Q&A with actor Pedro Pascal from 'Game Of Thrones’, 'Kingsman', 'Narcos'

Pedro Pascal portrayed Oberyn Martell in 'Game Of Thrones'. He can currently be seen in 'Narcos' as well as the film 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle'. Photo: Reuters

When Pedro Pascal was a 26-year-old struggling actor, he moved into a cheap, one-bedroom apartment in Red Hook, Brooklyn. For much of the past 15 years, he strung together rent in the time-honoured New York tradition of waiting tables and booking the occasional guest spot on Law & Order.

By his mid-30s, Pascal, who studied acting at New York University, was finally gaining steam with recurring parts in The Good Wife and Brothers & Sisters. But the real tipping point arrived when Pascal was cast as sexually voracious swordsman Oberyn Martell in Season Four of Game Of Thrones, a part he found out about when a young actor he was mentoring auditioned for it. Pascal put himself on tape and sent it to his friend Sarah Paulson, whose best friend, Amanda Peet, happens to be married to Game Of Thrones showrunner David Benioff.