Hispanics in Shakespeare – Pedro Pascal

STC Founding Artistic Director Michael Kahn always says, “If you can act Shakespeare, you can act anything.” Prior to his starring role in a “galaxy far, far away”, The Mandalorian actor Pedro Pascal spent some time on STC’s stage starring in productions of Hamlet as Horatio and Ghosts as Oswald (credited as Alexander Pascal). But what made him the star that he is today? Born in Santiago, Chile in 1975, his family moved to the United States to seek asylum from the political unrest that was occurring in Chile at the time. At the beginning of his professional acting career, he went by the name Alexander in order to avoid being typecast. Celebrating his unique identity has framed who he is as an actor in Hollywood. In an interview with NBC Latino, he said “Be yourself and don’t give up, we’re past the time now where you need to sort of change your name or kind of appropriate yourself to a culture that is not your own.”  He has found success by embracing his identity and is an inspiration to young Hispanic actors everywhere. He reminds them that fitting a mold is not as important as being true to yourself.