Actor Pedro Pascal has seen a meteoric rise this year–from his lead roles as Joel Miller in HBO’s “The Last Of Us” and as Din Djarin in Disney’s “The Mandalorian”, Pascal has amassed a loyal fan base from his emotionally impactful performances, and his humorous personality offscreen. The Chilean-American actor has worked in the entertainment industry for decades, following his graduation from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1997.
Pascal’s career has reached new heights in the age of internet culture. Several moments from press tours and interviews have found viral fame on TikTok and Twitter, most recently a clip of Pascal simply eating a sandwich. The infamous clip has been meme-ified by thousands of users across TikTok, and is often paired with humorous captions.
The original video of Pascal eating a sandwich came from an interview with LadBible TV’s video series “Snack Wars” on YouTube. Pascal sat down with fellow actor Jon Favreau to compare Chilean and American snacks. The clip that TikTok users picked up on features Pascal trying one of Favreau’s favorite American snacks, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
The clip initially began making the rounds when a TikTok user named Goose (@fiendish.goose) shared the clip and captioned it “Pedro Pascal’s mouse moment.” A “mouse moment” refers to another viral TikTok meme that features a clip of a mouse eating alone from the popular U.K. animated series “Creature Comforts,” which initially premiered in 2003. The show was made by the creators of another popular cartoon, “Wallace and Gromit.” The “Creature” scene and the Pedro sandwich moment are both dubbed over a slowed piano version of Austin Farwell’s track “New Home.”
@fiendish.goose Replying to @dreary.bia pedro pascal’s mouse moment #pedropascal #pedropascaledit #pedropascalsimp #pedropascaltiktok
A “mouse moment” often refers to a moment of loneliness or feeling small in the world, though some have turned the phenomenon into a satirical look at internet culture. The sandwich crunch heard around the world soundtracked by Farwell’s “New Home” has been dubbed over thousands of scenarios, from failed eyeliner attempts to small business marketing and getting secret tattoos.
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@madwrld_ damn near cousins #makeup #grwm #grwmroutine #makeuptutorial #eyeliner
@northshirebooks Did it work? #booktok #supportindiebookstores #pedropascal #northshirebookstore #northshirebooks #pedropascaleatingasandwich
@inkedbyjdo unbothered bc it brings me inner happiness ???? #capcut #tatt #arttok #tattoo #art #tattoos #tattooideas #getatattoo #bonita #tat #tattootiktok #tattooartist #tattoolover
This is not the first time Pascal has unwittingly become a meme. Scenes from the “Last of Us” and Netflix’s “Narcos” have made their rounds on Twitter and TikTok as well in recent weeks. A scene in which Pascal’s character Joel Miller begins having an anxiety attack after making the cross-country journey from Boston to Wyoming was paired with humorous captions on Twitter for months.
https://twitter.com/heartimecia/status/1628154479802548226?s=20
A recent scene of Pascal in character as DEA Agent Javier Peña began making the rounds on TikTok amid the ongoing congressional hearings regarding the cybersecurity of the platform. Fans are pairing the clip with captions like “the data that the government will find from my TikTok” paired with images of their favorite celebrities.
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@aubreysnape #stevienicks #lindseybuckingham #fleetwoodmac #silversprings1997 #silversprings #nevergetaway
Other fans are recognizing the origin of a much older meme–one that features Pascal crying on camera during a Zoom reading of a play during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
@diobrandn3w (credits: @youtube) #pedropascal #crying #original #meme #foryou
@krabby090 I THOUGHT THIS WAS A RANDOM GUY THAT STARTED CRYING HELP #fyp #viral #pedropascal #themandalorian #thelastofus #thelastofus2 #thelastofushbo #GenshinImpact34 #gameofthrones #kingsmanthegoldencircle
Despite the many memes of Pascal taking over the internet, fans of the actor are also taking notice of his deeper positive qualities. Pascal has long been an outspoken advocate of the LGBTQ+ community, especially after his sister, fellow actress Lux Pascal, came out as transgender in 2020.
@humanrightscampaign Nothing is more ‘daddy’ than demonstrating your allyship loud and proud! ????️????????????️????????????️???????? #LGBTQ #LGBT #ally #allyship
Fans of Pascal can grab their sandwich of choice and continue to watch their favorite actor in “The Mandalorian”, which wraps up its season three run on April 19.
