Pedro Pascal’s 10 Most Iconic Roles, Ranked
Everyone, buckle up. We’re heading into full Pedro Pascal overload. With a packed 2025 lineup that includes The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Materialists, and Eddington, plus the second season of the HBO mega-hit The Last of Us, Pascal is poised to further cement his place as one of the the premier performers of his generation. But it wasn’t always this way.
Long before he became a leading man and beloved internet heartthrob, the Chilean-American actor was best known for playing likable outsiders with a bit of an edge. He bounced between parts in TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Law & Order, but it wasn’t until later that he found his calling: playing the father figure we didn’t know we needed.
It’s an archetype that has defined many of his trademark roles — and with what looks to be a massive summer ahead for Pascal, it’s the perfect time to look back at his most iconic performances. We’ll be focusing specifically on his narrative scripted onscreen work — so, unfortunately, his unforgettable appearances on Saturday Night Live and the Community table read won’t be included.
Here, we rank 10 of Pascal’s best onscreen performances of all time.
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10. Silva, Strange Way of Life
Audiences got a double dose of Pedro in this 2023 queer Western, as Pascal teamed up with acclaimed director Pedro Almódovar in one of the filmmaker’s first English-language projects.
Pascal stars as a drifter returning to a frontier town to reconnect with an old flame, Sheriff Jake (Ethan Hawke), while secretly helping his wanted son escape the clutches of the law.
It’s a tender, melodramatic piece — essentially a Wild West soap opera. Unfortunately, it never quite takes off, clocking in at just around 30 minutes. Still, Pascal and Hawke create a believable, heartbreaking romance between two lovers forced to hide their affection. You just wish there was more of it to see.
9. Pietro Alvarez, If Beale Street Could Talk
Pascal never had the same blueprint as his contemporaries. To reach the heights of Hollywood, he had to make the most of every opportunity, including a brief but memorable role in Barry Jenkins‘ heart-wrenching If Beale Street Could Talk.
An adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel, the film follows Clementine “Tish” Rivers” (KiKi Layne) and Alonzo “Fonny” Hunt (Stephan James), two Black New Yorkers who fall in love, only to be torn apart when Fonny is wrongly accused of rape. Tish’s mother, Sharon (Regina King), travels to urge the woman to recant her testimony, a journey that leads to a fateful meeting with Pietro Alvarez (Pascal).
Pascal materializes in the film’s final hour, sporting a thin mustache, combed-back hair, and a cigarette dangling from his lips. He looks like someone out of a 1940s noir. What follows is a tense, sub-five minute bout between Pascal and King, who won an Academy Award for her performance, centered on parenting and the things we do for the ones we love. It’s a powerful, emotionally charged exchange, but given the brevity of the role, this is the farthest it goes on this list.
8. General Marcus Acacius, Gladiator II
The long-awaited follow-up to Ridley Scott‘s classic Gladiator had a lot to live up to — and for the most part, it kept audiences entertained. With CGI monkeys, intricate naval battles, and the efforts of Pascal, it contributed to a worthy follow-up.
Paul Mescal steps into the spotlight as Lucius, the son of Russell Crowe‘s Maximus Decimus Meridius. Now a vengeance-driven warrior, he’s determined to honor his father’s legacy and avenge his dead wife, killed at the hands of the Roman army, led by General Marcus Acacius (Pascal). Oh, and Marcus just so happens to have married Lucius’ mother, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen).
It’s a ridiculous, complicated, and messy setup that Pascal sinks his teeth into. He brings the grit and gravitas to the table that a jaded commander would need and he certainly looks the part. Unfortunately, he’s overshadowed by Denzel Washington, Fred Hechinger, and Joseph Quinn, who are a little less concerned with the historical accuracy and just being outright zany.
7. Agent Whiskey, Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Kingsman: The Secret Service was a lightning-in-a-bottle moment, so much so that its sequel was always going to struggle to capture the same magic. It may not have been exactly what audiences were expecting, but if they were looking for another fun time at the movies, Pascal delivers in spades.
After a series of convoluted antics render spy Harry Hart (Colin Firth) alive, but suffering from amnesia, confidants Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) seek help from their American espionage counterparts. Among the agents they come across is Jack, aka Agent Whiskey, a rootin’-tootin’ sharpshooter with an electric lasso.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle gets caught up in trying to retcon and outdo the first — a battle it was never going to win. However, one undeniable highlight is Pascal’s take on the outlaw, whose storyline culminates in a violent, satisfying finale. If only he had been the star of his own film.
