Pedro Pascal got bullied, broke and almost became a nurse—then everything changed

His breakthrough came only after a decade of struggle—and just when he was about to walk away. Pedro Pascal might be Hollywood’s current golden boy—appearing in The Last of Us, The Mandalorian, and the upcoming Fantastic Four—but his rise wasn’t paved in red carpets. For years, Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal grappled with trauma, rejection, and poverty before fame finally knocked on his door in his late 30s.

Long before The Last of Us and The Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal faced bullying, grief, and near-total obscurity

Pedro’s early years were turbulent. Born in Chile, his family fled the Pinochet dictatorship when he was just a baby, settling first in Texas and later California. But a new zip code didn’t guarantee peace. In high school, Pedro was relentlessly bullied for being “weird,” “sensitive,” and obsessed with theatre. His escape? Watching Gorillas in the Mist on repeat. Eventually, his mother transferred him to a performing arts school—a decision he believes may have saved his life. But trouble didn’t end with adolescence. By 16, he was experimenting with drugs, tripping on acid, and making late-night drives to Los Angeles with friends. Still, it was his deep bond with his mother that kept pulling him back—sometimes literally. He recalled once rushing home from a night out to sit beside her at a movie theatre, hungover but present.

Despite a lifelong passion for acting, success remained elusive. After graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Pedro spent over a decade scraping by in New York. Struggling with insomnia, anxiety, and the weight of his mother’s suicide, he almost gave up on his dreams entirely—considering a pivot to nursing. “I’d have been a terrible nurse,” he later admitted. “Selective. Like I was as a waiter—I’d love some patients and loathe others.”

But his circle of friends, including actress Sarah Paulson and his sister Javiera Balmaceda (now a producer), urged him to keep going. “We never let him quit,” his sister once said. Eventually, roles started trickling in—small, then significant—and suddenly, Pedro was everywhere. Even now, at 50, fame feels precarious to him. He still fears criticism, still questions his place. But with every role, Pedro brings a rawness forged in fire. As he once put it, “You think not getting a job can break me? I’m already broken.” And yet, that brokenness might just be his greatest strength.

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