In an alternate universe somewhere, four-time Emmy nominee and internationally beloved sweetie pie Pedro Pascal could have spent the better part of the 2010s acting on The CW. As writer, director, and producer Julie Plec once revealed to Entertainment Weekly, the fan favorite actor who's currently headlining "The Last of Us" and "The Mandalorian" actually auditioned for a key role in "The Vampire Diaries" and its spinoff series "The Originals" over a decade ago.
During the glory days of The CW (before
its entire programming slate was slam-dunked into the trash), "The Vampire Diaries" rode the bloodsucking trend of the late aughts, delivering a juicy, dramatic, often polarizing teen soap adaptation of L.J. Smith's book series of the same name. The flagship series lasted eight seasons, and midway through its run, it introduced a New Orleans-set spinoff: "The Originals." It's this show that series creator Plec says Pascal auditioned for, acting alongside Charles Michael Davis for a shot at the role of Marcel.
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Pascal Didn't Get The Part Of Marcel In The Originals
"One of the other people who read opposite Charles for that part was Pedro Pascal, who I loved," Plec told EW's Binge podcast in 2021. Paul Wesley, who starred as vamp Stefan Salvatore for the entire run of "The Vampire Diaries," also spoke about Pascal's audition in an episode of "Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum." The actor mentioned the moment while reflecting on his own career in a sort of "Sliding Doors"-style thought experiment about missed and chosen roles. "Pedro Pascal is a great example," Wesley explained. "He screen tested for 'The Vampire Diaries' spinoff, 'The Originals.' He didn't get the part, and now he's on ["The Last of Us"]."
Had Pascal nabbed the role of Marcel, a formerly enslaved vampire who was made immortal by Joseph Morgan's Klaus, his schedule probably would've been booked solid from 2013 to 2018. That would mean he wouldn't have given his breakthrough performance as pansexual Dornish prince Oberyn Martell in "Game of Thrones." Other key Pascal roles during that time span include a turn as DEA Agent Javier Peña in Netflix's "Narcos" (a show Wesley specifically praised when chatting about Pascal), a warm supporting performance in "If Beale Street Could Talk," and parts in high profile action films like "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" and "The Equalizer 2." By the end of 2018, Pascal had officially been cast as the new face (or rather, helmet) of "Star Wars" in "The Mandalorian," and the rest is history.
If Plec had chosen Pascal for the backdoor pilot of "The Originals" and its subsequent series run, that history no doubt would've looked a lot different. "It's funny, I think to myself, 'What if Pedro Pascal got "The Vampire Diaries" spinoff?'" Wesley said in 2023. So why didn't he? According to Plec, Davis just had the "kind of swagger" the character needed "to operate and breathe in the same place as Klaus." Plus, the actor was in his late 30s at the time, and had apparently aged out of the role. "I was obsessed with him, but he was just on the older side," Plec confessed. Davis, ten years younger, got the role and has since played major parts in "NCIS: New Orleans" and the critically acclaimed series "Younger." If you still want to see Pascal as a vampire, though, we have good news from 1999 for you.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
