2023 seems to be the year of Pedro Pascal, and you won’t catch us complaining.

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The brilliant actor is currently heading two of television’s most popular shows, between HBO’s The Last of Us and Disney’s The Mandalorian. In both series, the 47-year-old Chilean-American actor plays a gruff father figure working to protect a vitally- important child from the various dangers of the world (or galaxy). His clear talent shines through both roles, but particularly The Last of Us‘ Joel, whose nuance is perfectly captured in Pascal’s gripping performance.

Pascal once again proved himself to be the unproblematic, supportive king we know and love, after a recent TMZ interview showed him effortlessly sidestepping a range of questions about those cursed “gay” episodes in The Last of Us. Two of the first season’s nine episodes detailed love stories of a non-heteronormative nature, and a bunch of straight feeling were predictably hurt. In response to the backlash both “Long Long Time” and “Left Behind” received, however, Pascal is as chipper as ever.

A TMZ reporter caught Pascal in a parking lot recently, and badgered him with questions about television’s current favorite series. Her questions immediately set viewers off, as she plunged into several queries that should never see the light of day in 2023.

Her first question — which seemed more intended to incite than to inform — saw the reporter compare The Last of Us to “This Is Us but with zombies,” and complain about the show’s tendency to kill off characters. Pascal, an absolute gem through it all, listens to her questions while providing autographs and snapping selfies with fans, notes in response that “its worth it” to watch the show, despite the frequent deaths.

I hate TMZ from thelastofus

It is the reporter’s next question that really set fans off, however, after she hung around to badger Pascal with an entirely unnecessary second round of questions. Her first, wondering how Pascal responds to viewers who “don’t want to see the LGBT character love stories,” got nothing but a “they do” in return, but it was Pascal’s flawless response to her second that reaffirmed him as America’s new favorite television staple.

The reporter, seemingly unaware of Pascal’s status as staunch ally to the LGBTQ+ community, followed her first tone-deaf question with another. She asked the beloved actor why it is “so important to have LGBTQ+ characters on TV shows,” and Pascal’s perfect side-step is garnering praise online. His response stating that the reporter “should know why,” before entering his car and presumably taking off, is delighting the actor’s many fans.

Past disparaging comments shredding TMZ and its lackluster reporting, fans were hugely supportive of Pascal’s responses. On a Reddit thread sharing the video, comments praised Pascal’s “slightly sassy, and quite deflective” answers, with one comment celebrating Pascal’s “HERO f**king answer” to the reporter’s second question, in particular.

Pascal’s new prominence in the public eye, particularly when paired with his established status as an ally, all but guarantees more confrontations like this in the future. Thankfully, he seems to have several effortless responses locked and loaded, just in case. Fans can expect to see the celebrated actor take several more reporters down a few pegs in the coming weeks, as Pascal continues to dazzle both on and off the screen.