Few actors have ascended to fame as quickly as Pedro Pascal. A long-time working actor who had guested on such shows as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Homeland,” Pascal landed roles in the right projects for him to become a breakout performer towards the middle of his career. Thanks to his exposure on properties with a major, established fanbase, Pascal was able to knock any opportunities he was given out of the park.
When considering that he had the charisma of a romantic lead, the affability of a comedy star, the physicality of an action hero, and the bravery of a character actor, it’s not hard to see why Pascal has become such a favorite. Pascal has worked so much that he would risk being overexposed, but he’s capable of bringing such unique virtues to each of his roles that they do not become derivative.
Whether it’s voicing a character in “The Wild Robot” or squaring off against Denzel Washington in “The Equalizer 2,” Pascal is able to do a lot with a little. He also happens to be involved with some of the most discussed and anticipated projects of the near future. In addition to having lead roles in two of the year’s most anticipated blockbusters with “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu,” he could also find himself in the Oscar race with the Tony Gilroy drama “Behemoth!” and Todd Haynes’ enigmatic detective thriller “De Noche.” Here are the ten best Pedro Pascal performances so far, ranked.
10. Materialists (2025)
To be clear, “Materialists” is by no means a great film. Celine Song’s sophomore effort lacks self-awareness in its introspective look at class and status, and some of its more bewildering plot developments are pulled off without a knowing sense of satire. That being said, Pascal is perfectly cast as a roguishly handsome, wealthy man who seeks love, despite not having the confidence to be honest with himself. His smoldering charisma offered a glimpse of the high-wire act pulled off by ‘90s romantic comedy idols like Hugh Grant or Richard Gere, but he didn’t play into nostalgia when he could so acutely offer something that felt modern.
Pascal comes off particularly well in “Materialists,” given that Dakota Johnson’s performance simply isn’t quite there, despite his best efforts to have chemistry with her. Although a plot twist involving Pascal’s character became the one moment in “Materialists” that earned more backlash than anything else, there’s a clear demarcation line of when the film becomes less compelling. It’s right after Pascal’s character threatens to be a factor in the main love triangle, suggesting that he was the glue that was keeping the film together all along, despite some of the weaker writing.
9. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Pascal excels at having just a few scenes to leave a memorable impression on a film, especially when paired with a unique filmmaker. While they were by no means considered classics, Pascal’s roles as a devious smuggler in Zhang Yimou’s “The Great Wall” and a disgruntled veteran in J.C. Chandor’s “Triple Frontier” showed how he could perfectly adapt to specific tones. In the cast of “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Pascal happened to be working with one of the greatest living directors on an adaptation of a beloved novel by James Baldwin. Barry Jenkins may have won his Oscars for “Moonlight,” but “If Beale Street Could Talk” is the most accomplished film he has made to date.
Pascal is in the film for only a few scenes as Pietro Alvarez, an enigmatic figure who helps Sharon (Regina King) connect with a victim of assault who misidentified her son (Stephen James) as her assailant. “If Beale Street Could Talk” isn’t necessarily focused on that aspect of the mystery, but Pascal showed how broad the universe Jenkins had created was, suggesting that there were more possibilities that existed beyond the singular love story in which the majority of the film was focused.
8. Strange Way of Life (2023)
Even though he had worked with some of the most accomplished and famous international movie stars in the world, Pedro Almodovar did not make his first English-language film until “Strange Way of Life,” a short film about two cowboys who were former lovers. Despite being only 30 minutes in length, “Strange Way of Life” has all the exuberance, energy, and stylization of an Almodovar film, and it’s calcified by the magnetic energy between Pascal and Ethan Hawke as the doomed lovers. Pascal plays the slightly gruffer of the two men, but he still carries himself with the dignity and poise of a veteran gunslinger who has seen his fair share of danger and ugliness.
There is so much subtext to what Pascal and Hawke are doing that the only main disappointment of “Strange Way of Life” is that it was not in anticipation of a feature-length project. Bringing out Almodovar’s emotional language in English is by no means an easy task. When looking at how disastrous his English-language feature, “The Room Next Door,” turned out to be, it is even more impressive that Pascal handled the subtleties of Almodovar’s dialogue whilst ensuring that it resonated with an entirely different audience.
7. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)
“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” is one of the more unfortunate box office disappointments of the last decade, as it seemed like the type of unusual breakout comedy that could have been a surprise hit. While the market for R-Rated comedies is unfortunately not the same as it was a decade earlier, in which Judd Apatow and his acolytes were a consistent draw, “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” has a great premise that seemed like it would be a perfect fit for the popular culture obsessive that dominates the online space.
Pascal plays a wealthy superfan of Nicolas Cage who is able to invite the real actor (playing himself) to his exotic island, where they get caught up in an action-packed adventure. It’s a classical buddy comedy that coasts almost entirely on the dynamic between Cage and Pascal, who are both able to lampoon themselves in knowing ways. The greatest irony is that Cage is in a film where he literally gets to play both himself and some of his most famous roles, but it is Pascal who proves himself as a worthy successor, showing the same reckless ambition in trying to do as many different types of projects as he possibly could.
6. The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been in a tough situation since the end of the “Infinity Saga” with “Avengers: Endgame,” but “The Fantastic Four: The First Steps” was the first post-pandemic project that suggested that there was something new and exciting in the future. The franchise may have found success capping off existing stories with “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” but “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” was set in an alternative past that captured the buzzy 1960s setting of Stan Lee’s original comics.
