Biography

José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal (Spanish: [xoˈseˈpeðɾo βalmaˈseða pasˈkal]; born April 2, 1975) is a Chilean and American actor. After nearly two decades of taking minor roles on stage and television, Pascal had his breakout role as Oberyn Martell in the fourth season of the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2014). He gained further prominence with his portrayal of Javier Peña in the Netflix crime series Narcos (2015–2017). He went on to appear in the films The Great Wall (2016), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), The Equalizer 2 (2018), and Triple Frontier (2019). Pascal's leading roles as Din Djarin in the Disney+ science fiction series The Mandalorian (2019–2023) and Joel Miller in the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us (2023–present) propelled him to international stardom, earning him a reputation for portraying adoptive father figures. For the latter role, he received numerous accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and a nomination for a Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award. He also portrayed parental characters in We Can Be Heroes (2020), Strange Way of Life (2023), and The Wild Robot (2024). Pascal has starred in the big-budget films Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) and Gladiator II (2024). Active in theatre since 1999, he made his Broadway debut as Edmund in a 2019 adaptation of King Lear. In 2023, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.