Pedro Pascal’s 15 Best Movies And TV Shows
Pedro Pascal got his start in the acting world with short films in the 1990s after attending New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and while it might have taken him nearly 20 years to get his breakout role, he has proven his talent with his best movies and TV shows of recent years. Pascal made a living appearing in one-off television show roles in the 1990s, including an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but he has successfully transitioned into much more substantial roles.
Following his 2014 break with a supporting role in Game of Thrones, Pedro Pascal has become a household name. He has become part of some of the biggest franchises, including being cast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Fantastic Four. Pascal is set to have a huge year in 2025 with some of his biggest projects yet coming out, but these movies and TV shows are Pascal’s best right now.
15
The Equalizer 2 (2018)
As Dave York
5/10
- Release Date
-
July 20, 2018
- Runtime
-
121 Minutes
- Director
-
Antoine Fuqua
- Writers
-
Richard Wenk
When The Equalizer first came out in 2014, it was a big success, ushering in a new action franchise for iconic actor Denzel Washington to take charge of. Washington followed that success with The Equalizer 2, opening up the universe in much bigger ways than the first one, while also having all the explosive, creative kills that the franchise has become known for. While The Equalizer 2 is often more of the same, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as Denzel Washington is incredible in all three films.
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Pedro Pascal was able to join the franchise for The Equalizer 2 as he plays Dave York, another former CIA operative who became a freelance assassin, and was the friend and partner of Denzel Washington’s Robert McCall, as the two come into conflict during the movie. It’s a hard task acting alongside a true legend like Washington, but Pedro Pascal rises to the occasion with his role as Dave York, giving his character complexity and having great chemistry with Denzel throughout.
14
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
As Maxwell Lord
He has some intense scenery chewing that will make everyone watching glad he has the chance to be in a different superhero project.
While superhero fans will readily agree that Wonder Woman 1984 did not exactly live up to the first movie, they will also likely agree that Pedro Pascal’s work in the movie is still fantastic. He has some intense scenery chewing that will make everyone watching glad he has the chance to be in a different superhero project.
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Wonder Woman 1984 explores what Diana (Gal Gadot) is up to in the titular year, set during her past in the DC Extended Universe. Pascal is one of the villains in the movie. He plays Maxwell Lord as a desperate man just trying to save his company at first. The power of the movie’s artifact, however, only makes him desire more and more, his desperation becoming a thirst for power and success.
Pascal plays the role to perfection despite the script being muddled and the movie being ill-regarded by about half of the audience.
13
Triple Frontier (2019)
As Francisco “Catfish” Morales
7/10
- Release Date
-
March 13, 2019
- Runtime
-
125 minutes
- Director
-
J.C. Chandor
- Writers
-
Mark Boal, J.C. Chandor
Directed by J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year), Triple Frontier focuses on a group of former U.S. Army Delta Force operators as they reunite to plan a heist against a South American crime lord. Often thrilling and beautifully shot, Triple Frontier is a solid film with an ambitious story to tell. It’s also quite brutal throughout with some great action set pieces thrown in for good measure. Of course, the cast is stellar, led by a grizzled Ben Affleck.
Triple Frontier 2 is currently in development, but not much else is known about the sequel.
Pedro Pascal joins the rest of the heist group in Triple Frontier, as he plays Francisco “Catfish” Morales, one of the five members of the team. While he didn’t get as much time to shine as some of the other characters in the movie, Pedro Pascal helps make Catfish one of the most interesting and endearing characters in Triple Frontier, an essential piece of what keeps it ticking.
12
Freaky Tales (2024)
As Clint
7/10
- Release Date
-
April 4, 2025
- Runtime
-
106 Minutes
- Director
-
Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
- Writers
-
Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Freaky Tales is an ambitious film set in 1987 Oakland that tells four different, but interconnected stories, of various characters: an NBA star, a corrupt cop, a female rap duo, and more, as their stories take place in real locations at real historical events. Freaky Tales is often funny throughout and highly entertaining, as the ensemble cast of characters really keep things going right from the very start, as each character is so different from each other.
