David Benioff Recalls Pedro Pascal’s “Game Of Thrones” Audition: “It Looked Like Sh*t”

Game of Thrones showrunner David Benioff revealed how the series cast Pedro Pascal to play Oberyn Martell, a role that would launch him into stardom. The Mandalorian star apparently recorded his audition vertically on his iPhone.

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“First of all, it was an iPhone selfie audition, which was unusual,” Benioff told Variety. “And this wasn’t one of the new-fangled iPhones with the fancy cameras. It looked like shit; it was shot vertical; the whole thing was very amateurish. Except for the performance, which was intense and believable and just right.”

Benioff says Pascal’s future stardom was clear as soon as the season was finished: “Once we saw the entire season there was no doubt Pedro was going to be a star. I thought he deserved more recognition, frankly. Was he nominated for any awards? He should have been. But Dan and I were thrilled that we gave Pedro a job that helped his ascent, because he’s an absolute gem of an actor and a man.”

Despite his talent, the showrunner had no intention of keeping him around any longer. “Nope. I mean, we love Pedro. And we loved that character. But his death at the hands of the Mountain was one of our favorite brutal killings from George’s books,” he said.

[Via]