Pedro Pascal's career evolution: Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The Last of Us

Pedro Pascal’s stock in Hollywood has been rising in the past 10 years.

Since appearing in Game of Thrones as Oberyn Martell in 2014, then in Netflix’s Narcos, Pascal has steadily become a staple of film and television.

And while we now know him for his roles as The Mandalorian in the Star Wars show of the same name, Pascal has been appearing in films and television shows for the past 25 years, albeit in small roles.

Here, we chart Pascal’s rise to fame, from his earliest credits to his latest roles and future projects.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1999)

Appearing in small roles before 1999, Pascal, then listed as Pedro Balmaceda,landed his first major US television role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one of the most popular shows on television in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Aged 24, Pascal appeared in the first episode of series four, titled The Freshman. His character Eddie, one of Buffy's fellow college freshman students, is quickly killed off by the titular vampire slayer after he is turned into a vampire.

In February, Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar shared a still of the two from the show on Instagram, captioning the photo, “When #Mother met #Father”.

NYPD Blue and Law & Order (2000s)

In the 2000s, Pascal appeared in several popular police shows including NYPD Blue in 2001 and Law & Order in 2008 in guest roles. At this time, he was using the name Alexander Pascal.

He was primarily cast as a low-level gangster or a punk criminal who was up to no good, or even a police officer in the department.

The Good Wife (2009)

In a departure from previous roles, in which he featured primarily as a criminal or a police officer, Pascal portrayed a smooth-talking assistant state attorney in political series The Good Wife. He appeared in six episodes over two seasons. The show went on for seven seasons, winning five Primetime Emmy Awards in the process.

Game of Thrones (2014)

In 2014, Pedro Pascal was cast in the biggest show on television at the time, Game of Thrones. Portraying the role of Oberyn Martell, a member of House Martell and the younger brother of Doran Martell, Pascal appeared in eight episodes in the fourth season of the show.

The character proved very popular with fans, but they knew not to get too attached to characters, as few were safe from an untimely end.

In a now-famous duel scene, Pascal’s character's skull was crushed by Gregor Clegane, better known as The Mountain, played by actor Hafthor Bjornsson.

Narcos (2015)

Pascal's first starring role came on Netflix show Narcos, starring alongside Boyd Holbrook and Wagner Moura. He plays a DEA agent stationed in Bogota, Colombia, in the late 1970s, a time when the country faced a major drug trafficking problem.

The show pulled in an average of 3.2 million viewers aged 18 to 49 during a 35-day period, according to a sample captured by now-closed measurement company Symphony Advanced Media. It continued for three seasons with Pascal appearing in every episode.

Film projects including Wonder Woman 1984 (from 2020)

Following the success of Narcos, Pascal appeared in a string of films.

He was cast as Whiskey in Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) and as an antagonist in Wonder Woman sequel, Wonder Woman 1984 (2020). Pascal also appeared in another Netflix production, Triple Frontier (2019), alongside Ben Affleck and Oscar Isaac, and in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) opposite Nicolas Cage, who plays a parody of himself named Nick Cage in the comedy.

The Mandalorian (2019)

In 2019, Pascal took on the title role in the Star Wars universe television series, The Mandalorian.

Fans quickly warmed to Pascal’s portrayal of the calm and quiet bounty hunter, who is given the task of caring for a child.

The child in question is Grogu, better known as Baby Yoda, and arguably the star of the show. But Pascal's character, popularly known as Mando, holds his own in major emotional scenes. Despite being behind a mask for much of the show, Pascal provides a performance that shines through the Beskar armour.

Series creator Jon Favreau has confirmed that the fourth season of the The Mandalorian has been written and is waiting to be shot.

The Last of Us (2023)

In Pascal’s most recent starring role he portrays Joel Miller, the protagonist in the series The Last of Us, an adaptation of the game of the same name.

Navigating a world ravaged by a zombie outbreak, Joel is a black market smuggler who is handed a major undertaking, moving a teenager who might prove to be the cure for the infectious outbreak, across the US.

Fans of the game have almost unanimously agreed that Pascal’s Joel is faithful to the character in the game, with layers added to the person and his experience.

Future projects

Pascal's fans can look forward to seeing him in more seasons of The Mandalorian, as well as the much-anticipated second season of The Last of Us.

He is due to appear in Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s latest film, Strange Way of Life, alongside Ethan Hawke.

The actor is also expected to appear in the film Tropico, a psychological thriller set in Brazil, alongside Willem Dafoe and Morena Baccarin.

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

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Company Profile

Company name: Yeepeey

Started: Soft launch in November, 2020

Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani

Based: Dubai

Industry: E-grocery

Initial investment: $150,000

Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

Saudi National Day

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Meydan racecard:

6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 (PA) Group 1 | US$75,000 (Dirt) | 2,200 metres

7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas (TB) Listed | $250,000 (D) | 1,600m

7.40pm: Meydan Classic Trial (TB) Conditions | $100,000 (Turf) | 1,400m

8.15pm: Al Shindagha Sprint (TB) Group 3 | $200,000 (D) | 1,200m

8.50pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (D) | 1,600m

9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (T) | 2,000m

10pm: Handicap (TB) | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m

The Africa Institute 101

Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.

8. Pillar 2 implementation

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer