en Texas y después en California. Hoy, el clima político en su país de adopción le quita literalmente el sueño: “Estamos viviendo un momento aterrador. No tengo ni idea de lo que nos deparará el futuro, sólo sé que a cada oportunidad voy a defender lo que creo que es correcto. Y eso incluye a la diversidad jodidamente fabulosa que hay en Norteamérica”.
Todo actor de éxito sabe con qué papel cambió su suerte, y el de Pedro Pascal fue el robaescenas de la cuarta temporada de 'Juego de Tronos’. Su sanguinaria muerte a manos de La Montaña se nos ha quedado grabada a más de uno (dato curioso: el actor que encarna al descomunal matón de los Lannister había sido elegido el tercer hombre más fuerte del mundo en un campeonato poco antes de rodar aquella pelea). Varios actores de la serie han admitido que leen los guiones con aprensión, pero Pascal sabía desde la primera audición que Oberyn Martell moriría esa temporada. Lo que no sabía era cómo; se enteró de que sus sesos acabarían desparramados por el suelo casi de pasada: “Estaba hablando con los showrunners y de una manera muy casual me dijeron: 'Tendremos que mandarte a Londres para hacerte la cabeza’. Y yo: '¿Y por qué la cabeza?’ Y ellos: 'Porque hay que sacarte los ojos y machacarte el cráneo…’. Y yo: '¿¿¿Pero es así como muero??? Sois unos cabrones enfermos”, recuerda entre carcajadas.
A día de hoy, aún considera la producción de HBO la mejor experiencia profesional de su vida. “Nada lo va a superar, ni aunque gane diez Oscars. Me enamoré completamente de ese elenco, de las localizaciones, de todo”. ¿Quién cree Pedro que debería acabar en el Trono de Hierro? “Creo que van a morir todos (risas). Me imagino el trono vacío ”.
Otra experiencia que nunca olvidará fue el rodaje en 2014 del vídeoclip 'Fire meets gasoline’, de Sia, que protagonizó junto a Heidi Klum, con escena de cama incluida. “¿Que cómo fue? Estuvo bien. Estuvo realmente bien (risas). Por decirlo de forma suave, ella ha sido una figura popular en mi vida a lo largo de los años, así que el simple hecho de verme en ropa interior y correteando por ahí con ella fue muy surrealista”.
Por si todo lo anterior fuera poco, muy pronto Pedro Pascal también nos mirará desde las marquesinas de los autobuses en la nueva campaña de Solo Loewe, fragancia de la que ahora es imagen; una colaboración que no ha hecho sino reavivar su apego a España: “Tengo una relación tremendamente romántica con España. La familia de mi abuelo era vasca, mi abuela nació en Mallorca, y yo estudié allí de joven un verano y al momento me sentí en casa. Así que tener la oportunidad de colaborar con un equipo español tan creativo y con tanto estilo ha sido realmente especial. Tengo que resolver cómo mudarme allí de una vez por todas”.
Tal vez un rodaje propicie el traslado; Pascal es un gran admirador del cine español, pero con el de Almodóvar tiene una conexión personal: “Mis papás me llevaron a ver 'Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios’ al único cine de arte y ensayo que había en Orange County, y ya no paré. Perdí a mi mamá hace 17 años, y la forma en la que ella se identificaba con los personajes de Almodóvar hace que su cine siempre haya jugado un papel muy emocional en mi vida”.
Aunque ya empiecen a rondarle las firmas de lujo, Pascal admite seguir siendo “un poco vago con la moda”. Y lo ilustra con una anécdota impagable: “El otro día, el conductor que tenía que recogerme para ir al aeropuerto ni me miró. Cuando le dije que yo era Pedro, me respondió: ’Oh, perdone, pensaba que era un sin techo’. ¡Te prometo que estaba recién duchado!”. [Por si estas fotos no son prueba suficiente, damos fe de que Pedro Pascal NO parece un sin techo].
A sus 42 años, otra de sus asignaturas pendientes es dar con un entrenamiento que le enganche. “La disciplina con el deporte siempre me ha resultado muy difícil. ¿Sabes lo que me jode? El huevón de Miguel Ángel Silvestre, que físicamente es como un superhéroe. A veces lo mataría, pero también quiero que me enseñe a seguir una rutina”. ¿Acaso le está pidiendo desde aquí a Silvestre que se convierta en su personal trainer? “Exactamente. Es más, le voy a llamar en cuanto terminemos de hablar”.