Pedro Pascal is unrecognizable from Buffy cameo under different name which saved his acting career
Pedro Pascal might be one of the biggest names in Hollywood now, but it hasn't always been that way for the actor.
Unlike some of his peers who reached stardom in their early 20s, Pascal had a slightly different route to the top.
In fact, the 51-year-old spent nearly two decades as a working actor before becoming globally recognizable in his 40s.
Pascal had a pretty remarkable start in life, as he and his parents fled Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile when he was just nine months old.
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The family initially traveled to Denmark as political refugees, before eventually settling in the US.
Most of Pascal's childhood was spent in San Antonio, Texas and Orange County, California.
After graduating from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a drama degree, the actor spent most of his 20s taking small television and theater parts.
One of those small roles happened to be in a pretty massive show, when Pascal appeared in a 1999 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer opposite Sarah Michelle Geller.
As any millennial will tell you, Buffy was extremely popular in the late 90s, during which time Pascal was relatively unknown.
In fact, some fans have recently rewatched the iconic show and only just spotted the budding star, branding him almost unrecognizable compared to now.
"Seeing a young Pedro Pascal in Buffy always catches me off guard," one fan wrote on Reddit. "So strange to just see him as a minor side character given how big he is now."
Another commented: "Wow I didn't even recognize it was Pedro!"
Pascal appeared as a young freshman called Eddie, who shares a tender moment with Buffy in the season four premiere titled The Freshman.
Unfortunately, later that evening Eddie is preyed on by a local vampire gang and when he returns to life as one of them, Buffy is forced to kill him.
Pascal has previously credited his appearance on the show having 'saved' his career. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight in 2024, he spoke about the hardships of being an entry level actor and the financial strain it puts on young people in the industry.
"My entry level lasted about 15 years," he said, discussing the support he had from the acting community and Screen Actors Guild.
"We're talking about being able to see a doctor, getting sick, getting a surgery, paying my rent when I had less than $7 in my account, and a residual from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' showed up and saved the day."
He said that particular TV appearance was 'the reason I was able to stay in it and not give up.'
Around 15 years later, Pascal got his big break when he was cast as Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper, in season four of Game of Thrones.
After that, he landed a major role as DEA agent Javier Peña in Netflix's Narcos, and his career has gone from strength to strength ever since.
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Pedro Pascal
Emma Rosemurgey