Actor Pedro Pascal has forged his own genre of sorts. He is excellent at being a father figure to someone who needs protection, guidance, and acceptance. In The Mandalorian, he bravely looks after Grogu even at the expense of his creed and career. This is the way, after all. In The Last of Us he stars as Joel and helps Ellie, who might be the key to saving all of humanity, cross the country. It turns out his brotherly love and paternal instincts might not be too far off from his real life personality, as evidenced by his real life relationship with his sister Lux Pascal. But before we get into all that, let’s take a look at Pedro’s life and career to see how he became the caring man he is today.
Pedro: A brief biography
José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal was born on April 2, 1975 in Santiago, Chile. His father, José Balmaceda Riera, was a fertility doctor and his mother, Verónica Pascal Ureta, was a child psychologist. He has three siblings, an older sister named Javiera, a younger brother named Nicolás, and a younger sister named Lux. His mother’s cousin is Andrés Pascal Allende who was a socialist leader who, along with Pedro’s parents, worked to overthrow the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Because of this, Pedro’s family had to leave the country when he was just nine months old. They ultimately ended up in the United States with Pedro being raised in Orange County, California and San Antonio, Texas.
Before he fell in love with acting, Pedro was a swimmer competing in state championships. A drama class would change the course of his life. He was hooked. He would go on to study at Orange County High School of the Arts and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Although he had several credits before this, his breakout role was Oberyn Martell on the HBO series Game of Thrones. He would also go on to portray Javier Peña in Netflix’s Narcos.
His role as the title character on The Mandalorian would cement his stardom. This would continue on in his portrayal of Joel in HBO’s The Last of Us.
Pedro supports Lux
Just like in his work, family is incredibly important to Pedro. This can be seen in a recent Instagram post in which he expressed his public support for his sister Lux, a transgender woman who began transitioning in 2020. He posted a photo of her on the cover of the Spanish-language magazine Ya which he captioned “mi hermana, mi corazón, nuestra Lux.” This translates to “my sister, my heart, our Lux.”
Who is Lux?
Lux is a 28 year old actor and activist who is currently studying at Juilliard in New York City. She is on track to graduate in 2023. She already has her BFA from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She appeared with her brother as Elias in an episode of Narcos.
Lux opens about her transition
Like many of us, Lux used the Covid-19 pandemic as a time to reflect about where she was in life and how she wanted to show up in the world. Lux discovered that she had been so focused on training and building her acting career that she had not taken the time to slow down and check in with herself. Quarantine gave her the gift of time. Lux began hormone therapy in 2020.
“The concept of ‘trans’ has diversified which opened my mind and I thought to myself, I can try this now,” she stated.
Lux says her family has been incredibly supportive of her decision. “My transition has been something that’s very natural for everyone in my family. It’s almost something that they expected to happen,” she explained.
Pedro has been a big part of her journey. He “has been an important part of this. He’s also an artist and has served as a guide for me. He was one of the first people to gift me the tools that started shaping my identity,” she gushed.
While discovering her unique identity, Lux considered identifying as non-binary but ultimately decided she was a woman. “Moving through the world as a woman is much more simple for me, but I still advocate for nonbinary identities to have a space in society,” she stated.
Activism is important for her and she wants to work to make sure everyone is seen and heard. “We need trans activists who are good, smart, informed and who can be strong voices against transphobia, homophobia and racism,” she stated.
This sounds just like her big brother who tried to educate his Mandalorian co-star Gina Carano on the topic after she made transphobic tweets. Activism and acceptance seem to run in the Pascal family.