Pedro Pascal is one of those characters, as he plays Clint in Freaky Tales, a debt collector who is getting out of the business due to his wife being pregnant, but things don’t go as planned, and he is thrust onto a path of vengeance. Pedro Pascal is always incredible at portraying haunted characters, and he does incredible work as Clint in the film, really driving home the weight of his predicament and what he would do to push through it.
11
Prospect (2018)
As Ezra
5/10
- Release Date
-
October 2, 2018
- Runtime
-
98 Minutes
- Director
-
Zeek Earl, Christopher Caldwell
- Writers
-
Christopher Caldwell, Zeek Earl
A grounded, personal science fiction film, Prospect focuses on a teen girl named Cee who lands on a poisonous forest moon with her father, Damon, as they attempt to mine for valuable gems, and encounter dangerous roadblocks along the way. While the film itself is ambitious, the low-budget nature of Prospect forces the movie to really focus in on its characters rather than the science-fiction spectacle it could have been, and it is all the stronger for it as well.
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Sophie Thatcher and Jay Duplass are great in the roles of Cee and Damon, but Pedro Pascal does just as well, as he plays Ezra, a rival prospector, who first comes in contact with them after he was planning to rob them. Eventually, Ezra reluctantly partners up with Cee as the two carry out a specific plan, which really allows the two actors a lot of time to work off each other, as their interactions slowly peel back who they are as characters.
10
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
As Whiskey
8/10
- Release Date
-
September 22, 2017
- Runtime
-
2h 21m
- Director
-
Matthew Vaughn
- Writers
-
Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman
Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a divisive chapter in the franchise. Fans believe the Kingsman movie made a few mistakes, but one of those mistakes did not include the casting of Pedro Pascal. Pascal clearly has a lot of fun getting to play in the franchise.
While the first movie in the franchise focuses on developing Eggsy (Taron Edgerton) as a character and seeing him learn how to be both a gentleman and a spy, the second movie takes Eggsy on a mission involving meeting the American version of his own organization. Pascal is a member of the American team whose codename is Whiskey. At first, he seems like the typical caricature of a modern American cowboy, but he also becomes much more layered – and much more angry – than that.
Pascal gets to make a surprising heel turn in the movie that fans loved to watch unfold. He gets to be reckless and somehow calculating at the same time. Pascal helps to make the movie incredibly fun.
9
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
As Pietro Alvarez
If Beale Street Could Talk is a fantastically done drama, and the only reason it does not rank higher among Pedro Pascal’s best movies and TV shows is because Pascal is not actually in the movie much. The role he plays is a small one, but it does show he has no problem being a smaller part of a large ensemble in a great project.
If Beale Street Could Talk was nominated for three Golden Globes, winning one, and three Academy Awards, winning one.
The movie follows a young black woman and her boyfriend when he is accused of sexual assault. While he has an alibi for the time of the assault, he is picked out of the lineup by the survivor. The young woman has to deal with her pregnancy and her boyfriend’s incarceration as the movie demonstrates the difficulty of dealing with systemic racism (and some that is not so systemic) when it comes to legal matters.
Pascal plays a person who gets the man’s family in contact with the survivor so they can hear her side of the story. His role is not one of the most dramatic in the movie, but it plays an important part in moving the story forward.
8
The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (2022)
As Javi Gutierrez
The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent quickly became known as one of Nicolas Cage’s best movies following its release. Thanks to Cage playing a heightened version of himself in the action-drama, the movie manages to hit the sweet spot for Cage fans. Pascal, however, keeps up perfectly with the veteran actor and even steals plenty of scenes from him.
…Cage and Pascal at the top of their respective games.
The movie sees Cage experiencing a slump in his career and a strained relationship with his family Pascal’s Javi is a Cage superfan who offers to pay him a huge sum of money to attend his birthday celebration. When Cage goes to meet him, Javi also pitches making a movie with him. Cage is approached by the CIA, who believe that Javi is not just a wealthy eccentric, but an arms dealer and kidnapper.
