Game Of Thrones showrunner David Benioff has revealed casting Pedro Pascal as Oberyn Martell in HBO fantasy series was pretty ‘unusual’.
The actor, who is the lead role in Disney Plus show The Mandalorian, joined the HBO show in its fourth season and was a much-adored character even beyond his untimely death at the hands of Ser Gregor Clegane.
Sharing details of how Perdo’s Oberyn came to be, Benioff explained why he was the perfect actor for the role.
‘That was such a tricky role to cast,’ Benioff said. ‘Oberyn entered the story mid-stream, but required the swagger of a character who had been sparring with the other players off-screen for years.
‘We were looking for an actor with charisma, sexual energy, physical menace and depth.
‘He had to be seductive to both men and women; he had to be someone the audience could believe as a killer. Oberyn has a core of white-hot rage that motivates him, and we wanted someone who could convey that anger but also be funny, when called upon, and sensitive, when called upon.’
Casting his mind to Pedro’s first audition, Benioff shared: ‘First of all, it was an iPhone selfie audition, which was unusual.
‘And this wasn’t one of the new-fangled iPhones with the fancy cameras. It looked like sh**; it was shot vertical; the whole thing was very amateurish. Except for the performance, which was intense and believable and just right.’
After leaving Game Of Thrones in 2014, Pedro went on to star as Javier Peña in Narcos for three seasons.
He’s currently playing The Mandalorian/Din Djarin in the Disney Plus show – and season 2 is set to launch at the end of October.
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