Inside The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal’s rocky road to stardom

Pedro Pascal has captivated TV audiences with his thrilling portrayal of a gritty dad trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic America – a role that has seen his star skyrocket to the upper echelons of Hollywood fame that many actors can only dream of. 

But while his character in HBO’s mega hit The Last of Us goes up against fictional fungus-infected monsters, away from the small screen, the 47-year-old has had to claw his way past his own very harrowing real-world demons in order to achieve a lasting career. 

Much like his on-screen part, Joel, Pedro, who is originally from Santiago, Chile, has faced an incredibly rocky road on his path to stardom, both professionally and personally. 

He has previously detailed how his parents were forced into hiding when he was just four months old to evade capture during then-dictator Pinochet’s crackdown against opposition.

Pedro’s world was rocked once again when his father became involved in a fertility scandal that saw him charged with mail fraud and income tax evasion – before fleeing the country ahead of the trial with his family in tow. 

And the star would face more tragedy when his mother, who he called ‘the love of his life,’ tragically took her own life. 

Nonetheless, Pedro continued working away at his career and would eventually get a big break in 2014 that put him on a whirlwind trajectory.

Here, FEMAIL documents Pedro Pascal’s rise from Chilean immigrant to steadfast household name.

Pedro’s choppy childhood: The budding actor’s father fled trial over a fertility scandal before his mother later took her own life

Pedro was born as Jose Pedro Balmaceda Pascal in Santiago, Chile, on April 2, 1975, to a child psychologist named Veronica Pascal and a fertility doctor Jose Balmaceda.

When he was just four months old his parents were forced to leave him and his sister with their aunt, so they could avoid capture during then-dictator Pinochet’s crackdown against his opposition.

Six months later, the couple were able to climb the walls of the Venezuelan embassy and claim asylum.

Speaking about their struggles in a SNL monologue, Pedro said: ‘They were so brave. And without them, I wouldn’t be here in this wonderful country, and I certainly wouldn’t be standing here with you all tonight.’

His parents were forced into hiding when Pedro (pictured with his sister) was just four months old to evade capture during Pinochet’s crackdown against opposition 

The family were able to relocate to Denmark before arriving in the United States, where they first lived in San Antonio, Texas.

But they would later move again to Orange County, California, when he was 11.

From a young age, the star fell in love with movies, since he told Variety that his parents would often take him and his siblings to the cinema to ‘soak up as much American culture as possible.’

He initially dreamed of being a competitive swimmer, participating in state championships until the age of 11, but later stopped to instead focus on strengthening his skills as an actor.

Pedro also told Interview magazine that he turned to movies as an outlet after facing severe bullying in school.

‘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,’ he explained. 

After finishing high school, he studied acting at University’s Tisch School of the Arts in New York City, where he graduated from in 1997.

While he was in college, his father became involved in a fertility scandal that saw him charged with mail fraud and income tax evasion.

According to Orange County Register, Pedro’s dad was caught ‘switching frozen embryos of women without their knowledge’ at the fertility clinic he helped run with two other men.

While Pedro was in college, his father (pictured together) became involved in a fertility scandal that saw him charged with mail fraud and income tax evasion

Despite Jose’s scandalous past, he and Pedro appear to be close, as the actor continues to share numerous pictures with his father to Instagram

‘In 1995, the Orange County Register reported that Dr. Ricardo Asch, along with [Pedro’s dad Jose] and Sergio Stone, had taken women’s eggs without their permission and given them to other women who later bore children from those eggs,’ the report said. 

‘At least 15 live births resulted from the improper transfers, and the clinic was shuttered following the egg-theft scandal.’

In addition, it said that ‘an audit determined that nearly $1million in clinic income had not been reported’ including ‘tens of thousands of dollars in cash payments from patients that were allegedly pocketed by doctors.’

While Sergio was convicted for the crimes, both Jose and Ricardo fled the country before their trials – with Jose, Pedro’s mother, and his two siblings moving back to Chile.

Years later – in 2022 – Jose finally plead guilty to tax fraud and surrendered himself to law enforcement. At the time, a hearing had been set for March 2022, but it’s unclear what the result was.

Despite Jose’s scandalous past, he and Pedro appear to be close, as the actor continues to share numerous pictures with his father to Instagram.

The Last of Us Star has spoken out numerous times about the huge impact his mother (pictured) had on him, with him telling People in 2020, ‘She was the love of my life’ 

Pedro faced more tragedy in 1999, when his mother tragically took her own life.

The Last of Us Star has spoken out numerous times about the huge impact she had on him, with him telling People in 2020, ‘She was the love of my life.’

He continued: ‘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.

‘I think about her every day. I don’t pray, so I can’t say I have a religious practice to feel close to her, but I live for her, even though she’s gone.

‘Losing the most important person in your life, discovering that something like this is possible and that what you fear most in life can happen, is an unexplainable and permanent moment. There is a before and after her death.’ 

‘The circumstances of my mother’s death made it very hard for us to remember her as the person she was,’ he also admitted in a 2017 interview with Paula magazine. 

‘It hurts so much… Sometimes I feel anguished and I try to deal with it in the best possible way, because I know that my mother would not want me to do it any other way.’

Following her passing, Pedro decided to take on her maiden name as a tribute to her – officially making his stage name Pedro Pascal. 

