When Pedro Pascal Wanted To Quit Acting And Become A Nurse

News18

25-06-2025

Pedro Pascal revealed that he once seriously considered becoming a nurse when he could find success as an actor.
With The Last of Us, The Fantastic Four, and even Avengers: Doomsday in his acting credits, Pedro Pascal is one of the biggest names in Hollywood right now. But his path to fame was far from easy. The 50-year-old actor rose to popularity after a series of rejections, losing his mother to suicide, being broke and even nearly quitting acting. In a new interview, Pedro opened up about the low phases in his life, which helped him shape into the person he is today.
Pedro Pascal On His Early Life
Pedro Pascal was born in Chile. His family fled the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship and moved to the US when he was just nine months old. Initially, they settled in Texas and later in California. He recalled how his mother, Veronica, who was only 22, raised her kids along with studying child psychology, while his father worked as a fertility doctor.
Pedro Pascal On Facing School Bullying
Reminiscing about his childhood, Pedro shared that even as a child, he was very fond of movies, so much so that whenever HBO's intro music played, he would shout, 'A movie is coming!" His life took a turn for the worse when they moved to Orange County, where he was constantly bullied by his middle school classmates for being 'weird and sensitive." It got so bad that his mother had to move him to a different school, something which he thought saved his life.
Pedro Pascal On Using Drugs
At one point in life, Pedro Pascal started experimenting with drugs. He also got his driver's license early. He revealed that he would take his mother's Volvo and drive to Los Angeles with his best friend, Grace. Recalling an incident where he was high on acid, he shared that he had called his mom to tell her that he would be staying out all night. She then told him that she was planning to watch a movie with him. At that moment, Pedro was reminded of the immense love he had for her. He rushed back home to just sit beside her the entire time.
Pedro Pascal On How He Nearly Became A Nurse
While speaking with Vanity Fair, the 50-year-old actor admitted that he considered changing his profession to nursing when he could not bag any acting roles. Pedro, who studied acting at NYU, told the outlet, 'In my 30s, I was supposed to have a career. Past 29 without a career meant that it was over, definitely." He admitted that he would have been a 'terrible" nurse.
However, his family and friends kept encouraging him to chase his dreams. While he was in New York, Pedro became friends with actors like Sarah Paulson, who called him 'sad but magnetic." And just as his career was about to start, he lost his mother to suicide. It was a dark time when he dealt with insomnia and overwhelming thoughts, he said. To cope, Pedro even adopted a dog named Gretta.
At this point in life, when Pedro is one of the internet's favourite 'zaddy', the actor admitted that he is still scared of criticism. However, being around actors like Robert Downey Jr. helped him overcome such insecurities.
Pedro was most recently seen in the rom-com Materialists, featuring Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans. It premiered in the US on July 13.
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