If you’re a Game of Thrones fan who religiously watched the award-winning fantasy drama during its 8-season run, chances are there are a few onscreen deaths that impacted you for being some of the most gruesome of the series. Red Wedding, anyone?
One death that always seems to be somewhere at the top of that list is the horrific killing of Prince Oberyn Martell played by Pedro Pascal (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) during the show’s fourth season. Oberyn, also known as the Red Viper of Dorne, met his bloody demise at the hands of Gregor Clegane, AKA The Mountain, during his trial by combat.
During a recent interview with Esquire magazine, Pascal said he considered the scene one of the highlights of his career and joked that everything he’s done after that moment can’t live up to the brutal way his character’s eyes are gouged out and his head crushed.
“Makes me feel like a boss,” Pascal said. “If I’m actually up there and if I’m in the top three [deaths], I mean then like, everything after is a bit futile. It’s like, what am I doing? Why am I still trying? I did it.”
Luckily, Pascal landed the role on the groundbreaking show, to begin with. He mentioned that series co-creator and showrunner David Benioff wasn’t very impressed with his audition for the role, which he completed by having a friend tape him on his iPhone.
“They sent me like 20 something pages to do, which obviously, in the time that they wanted the tape to be turned in, I wasn’t going to be able to memorize all those lines,” he said. “So, the easiest way was for somebody to sit in front of you with an iPhone and then just kind of like have the pages down here and read it casually.”
Pedro Pascal added, “And the suckers fell for it. Is that my fault? No, it’s theirs.”