One of them takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The other is either a medieval fantasy creation or some elaborate Westworld-style roleplaying game. But according to Pedro Pascal, one of the biggest stars who’s crossed over from the world of Game of Thrones into Star Wars, the two groundbreaking franchises has something in common.
Pascal previously starred as Oberyn Martell on the fourth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones — until he was eye-gouged at the hands of the Mountain. Now, he’s taking on the title role as The Mandalorian in the upcoming Disney+ series.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Pascal said Game of Thrones owes much of its success to Star Wars, in how they’ve both brought blockbuster genre fiction to the centre stage.
“I see enormous parallels between the world of Star Wars and the world of Game of Thrones,” Pascal said. “Game of Thrones might not exist if not for Star Wars, in the way that this world-building genre [took] science fiction to a new level in the way that Game of Thrones takes fantasy to a new level. And the way that it represents such concrete realities that we live in, although the irony being that it’s science fiction and fantasy.”
Pascal is by no means the first actor to make the jump between Star Wars and Game of Thrones. For example, two of the Sand Snakes have appeared in the franchise, with Keisha Castle-Hughes (Obara Sand) appearing in Revenge of the Sith as the new Queen of Naboo and Jessica Henwick (Nymeria Sand) playing an X-Wing pilot in The Force Awakens. Plus, who can forget Gwendoline Christie, the fantastic Brienne of Tarth, who played Captain Phasma?
The Mandalorian debuts on Disney+ in November (with no word yet on how it will be coming to Australia). Game of Thrones is currently nearing the end of its eighth and final season.