Pedro Pascal On Playing Surrogate Dads in The Last of Us & The Mandalorian Despite Not Being a Parent Himself (Photo Credit – YouTube)
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Pedro Pascal’s recent wave of success comes with a recurring pattern. He’s almost always cast as the protective, slightly damaged father figure. Whether it’s space missions with a tiny alien or navigating a broken world with a teenage girl, his characters often lean into the dad zone.
Yet, off-screen, Pascal lives a very different reality. He isn’t married, doesn’t have children, and doesn’t plan on becoming a parent. Still, the actor continues to take roles where he plays a surrogate father, and fans have turned that into an entire online identity. Pascal, however, is not only aware of it, but he’s fully playing along.
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Pedro Pascal Embraces Father Figure Roles
Pedro Pascal has become a familiar face in roles that revolve around playing tough yet soft father figures. In The Mandalorian, he steps into the boots of Din Djarin, a lone bounty hunter who ends up guarding Grogu, better known as Baby Yoda. In HBO’s The Last of Us, he portrays Joel, a man grieving the loss of his daughter, who forms a deep bond with Ellie, a teenager with an immunity that could change the world.
“I don’t have kids. I’ve only learned through these characters how painfully vulnerable one becomes and how much your life depends on their life being OK. It’s a fun fantasy to fulfill, and I’ll play as many dads as I can get.”
When asked about this repeated casting in guardian-type roles, Pascal made it clear it wasn’t planned. Speaking with Radio Times Magazine, he said, “You sort of step through the doors that open. I think this kind of reluctant father dynamic was familiar to us all along from films and TV before The Mandalorian came around.”
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He continued by sharing that while it’s not intentional, some of it may come from his personality. “Although, maybe there is something about me,” he explained. “It doesn’t go into my conscious decision-making as far as work is concerned. But maybe as far as what I can contribute to the character, it comes from a protective part of me. I can be very protective of my friends and family. But I ain’t got no kids!”
During The Hollywood Reporter’s Drama Actor Roundtable, Jeff Bridges asked Pascal if he had any kids of his own. Pascal answered, “I’m not a daddy,” then turned to the camera and added, “And I’m not gonna be a daddy!”
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Despite this, Pascal doesn’t shy away from the viral ‘internet daddy’ image. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, he joked about the nickname, saying he’s the “cool, slutty daddy,” a reference to a fan tweet that took off online. He also told Vanity Fair, “Daddy is a state of mind.”
While on The Graham Norton Show, Pascal admitted the internet’s obsession still confuses him. “I’m still trying to figure it out,” he said. “There’s zaddy, there’s daddy…” Norton then pulled up fan tweets praising him as the ideal father figure, prompting a round of laughter from the actor. Though he may not be one in real life, Pascal’s back-to-back roles have placed him at the center of pop culture’s ongoing ‘dad era.’