‘And also, because Americans had such a hard time pronouncing Balmaceda,’ he added to Variety. ‘It was exhausting.’

His rise to fame: Pedro almost gave up on acting before landing his breakthrough role 

In the early years of his career, Pedro landed a slew of small guest appearances in shows like The Good Wife, Homeland, The Mentalist, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: SVU, and Graceland.

Earlier this month, Sarah Michelle Gellar, 45, sent the web into a spin when she shared a throwback photo from the hit TV series, Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

In it, she stood next to a young Pedro who appeared on the season four premiere as a college student named Eddie.

And even the most Buffy-obsessed fans were unable to believe they missed his fleeting appearance in the teen show. 

Earlier this month, Sarah Michelle Gellar, 45, sent the web into a spin when she shared a throwback photo from Buffy The Vampire Slayer alongside Pedro Pascal

Pedro’s first big break came in 2014, after he was cast as Oberyn Martell (pictured) in the fourth season of Game of Thrones

But despite landing a series of bit-parts, his big break came in 2014, after he was cast as Oberyn Martell in the fourth season of Game of Thrones.

‘First of all, it was an iPhone selfie audition, which was unusual,’ showrunner David Benioff recalled to Variety of Pedro’s audition for Game of Thrones.

‘And this wasn’t one of the new-fangled iPhones with the fancy cameras. It looked like s**t. It was shot vertical – the whole thing was very amateurish. 

‘Except for the performance, which was intense and believable and just right.’

Before landing his breakthrough role, the star admitted he almost gave up on acting altogether, after spending years trying to break into the industry.

‘There were moments where I actually, truly, did formulate what I would do [if I wasn’t acting]. You would start to put a fantasy together,’ he said.

‘You would call it ‘the fantasy’ but really what it felt like at the time were practical plans.

Following his success in Game of Thrones, Pedro was met with a flurry of offers including in the Netflix show Narcos (pictured alongside Boyd Holbrook)

Pedro now has a very impressive resume, bolstered further by his appearances including that in The Equalizer 2 opposite Denzel Washington (pictured)

‘I never knew what I could fall back on because we [actors] are stupid — we don’t have any skills.’ 

Following his success in Game of Thrones, Pedro was met with a flurry of offers.

He went on to star in the Netflix show Narcos, the 2015 movie Bloodsucking Bastards, the spy comedy Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the monster movie The Great Wall, and The Equalizer 2 (opposite Denzel Washington).

But he did not stop there. 

Pedro now has a very impressive resume, bolstered further by his appearances in Netflix’s Triple Frontier, DC’s Wonder Woman 1984, Judd Apatow’s The Bubble, and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (alongside Nicolas Cage).

Pedro’s recent success: How The Last of Us made him a steadfast household name

In recent months, he has become a steadfast household name after being thrust into the spotlight once again due to his role in The Last of Us, which came to a dramatic conclusion on Sunday night.

The HBO series – which follows Pedro’s character Joel and a young girl named Ellie, played by Bella Ramsay, as they try to survive the zombie apocalypse – is based off a PlayStation video game of the same name.

And it has proved to be a hit with audiences and critics alike who hailed it as the best video game adaptation of all time – pulling in more than 22 million viewers with its premiere episode.

Pedro previously spoke about working on the series in an interview with Wired, where he shared that he took on the role of Joel in order to collaborate with one of his idols.

In recent months, he has become a steadfast household name after being thrust into the been thrust into the spotlight once again due to his role in The Last of Us

The HBO series – which follows Pedro’s character Joel and a young girl named Ellie, played by Bella Ramsay, as they try to survive the zombie apocalypse – came to a dramatic conclusion on Sunday night

‘To be totally honest, it was wanting to work with Craig Mazin, who did Chernobyl. Also, HBO is content that I literally grew up on,’ he said.

The performer remarked that, although he did not directly try to emulate what Joel was like in the video game, he did take inspiration from how the character was presented.

‘It was important to me to play notes that were directly related to what was originally in the game — physically, visually, vocally,’ he said.

He is also juggling a series of other projects too – having made his return to the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian after the hotly-anticipated third series hit TV screens earlier this month. 

Pedro plays the titular character, who is a devoted bounty hunter that hails from Mandalore, who has been charged with the care of a creature named Grogu, a.k.a. Baby Yoda.

He is also juggling a series of other projects too – having made his return to the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian after the hotly-anticipated third series hit TV screens earlier this month

Earlier this month, he sent the internet into meltdown with his wild Starbucks coffee order after it was revealed he drinks six shots of espresso over ice 

Speaking in a new interview with Radio Times, the star revealed what it is really like to play the lone bounty hunter and the next instalment is ‘already written’.

Pedro explained: ‘Wearing the mask has its challenges. You’d be fascinated to find out what happens if you can’t see just below your eyes.’

Joking ahead of series four, Pedro teased: ‘It’s a mystery. There’s such preciousness around even saying that I’m signed up for season four if it’s already written. 

‘I’m naturally a blabbermouth, but I really get protective of it, because I get a thrill out of the surprises that are in store for the audience.’

Through his exploits on screen, Pedro continues to build up a loyal legion of fans.

Earlier this month, he sent the internet into meltdown with his wild Starbucks coffee order after it was revealed he drinks six shots of espresso over ice.

Dozens said that they were desperate to ‘order the Pedro Pascal’ and give it a try for themselves as they eagerly await his next move both on and off screen.