Actor Pedro Pascal captivated the internet and the hearts of millions this year after his performance in The Last of Us spawned an overwhelming number of fan edits. Pascal has been a big actor for a long time, but in recent years, he’s had particularly meaty roles in high-profile shows like Narcos, Game of Thrones, and The Mandalorian. The Last of Us was just the last show to win over his fans, though his soon-to-be released movie Strange Way of Life might take its place next month.
Pascal has admitted that he’s noticed the recent jump in attention. While taking a lie detector test with Vanity Fair he said he searches for his name on Twitter. He is particularly shocked by how often he gets called a “Daddy.” Pascal does not have any kids, but he does take a fatherly role to co-star Bella Ramsay in the post-apocalyptic story. Fans definitely mean it in a more sensual way, however.
“Daddy is a state of mind,” he told the interviewer. “I’m your daddy.”
In an interview with Wired in January 2023, he talked a bit more seriously about love, but more how his character Joel processes loving and losing his daughter.
“I think what’s scary about Joel is that none of us really know what we’d be capable of if faced with the idea of losing love,” he explained. “Whether it’s conscious or unconscious, being alive or even being a human being is directly connected to the love you feel. Existing is connected to the love you feel toward a particular relationship—your child, your partner—and to lose that? Some people are not capable of applying rational thought to that kind of loss, or the threat of that loss, or the threat of that loss again.”
He added, “I don’t like psychological, emotional, or physical pain.”
Despite his position on the challenges of love, there’s a lot of curiosity about Pascal’s romantic history. But the actor keeps his relationships very private. The closest he’s gotten to having a public relationship is with what appear to be very close friendships with several women over the years. He might just have chemistry with everybody?
Here’s what we know about Pedro Pascal’s love life.
Maria Dizzia
In the early 90s, Maria Dizzia and Pascal starred in an episode of Law And Order. Pascal played a character named Tito Cabassa opposite Dizzia’s Sugar, his sex-worker girlfriend. The Sun reports they briefly dated that decade. Dizzia went on to star in Orange is The New Black and is now married to a British playwright, Will Eno.
Lena Headey
Both Pascal and actress Lena Headey worked on the HBO hit Game of Thrones. Headey played the infamous Cersei Lannister and Pascal was Prince Oberyn Martell. In 2014, they were romantically linked, though this seems like it might have been a friendship situation. Headey did share a picture of herself and Pascal looking quite intimate, writing in the caption, “Sunshine love.”
In a Reddit Q&A, The Daily Mail reports Pascal was asked about their relationship and replied, “Lena is one of my [favorite people]…She is so funny and so smart, such a good person, a good friend and a good mother, I think everyone on that set and anyone who comes in contact with her develops an instant crush. Talk about male or female, you’re going to get a crush on her easy.”
Since those days, Headey has been connected to Dan Cadan, with whom she shares her daughter Teddy, and now her current husband, actor Marc Menchaca.
Robin Tunney
In 2015, actress Robin Tunney and Pascal were seen in one another’s company quite a bit. They were photographed at various events and enjoying time together in public, including at the Emmy Awards in 2015.
He also appeared on Tunney’s hit show, The Mentalist.
However, during this time, Tunney was engaged to interior designer Nick Marmet, who proposed to her on Christmas 2012. She announced their engagement in 2013. The couple has two children together.
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.