Jon Favreau Is Happy To Contribute To Pedro Pascal Fever

As anyone who's beaten the odds to become a known entity in Hollywood will tell you, there's no such thing as an overnight success. For Chilean-born actor Pedro Pascal, the path to stardom has been a slow and steady rise that started with some fairly memorable television appearances that eventually led to his electric portrayal of the Dornish Prince Oberyn Martell in season 4 of "Game of Thrones." Pascal seemed born for the role of Prince Oberyn, injecting the character with intense passion, sexuality, and a fervor for life, which made it all the more tragic when he met his gruesome fate at the hands of Gregor Clegane aka The Mountain. "Game of Thrones" devotees deeply felt the loss which endeared Pascal even more to a growing legion of fans. 

This year marked a significant shift in Pascal's widespread popularity, placing the actor in rarified air with two hit shows premiering at the exact same time. HBO's "The Last of Us" has captured the cultural zeitgeist becoming the best video game adaptation ever, and season 3 of "The Mandalorian" promises to keep everyone fully invested in the continuing adventures of Din and Grogu, the best father-son duo on TV at the moment. 

With "The Last of Us" and "The Mandalorian" sucking up all the pop culture oxygen as of late, Pascal fans have taken to social media to create "fan-cam" edits and tributes paying homage to the actor's best roles. Pascal is definitely enjoying a moment right now that few performers get to experience. As such, "The Mandalorian" creator Jon Favreau is happy to be along for the ride and stand witness to Pascal's meteoric rise over the last year. 

At the Hollywood premiere of "The Mandalorian" season 3 a few nights ago, The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Favreau and asked him about casting Pascal as the stoic, helmeted warrior that has since become a new "Star Wars" icon. "We just hired him because we were fans of his work [in] 'Narcos' and 'Game of Thrones,'" Favreau said. "He's been at it for a while, and what we really liked about him was that he was a journeyman actor who always did a great part. He really picked great projects to be a part of, he always stood out." 

Pascal's intense turn as a DEA agent on the hunt for Pablo Escobar in "Narcos" added another great role to his resume that showed he could say a lot with just a glare. Favreau didn't exactly anticipate the level of fame Pascal would achieve when he came on board to star in "The Mandalorian," he was just confident they had found someone who could still be captivating under that intimidating beskar armor. "We knew that he could ground and add humanity to a character that was otherwise a mask, somebody that we knew you wouldn't see his face, and if and when you did that, it had to mean something," remarked Favreau. "He had to deliver a lot in a few moments."

Pascal is everywhere lately and is taking full advantage of his budding superstardom. He's made some heartwarming talk show appearances on "Late Night With Seth Myers" and just knocked it out of the park hosting Saturday Night Live. Fans are getting to know Pascal now as a person and as an actor, and they're loving what they see. "He's having a moment," said Favreau, "and I'm glad that we're able to be a part of that."

"The Last of Us" airs every Sunday on HBO and new episodes of "The Mandalorian" premiere each Wednesday on Disney+.