Despite its visual audaciousness and stylized direction, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is an intimate family story that is strongest when dealing with the dynamic between Pascal’s Reed Richards and Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm, who wrestle with their decision to bring a child into the world. It’s a dilemma that is surprisingly relatable in the modern era of climate change and potential world wars, yet it’s deftly handled with the type of optimism and foresight that Marvel used to represent. Even if the next era of Marvel will feature the return of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Chris Hemsworth, Pascal is the type of actor on whom the franchise could feasibly anchor its future.
5. Eddington (2025)
Ari Aster has been proven correct multiple times over with “Eddington,” a future classic in the making that stands as an acute, pointed examination of how the world collectively lost its mind in 2020. Detractors whose complaints about where the film (allegedly) shows its hands only further confirm Aster’s point that people are incapable of accepting nuance, and are so caught up in momentary indignities that they’ve become ignorant of the looming threat that is slowly erasing humanity’s interface.
There’s not a performance in “Eddington” that is anything less than perfectly cast, but Pascal is a particular standout as Mayor Ted Garcia, a popular politician whose re-election campaign sparks a feud with Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix). Ted is representative of a block of neo-liberalism that has become tolerated on both sides of the political aisle with his dubious friendliness towards tech, but he also shows the resentment that outsiders like Joe feel towards anyone who seems to have their finger on the pulse. It’s due to Ted’s charisma and ability to communicate that Joe realizes he is helpless to start a dialogue and can only resort to violent action. It’s cutting, cruel commentary that uses Pascal’s star power as a lightning rod.
4. Narcos (2015-2017)
It’s easy to forget that Netflix was a DVD rental service long before it became the biggest producer of original content in the industry, and it was thanks to a few key shows that it turned into a superpower. One of the first series to become a smash hit around the world was “Narcos,” a historical drama based on the rise of Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) and the drug cartels in Colombia. Although Escobar’s main nemesis in the first season was the DEA Agent Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook), Pascal joined the cast in its second season as Javier Pena, another vehement law enforcement agent determined to put the criminals behind bars.
Pascal and Holbrook added humanity and forcefulness to a show that could have easily skimmed through the bylines of history, and became a compelling screen duo in the vein of crime television classics like “Miami Vice.” The purpose wasn’t just to show the inefficiencies of the DEA in the face of an entire culture that was eating itself, but how individual officers were pushed to the edge as they worked with limited resources. Even after the third season of the main show lost both Holbrook and Moura, Pascal was able to keep “Narcos” alive for another season, which showed Pena’s infiltration of the Cali Cartel.
3. Game of Thrones (2011-2019)
“Game of Thrones” is the most significant television event of the last decade, as it proved that there was potential for true blockbuster success on the small screen. There are countless great performances from the show, but it’s interestingly a few actors who had minor parts ended up having the longest tail. Among them was Pascal, who showed up in the fourth season as Oberyn Martell, the charismatic prince of Dorne who arrived at King’s Landing with vengeance on his mind. Pascal presented an energy that the series needed in the wake of the shocking murder of Robb Stark (Richard Madden), which seemingly made the “War of the Five Kings” a victory for King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) and the Lannisters.
Oberyn represented the many bloodlines who still had a score to settle and would use their political capital to settle blood feuds. Few moments in “Game of Thrones” history have been as exhilarating as Oberyn’s alliance with Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), who is falsely accused of murdering his nephew on his wedding day. As for Oberyn’s fate, the climactic duel in “The Mountain and the Viper” was one of the most shocking moments in the show’s entire run, and solidified its fourth season as a peak in HBO’s entire history.
2. The Mandalorian (2019-2023)
It was after years of speculation that “Star Wars” finally produced a live-action adventure on the small screen, and “The Mandalorian” was exactly what the franchise needed after releasing its worst theatrical installment ever with “The Rise of Skywalker.” When the mythology had become too dense, “The Mandalorian” stripped “Star Wars” back to the essentials with an episodic series of adventures that played with George Lucas’ sandbox, drawing from classic Western, samurai, and Greek influences. In its inception, Pascal provided the type of anti-hero that felt revelatory, as Din Djarin was a ruthless bounty hunter who adhered to a cultural code of chivalry.
What some may have seen as a softening of the character was actually an arc that paralleled all the best “Star Wars” heroes, from Cassian Andor and Han Solo to Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. He chose to give up the infrastructure of his affiliation whilst adhering to its values. Pascal understood the pulpy influences of the show, yet pulled off its most emotional moments with the reminder that it was based on a children’s fantasy. There was a sharp decline in quality, particularly in the disappointing third season, but Pascal gave a performance that still made “The Mandalorian” a must-watch.
1. The Last of Us (2023-2025)
“The Last of Us” was long paraded as the video game that proved that the medium could be a true work of art, and not just a form of mindless entertainment. This put massive expectations upon the show, as the game had already broken ground with the emotional authenticity of its performances. That Pascal was able to enhance the character of Joel Miller into one of HBO’s signature characters is a testament to his multi-faceted qualities as a leading man. He was a grim loner with a heart of gold, and not one that was lacking in either brutality or affection.
The first season of “The Last of Us” is as close to perfection as a genre series could be, as the arc Joel has of returning to a self-actualized role of paternity makes for a gripping backdrop to the visceral, thrilling blend of action, horror, and neo-Western sensibilities. Pascal rose above any of the manipulative moments and was genuinely able to ground the series in a real-world aesthetic that justified its adaptation. That “The Last of Us” suffered a severe dip in quality from the very moment he exited his role as a series regular is by no means a coincidence.