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The movie is off the wall with fantastic action sequences and the perfect balance of comedy and drama. It makes for a pretty perfect movie with Cage and Pascal at the top of their respective games.
7
The Uninvited (2024)
As Lucian
7/10
- Release Date
-
November 15, 2024
- Runtime
-
97 Minutes
- Director
-
Nadia Conners
- Writers
-
Nadia Conners
The Uninvited is a lovely little dramedy that revolves around an actress named Rose who has become a homemaker who hosts a party alongside her Hollywood agent husband, Sammy, in an attempt to impress a client. After an elderly woman arrives claiming that the house once belonged to her, the facade is dropped and things begin to get tense. Featuring some incredible performances across the board, The Uninvited is an emotionally resonant film that can sneak up on anyone despite appearing a bit subtle on the surface.
Pedro Pascal is simply incredible in The Uninvited, especially alongside Walton Goggins’ Sammy, as they are two of the best actors working today. He plays Lucian, a Hollywood star who has a history with Rose that led to Sammy feeling nothing but contempt for him, but he is invited to the party and Sammy is supposedly done feeling jealous, but that certainly isn’t the case. Pascal steps effortlessly into the role of Lucian, giving him more complexity than he might seem in general.
6
The Wild Robot (2024)
As Fink
8/10
- Release Date
-
September 27, 2024
- Runtime
-
101 Minutes
- Director
-
Chris Sanders
- Writers
-
Chris Sanders, Peter Brown
The Wild Robot is one of the few animated movies to hit theaters in 2024 and one of Pedro Pascal’s most recent movies. It continues his trend in recent years of playing father figures on the screen, though this time around, that father figure happens to be a fox.
The movie involves a robot ending up stranded on an island following a storm wrecking the cargo ship she was on. While on the island, she bonds with some of the animals and struggles to make her way, ending up raising a goose whose nest she accidentally destroyed.
The Wild Robot was nominated for four Golden Globes and 10 Annie Awards.
Pascal voices Fink, the first animal that the robot befriends when she actually protects the young goose from him. The robot, Fink, and the goose end up as a kind of found family, living together and helping one another. It’s a great showcase of Pascal’s voice work as he gets to be charming and cunning without actually appearing on screen.
While the movie received several nominations from various critical circles, ScreenRant also named it the best animated movie of 2024.
5
Game Of Thrones (2014)
As Oberyn Martell
10/10
- Release Date
-
2011 – 2019-00-00
- Showrunner
-
David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
- Directors
-
David Nutter, Alan Taylor, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff
For the better part of a decade, Oberyn Martell has been Pedro Pascal’s most recognizable role. Though he has had other roles before the fantasy series, Game of Thrones certainly opened a lot of doors for him, just as it did for most of the cast who had not yet had any leading roles in Hollywood projects.
Pascal recurs in the series as a member of the Martell family who has it out for the Lannisters. The fantasy series mostly followed the Stark and Lannister family members on their respective adventures while trying to claim the Iron Throne. Other characters came and went in the series, getting between the two families, and Oberyn Martell is one of them.
Pascal’s Oberyn quickly became a fan favorite thanks to his charm and charisma. His character is a very physical character, believing in following passion and not judging others for whom they love. The character, also, however, is bent on vengeance, which leads to an incredibly tragic fight scene that is one of the dramatic highlights of Game of Thrones.
4
Gladiator II (2024)
As General Acacius
8/10
- Release Date
-
November 22, 2024
- Runtime
-
148 minutes
- Writers
-
David Scarpa, Peter Craig, David Franzoni
Audiences probably did not expect Gladiator to get a sequel 24 years after it originally premiered in theaters. The sequel was in development off and on during that time before it finally was made under the direction of Ridley Scott and with a cast that included Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal, and Joseph Quinn.
The movie sees the exiled prince of Rome end up as one of the gladiators in the arena. He fights on behalf of a slave who intends to overthrow those in power, but he is not the only interesting fighter who ends up in the arena.
Gladiator II was nominated for two Golden Globe awards.
