Pedro Pascal has become a household name thanks to The Mandalorian and The Last of Us, but his journey to stardom was far from smooth.
From losing his mother at a young age to growing up in a politically turbulent Chile, Pedro faced more than his share of hardships. Born on April 2, 1975, in Santiago, Pedro was raised by his mother, child psychologist Verónica Pascal Ureta, and father, fertility doctor José Balmaceda Riera.
Pedro went on to describe his childhood as “pretty lonely,” although he later grew to love acting after spending most of his days reading plays and studying the classics. However, his life was turned upside down after his family opened their doors to a priest.
Once opening up his chilling story of his family’s escape from political violence in his home country, revealed how they were forced to flee for their lives. They took refuge in Denmark, then the US, where Pedro has mostly lived since. The now 50-year-old told The Sun: “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.” Pedro added:“ There was a priest who had been shot in the leg who was brought to my mum and dad’s house.
“My father took him in, hid him for a few days and patched up his leg. I was a baby, my sister was just three and she says she has a vague memory of being really angry that our parents had put strangers’ s**t in her bedroom, including guns.
“The priest was taken into custody and tortured. He gave names and they went looking for my father at the hospital he worked at.
“By chance it got to him that they were downstairs, asking where to find Dr Balmaceda. My father sneaks out the back and gets my mum, his sister gets my sister and me. Their only option is to go into hiding, which they do for about six months, and they end up sneaking into the Venezuelan embassy and sought asylum.”
He first pursued acting at the Orange County School of the Arts, graduating in 1993, before moving on to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he graduated in 1997.
His early career in Hollywood was filled with rejection, taking on small acting roles while trying to make a name for himself. Pascal took on jobs waiting at restaurants, admitting at the time he was fired “often, upwards of, I don’t know, maybe close to 10 times.”
The star appeared in several television series, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, NYPD Blue, The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, and Homeland. This was around the same time that Narcos actor also shared that his mother had tragically taken her own life – though she had supported him in his career.
Paying tribute to her, he had once shared: “She was always incredibly supportive, never a stage mom. I always felt like she knew something that I didn’t. None of my success would be real if it weren’t for her.”
Thanks to his devoted fans, Pedro has since earned the affectionate nickname “The Daddy”, a title that has stuck due to his roles as protective father figures in The Mandalorian and The Last of Us. The actor has openly embraced the playful moniker, revealing how the roles influenced this fan-given title.
“Yeah, I am having fun with it,” he explained. “[The daddy thing] seems a little role-related. There was a period where the Mandalorian is very daddy to baby Grogu, and Joel is very daddy to Ellie. These are daddy parts. That’s what it is,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
Earlier this year, Pedro sparked relationship rumours with Friends star Jennifer Aniston, who is six years his senior, as she shared cosy three-hour dinner with the actor. He was previously linked to a number of famous faces, including Game of Thrones co-star Lena Headey and actress Robin Tunney.
Pedro and Jen seen in deep conversation with each other as they left the Tower Bar at the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood. Jennifer and Pedro arrived separately after 8pm and they left solo around 11:30pm.
Their dinner date came after the pair joked around together on the Critics Choice Awards red carpet. Pedro teased he might be joining Jennifer’s hit TV series, The Morning Show.
The actor probed if the part would involve “anything romantic with anybody” as Jennifer teased: “All of us.” “I sleep with everyone on the show,” Pedro joked. “I’m in. All right, I’ll be waiting to hear from my agents.”
Amid the speculation, Jennifer gave a sweet shout out to Pedro on his milestone 50th birthday. This week, the actress took to her Instagram Stories to share a New Yorker comic referencing Pedro.
She clearly wanted to show off her connection to the Narcos star as she issued a gushing remark next to the post. The comic showed a therapist telling their patient: “It’s not strange at all – lately, a lot of people are reporting that their faith in humanity is riding entirely on whether or not Pedro Pascal is as nice as he seems.”
Jennifer offered her nugget of information as she wrote: “Can confirm – as nice as he seems.” She added: “Happy birthday PP!,” along with two birthday emojis.
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