6. Fink, The Wild Robot
Pascal hasn’t done much voiceover work, with two major exceptions. We’ll get to that second one later, but his most recent one was an especially rare occurrence — it was for an animated film, The Wild Robot.
Pascal lends his voice to Fink, a fast-talking, cunning fox who reluctantly co-parents the runt of a family of geese, Brightbill (Kit Connor), with a defective robot, Roz (Lupita Nyong’o).
It’s a welcome departure from the grim, hopeless situations Pascal’s characters often find themselves in. While the character himself might not be particularly memorable or original — there are plenty of other mischievous foxes in fiction — it marks a wrinkle in his career that we didn’t see coming.
5. Javi Gutierrez, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
One of the most relatable moments Pascal has ever had on film was when, with tears in his eyes, he declared that Paddington 2 was his third-favorite movie of all time.
Of all the roles the actor has taken on, none are as peculiar (in the best way) as his portrayal of Javi Gutierrez, a film enthusiast who uses his vast fortune to hire struggling actor Nicolas Cage (a fictionalized version of the real guy) to attend his birthday party.
Pascal has done a few comedies, but most have fallen flat — though not due to any fault of his own. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent finds the best way to utilize him, specifically as an endearing man-child and the second half of a buddy comedy duo. Pascal has great chemistry with Cage, and we would’ve happily watched an entire film of the two spouting out movie hot takes at one another.
4. The Mandalorian/Din Djarin, The Mandalorian
Pascal’s reputation had been on an upwards trajectory by the time he signed on to star in Disney+’s first original Star Wars TV series, but the moment audiences saw him in Beskar armor, something shifted.
Din Djarin (Pascal) is a mysterious, taciturn wanderer bound by the Mandalorian code, leading him to a solitary life of bounty hunting. He leads a lonely existence, until one mission brings him face-to-face with an unexpected target: a child, Grogu.
You could make the argument that his stint as the titular Mandalorian deserves to top the list. However, the performance’s ranking suffers because of one simple fact: the audience rarely ever sees his face. Still, the character’s enduring appeal is a testament to Pascal’s exceptional acting, which still manages to come across through his sacred helmet.
3. Oberyn Martell, Game of Thrones
Before traveling to a galaxy far, far away, Pascal’s most high-profile role came from his time in Westeros.
Prince Oberyn Martell’s an interesting fellow. As the younger brother of Doran Martell (Alexander Siddig), he’s unburdened by the weight of leadership, which gave him the freedom to fully indulge his hedonistic and sadistic urges. Charismatic, dangerous, and skilled in the art of poison, Oberyn became a fan-favorite. But, like many cherished Game of Thrones characters, his arc ended in brutal fashion — at the hands of “The Mountain,” Gregor Clegane (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson).
Though he appeared in just seven episodes throughout the show’s fourth season, the character made a lasting impression. As with many of his later roles, Oberyn’s sudden and violent end helped define a key theme of Pascal’s career: don’t get too attached to his characters — they might not be around for long.
2. Javier Peña, Narcos
Wagner Moura was the breakout star of Netflix‘s Narcos as Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, but at the heart of the series — appearing in every season — is Pascal, playing an agent determined to bring down the crime empire.
The show unfolds as a gripping cat-and-mouse game, with the suave Javier Peña and his partner Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook) serving as DEA agents working to dismantle the cartel. They’re grounded characters who act as surrogates for the audience, bringing a chemistry that maintains the show’s tension and infuses some much-needed humor.
After Holbrook and Moura exited the series in its third season, Pascal carried the show on his back, marking his first true leading role. You could argue it’s the most important role he’s ever had — without Peña, we probably never would’ve seen Pascal in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the Star Wars franchise.
1. Joel Miller, The Last of Us
In all honesty, it wasn’t really close. When scouring through Pascal’s filmography for the most iconic role, the performance he’ll likely be remembered most for, so far, at least, it’s easily his turn as the grief-stricken recluse in The Last of Us.
Joel Miller is a lot of things. He’s loyal, he’s prickly, he’s stubborn, but most importantly, he’s the ultimate “girl dad,” one who’s willing to risk a zombie apocalypse for his surrogate daughter, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), and protecting her at all costs.
It’s a realization of what Pascal does best, blending action set pieces with emotional stakes. But if our word isn’t enough, just take a look at the stats: his performance earned him his first (and surely not last) Golden Globe and Emmy nominations, and he’s considered a contender for more nominations for his performance in The Last of Us Season 2, even though his screen time was cut short this time around.
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