Pascal plays the General Acacius. Acacius is one of the most lauded generals of the empire. He has grown tired of all of the military campaigns, but he is not granted any reprieve. As he and his wife plot to overthrow the current emperors, he ends up in the arena due to his treason. Pascal paints a picture of a layered man who has his own code of ethics. His glory does not have to be found in violence, unlike many of the other characters in the movie.
3
The Mandalorian (2019-2023)
As The Mandalorian
8/10
- Release Date
-
November 12, 2019
- Network
-
Disney+
- Directors
-
Rick Famuyiwa, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dave Filoni, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed, Deborah Chow, Jon Favreau, Peter Ramsey, Robert Rodriguez, Taika Waititi, Lee Isaac Chung
-
Din Djarin / The Mandalorian
-
Katee Sackhoff
Bo-Katan Kryze
The Mandalorian is the first live-action Star Wars series made. It made its premiere when the Disney+ streaming platform went live in 2019 with Pedro Pascal in the title role.
The series is set five years after the Star Wars movie Return of the Jedi and centers on Din Djarin, a bounty hunter who operates in the far reaches of the empire. When he is hired to pick up a child, he ends up going on the run to protect the force-sensitive youngster, becoming a father figure for Grogu.
For the first season of the series, Pascal did most of the physical work on set while providing the voice for the character, which was often recorded after the fact. He established the mannerisms of the character and helped to really humanize the bounty hunter. Since then, the physical performance has also been played more often by stunt performers Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder, who should also be credited for helping Pascal craft the reluctant father figure.
Pascal appears as the same character in The Book of Boba Fett miniseries and could appear in the wider Star Wars universe as well.
While a fourth season of the series has been in development, with a movie (The Mandalorian And Grogu) on the way, it is unclear if another season of the series will be made.
2
Narcos (2015-2017)
As Javier Peña
- Release Date
-
2015 – 2017-00-00
- Showrunner
-
Chris Brancato
- Directors
-
Chris Brancato
- Writers
-
Chris Brancato
The Netflix series Narcos is inspired by real events. It takes the real life story of Pablo Escobar and tracks it across two seasons while also featuring the Drug Enforcement Agents who work against Escobar and take on a new cartel in the third season.
Pascal stars as Javier Peña, one of the DEA agents trying to bring Pablo Escobar down. In the first two seasons, he is more of a supporting player, but the third season gives Pascal the chance to lead the series. Critical outlets, including ScreenRant, praised that decision because of Pascal’s charisma and the audience’s desire to see more of him.
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After his turn in Game of Thrones, Narcos is really the series that helped to put Pascal on the map. The series was nominated for two Golden Globes and three Emmys, though Pascal’s work was not recognized for either organization. Instead, most of the accolades regarding the show went into the behind-the-scenes work of those like editors, digital designers, and writers.
1
The Last Of Us (2023-)
As Joel
8/10
- Release Date
-
January 15, 2023
- Network
-
HBO
- Showrunner
-
Craig Mazin
- Directors
-
Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado
- Writers
-
Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin
If any of Pedro Pascal’s movies and TV shows have cemented the actor as a star, it is The Last Of Us. The HBO series has proven that video game adaptations can work, especially since it emphasizes the humanity of its characters instead of focusing on the zombie virus itself.
The story of the series follows Pascal’s Joel in a world that has become infected by a mysterious virus. Joel lost his daughter early in the changing world, but he has become tasked with escorting a young woman who might have the answer to humanity’s cure for the virus. Along the way, he becomes a reluctant father figure, just as Pascal does in most of his best projects to date.
Pascal demonstrates a great dramatic depth and empathy in the series. While many of his best projects have been able to allow him to be a chameleon, playing villains, heroes, and even those out for vengeance, Pascal appears to be at his best when playing father figures the audience gets to see slowly come into their emotions and evolve over a longer period of time.
While Pedro Pascal has been in plenty of movies that showcase his star quality, many of his best projects are certainly TV shows, with The Last of Us being the best so far.
