Just weeks after President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring refugees from coming into the United States, “Narcos” star Pedro Pascal is coming forward to tell his refugee story.
Pascal, 41, sat down with Fusion’s “America With Jorge Ramos” recently and opened up about why his family left Chile in the ‘70s.
“I am a refugee, my parents fled Chile under Pinochet in 1976 when I was 9 months old, and my parents were able to start from nothing and make lives for themselves in the United States,” Pascal said in the video interview. “I didn’t choose to come to the United States but being raised here has shaped exactly who I am today, and I can’t imagine that being taken away from me.”
The actor also spoke about the struggles of being a Latino actor in Hollywood. Pascal, who was once a “Game of Thrones” fan favorite after his portrayal of Oberyn Martell in the HBO series, is currently portraying real-life DEA agent Javier Peña in Netflix’s “Narcos.”
But the road to success hasn’t been easy for Pascal, who says he’s refused to let the industry put him “in a box.”
“Being Latino and being an actor has been a unique struggle and opportunity,” he said. “When you don’t fit into what may be a more stereotypical vision of somebody whose name is Pedro is, it can be a little bit harder to navigate.”
Watch Pascal’s full interview above, in which he also discusses how Hollywood’s lack of diversity.
