Pedro Pascal Could Barely Believe It When He Was Cast in Game of Thrones

Pedro Pascal’s dreams literally came true when he was cast on Game of Thrones.

Pascal, 50, opened up about appearing on the hit fantasy series as Oberyn Martell — as well as some of his other roles — in a video for Vanity Fair published on Tuesday, June 24, tied to his cover story for the magazine.

“It was a game changer,” he said of getting cast as Oberyn Martell, a prince of Dorne who appears in the fourth season, which aired in 2014. “It’s the reason that I’m here now, I think. I don’t think I know. I still can’t believe it happened that [showrunners] David Benioff [and] Dan Weiss would take this chance.”

“They could have had, I don’t know, whoever they wanted and that they actually paid attention to somebody who had a lot of, you know, regional theater, Off-Broadway work and episodic television on their résumé to step into this kind of a part in the height of their popularity,” he continued. “And to this day, I kind of am indebted to them for my career.”

Pascal also credited his best friend Sarah Paulson with getting his audition tape in front of her close friend Amanda Peet, who’s married to Benioff. 

Pascal continued that he was “such a fan of the show” that it still would have been “special” even if it hadn’t transformed his career. “I was obsessed with the show,” he said. “Getting to go and be with this ensemble and on those locations in a comfortable costume and in a really good role? I could barely f—— believe what was happening to me, to be honest with you.”

There was one particular scene that really blew his mind.

“I was sitting in the throne room during Tyrion’s trial and I had a view of everyone and I was with all of these main players and it was just nuts,” he said. That scene appeared in season 4, episode 6, titled “The Laws of Gods and Men.” It saw Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister on trial for the murder of his nephew King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), and other characters in the long sequence included Charles Dance’s Tywin, Lena Headey’s Cersei, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s Jaime, Conleth Hill’s Varys and Sibel Kekilli’s Shae, among others.

Pascal appeared in just two more episodes after that; in episode 8, “The Mountain and the Viper,” Oberyn represents Tyrion in a trial by combat against The Mountain (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) and ultimately loses when he is crushed to death. “One of my early deaths,” Pascal joked to Vanity Fair.

Pascal remembered filming that battle on three “blazing hot” days in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where the show filmed King’s Landing scenes. He credited Björnsson with helping him learn “tricks of the trade” to keep his energy up. 

And though Oberyn’s head was crushed in, Pascal said in reality, “As violent as it looks, he was very gently pressing up against my eyes. You’d think that his entire weight would be on me with the costume. I didn’t feel him at all.”

Pascal’s role as Oberyn helped him get cast as Javier Peña on Netflix’s Narcos. In 2019, he was cast as Din Djarin in The Mandalorian, and in 2023 he returned to HBO with fellow Game of Thrones alum Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us. This summer, he stars in the movies The Materialists, Fantastic Four and Eddington.

Way back when in 2014, before any episodes had aired, Pascal spoke to PEOPLE about joining the series. Initially, he didn’t think he landed the part and was bummed out for a very relatable reason. “It didn’t really seem like an attainable gig, so initially I was pretty upset about all the spoilers they’d given me during the audition,” he shared.

When Game of Thrones ended in 2019, Pascal shared behind-the-scenes photos from his time on the series on Instagram and wrote, “To the mensches who changed my life, I salute. To being around the very most gorgeous people, to dental work and to no one messing with Sansa except me when I refuse to let her nap. It changed your lives and mine. #GameofThrones, the greatest show on television… so far 😉😉😉.”