Pedro Pascal Reveals 1 Nicolas Cage Role He Would’ve Loved to Have Played
Everyone has their favorite Nicolas Cage movie, including The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal. Pascal starred with Cage in 2022’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent before his starring role in the new mega-hit HBO show The Last of Us, one of the biggest shows on tv.
Now, The Mandalorian star names the one role of Cage’s he would’ve loved to play.
Before ‘The Last of Us’: Pedro Pascal’s movie and tv roles
Beginning in 1996, Pascal spent nearly two decades doing small roles in film and tv (mostly billed as Pedro Balmaceda). His appearances include iconic shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Brothers & Sisters, and Homeland.
Then, in 2014, Pascal landed the role that would change his career: Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones Season 4. Viewers will remember how his character came to an end in the series — a moment that is hard to unsee, pun intended. One year later, he became Javier Peña in Netflix’s Narcos. In 2019, Pascal began starring in The Mandalorian.
After a starring role opposite Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman 1984 as the villain, Maxwell Lord, Pascal reprised his role as the Mandalorian in another of the Star Wars franchise’s series, The Book of Boba Fett. It seems only fitting that Pascal’s next role was alongside Cage in a movie called The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.
Pedro Pascal on Nicolas Cage and ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’
As one of the best-known stars in Hollywood, Cage has played over 100 different characters including, hilariously, himself in 2022’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Starring alongside Cage, Pascal stars as a Cage superfan.
In an interview for the film from 2022, Pascal answers “burning” rapid-fire questions including which of Cage’s long list of characters Pascal most wishes he could have played.
“It would be Raising Arizona with the Coen Brothers, for sure,” Pascal tells IMDb. He is, of course referring to one of Cage’s most famous roles as H.I. McDunnough from the 1987 film that has long since become a cult classic.
The film follows Cage’s character H.I. and his wife, Ed (played by Holly Hunter), a childless couple who find more trouble than they imagined after kidnapping a quintuplet. The Raising Arizona cast also included John Goodman, William Forsythe, and Frances McDormand. The film remains one of Cage’s most beloved films despite his expanding catalog.
Pedro Pascal in ‘The Last of Us’
Interestingly, Pascal’s Joel in The Last of Us has some similarities to H.I. from Raising Arizona.
Based on the popular video game of the same name, The Last of Us follows Joel, a man who finds himself in an unexpectedly paternal role. Following the outbreak of the Cordyceps fungus, Joel is tasked with delivering a teenager, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), to a facility that plans to use her to create a vaccine. Though Ellie is 14 in the series (Cage’s H.I. kidnapped an infant), Joel finds his work cut out for him with the sass-talking, teen.
So, while he may not have gotten to play H.I. (there are no known reboots in the works for Raising Arizona, but, really, you never know), Pascal’s role as Joel in The Last of Us will likely be considered among his best just as Cage’s H.I. is. Oh, the unbearable weight of massive talent.
