Pedro Pascal opens up about drug abuse and early career struggle; reveals how 'Avengers' star Robert Downey Jr helped

Time of India

5 hours ago

Pedro Pascal
may now be a household name, with his leading roles in series like The Mandalorian and The Last of Us, and films including Materialists and the upcoming Fantastic Four and Avengers: Doomsday, but the actor's early years in Hollywood were far from glamorous.
Opening up in a candid interview with Vanity Fair, the actor talked about a much darker past marked by trauma, drug abuse, and career frustration. The Chilean-born actor traced his rocky path to stardom that saw him fleeing the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and settling in Texas with his family. They eventually moved to California, where Pascal's love for theatre grew. However, his emotional and sensitive nature made him a target for bullies.
'I don't know if I would've survived the bullying if my mom hadn't pulled me out and put me in a school for the arts,' Pascal admitted.
In his teens, Pedro revealed his past with substance abuse, stating that by 16, he was experimenting with drugs. 'Drugs were everywhere,' he said, remembering nights spent driving to LA with his best friend in his mother's Volvo. One night, while 'tripping on acid', he even called home to tell his mother he was staying out.
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However, when she expressed her desire to go watch a movie together, he rushed home and sat beside her at the theatre.
The actor also recalled his early passion for acting, while struggling to land roles. Pascal revealed that the struggle through years of rejection led him to once consider becoming a nurse. However, looking back, he said he was glad he didn't go down that road as, 'I'd be a selective nurse, like I was as a waiter,' he joked. 'I'd fall in love with some patients and hate others. And that poor patient that I hated!'
Giving due credit to his mother and sister, he revealed that the two encouraged him to pursue his dreams.
Pascal also spoke about the emotional toll of losing his mother before his career had truly begun. 'You think not getting a job can break me? I'm already broken,' he said. To cope, he adopted a rescue dog named Gretta.
One key figure who helped him through was Robert Downey Jr, himself no stranger to struggles and reinvention. Pascal said the Avengers star gave him the permission to be scared, to be uncertain, and most importantly, to be real.
'Being around Robert made me feel like it was okay to be vulnerable,' he said.
Now leading Marvel's highly anticipated Fantastic Four reboot, Pascal hopes the film delivers more than just spectacle. 'You just never know if people are going to be disgusted by your heart or not,' he said. 'But that's what we're putting out there—our hearts on a platter.'