Sarah Paulson and Pedro Pascal Said They Would Play the Same ‘Game of Thrones’ Character if They Could (and It’s Not Oberyn Martell)

Interestingly, Sarah Paulson and Pedro Pascal are longtime friends. They haven’t appeared in anything together, but they lived in New York City when they were 18 and 17 years old and kept in touch as the years went on. Now, as they’re both two of the biggest streaming stars at the moment, they’re still really close if social media proves anything. 

And back in 2014, during an interview where Paulson grilled Pascal for a cover shoot, they agreed on who their favorite Game of Thrones character was. 

Pedro Pascal and Sarah Paulson are longtime friends

Sarah Paulson and Pedro Pascal arrive at the Premiere of HBO’s ‘Togetherness’ at Avalon on Jan. 6, 2015 | Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

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Pascal attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and he met Paulson in 1993 in NYC because she grew up between Queens and Tampa, FL. When it came to high school, she attended the famed LaGuardia High School and then the conservatory American Academy of Dramatic Arts. 

In an interview with Interview Magazine in 2014, they talked about how they saw Fearless and drank 40s in the park on their first outing with friends together. They also ran into Woody Harrelson, interestingly. 

And when it came time for Pascal’s audition for Oberyn Martell for Game of Throne’s fourth season, he sent in a taped audition from his iPhone and Paulson was one of the first to see it. 

“You can’t say this about yourself because it would make you a total *sshole, and I don’t think you believe this about yourself anyway, but it was so f*cking brilliant,” Paulson said. “I sent it to Amanda [Peet] and she showed it to David [Benioff; Peet’s husband] right then. The rest of it has to do with casting directors and auditions and other things that happen.”

And Pascal went on to, of course, become great in the role of The Red Viper, Prince of Dorne. Even if he died a rather gruesome death. And it launched him into a level of stardom he hadn’t experienced before, even though he had been acting for a while. Which they also touch on in the interview. 

They both love Arya Stark and other women on ‘Game of Thrones’

When it comes to whom they love the most in the cast of Game of Thrones, it’s easily the youngest Stark daughter. Although Pascal did note that it’s a bit distracting to choose his favorite character when he has “personal feelings” by knowing each of the actors from working with them. 

“That does sort of distract me, but also there are so many goddamn characters and I like so many of them,” he said. 

Then when Paulson changes the question to who he would want to play, he also would pick Arya, and Paulson would as well. And again, when Paulson asks about the throne, all roads lead to the girl with no name. 

“There are obvious answers. I love Arya,” he said. “I think Arya and Tyrion are brilliant characters… Daenerys is a brilliant character… Cersei is a brilliant character.”

Paulson liked that Pascal chose “predominatly women” and he thought it was interesting considering that his favorites were also women. 

“I think some of the most powerful women on television are on that show,” Paulson countered. “And by powerful, I mean they are three-dimensional female characters.” 

Unfortunately, none of their picks ended up on the Iron Throne in the end 

Of course, this conversation took place five years before the final season, so they couldn’t have known the polarizing turn the show was going to take. Or that they were going to be so off on who would be on the Iron Throne in the end. Because when Paulson asked Pascal, again, who should end up on the throne, he said: 

“Tyrion would be the greatest ruler of Westeros. That’s a no-brainer.”

Unfortunately, Tyrion thought that Bran had the best story and therefore the best shot at being King of Westeros, even though that’s highly debatable. But regardless, Pascal and Paulson were massive fans before Pascal was on the show, and most likely were even after he was killed off. In the interview, they talked about how they watched “The Red Wedding” episode at Paulson’s house, which was her second viewing, and it almost made her throw up. So it was such a wild experience for Pascal, being on the Game of Thrones set for the first time after being cast as Oberyn Martell of Dorne. 

“It was so surreal it made my head explode!” he said. “I’m not expecting to have something be as weird as that anytime soon. It was the strangest of circumstances where all of a sudden I am stepping onto the set and talking to Charles Dance [Tywin Lannister] while he’s sitting on the throne.”

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