Pedro Pascal Lookalike Contest Winner Looks So Much Like The Actor, People Think It’s A Prank

1 week ago 1

The fake Pedro Pascal may be as charming as the real Pedro Pascal.

On Tuesday, “The Daily Show” shared a behind-the-scenes clip to its X account in which Jon Stewart revealed to fans that the winner of a New York-based Pedro Pascal lookalike contest was George Gountas — who happens to be the lighting designer for “The Daily Show.”

Pedro Pascal (left) and George Gountas, the lighting designer for “The Daily Show,” and the winner of a New York-based Pedro Pascal lookalike contest.
Pedro Pascal (left) and George Gountas, the lighting designer for “The Daily Show,” and the winner of a New York-based Pedro Pascal lookalike contest.

Getty/Screenshot “The Daily Show” via X/Twitter

After inviting Gountas on stage, who looks like he could be a long-lost member of Pascal’s family, Stewart made a confession.

“I’ve never noticed he looks like Pedro Pascal,” Stewart admitted, before showing a photo of what Gountas typically looks like in the office, which looks less like Pascal, but still very Pascal-esque.

“How did you do this?” Stewart asked Gountas.

Gountas then launched into a very funny explanation as to how he went from “Pedro No. 5” during a silly contest on Sunday to its ultimate winner.

Gountas explained that a fellow “Daily Show” staffer noticed fliers for the contest last week. The contest was held at Son Del North, a Mexican restaurant in the lower east side, and the prize for the winner was $50 and a year’s supply of free burritos, according to local news station FOX 5 New York.

The co-owner of the eatery, chef Annisha Garcia, told People she was inspired to create the contest after coming across an interview with Pascal in which he said that there isn’t any “good Mexican food in New York City.” Gountas went on to tell Stewart about the contest, who was only mildly interested, and completely forgot about it. That was until he mentioned it to his wife, Jenny, just two days before the contest — and Jenny told Gountas he was absolutely doing it.

Contesting whether Gountas liked it or not, Jenny enlisted the help of a neighbor, who was a stylist, in order to pin down Pascal’s look.

“And I showed up on Father’s Day — you were supposed to pre-sign up, I did not sign up,” Gountas said. “I rolled up, and I was like, ‘Yo, I’m here.’ And they’re like, ‘You’re going to win.’”

And he did.

Later on in his discussion with Stewart, Gountas eventually revealed that his wife had an ulterior motive in her insistence that he enter the Pedro pageant — and it’s that she wanted to use Gountas’ 15 minutes of fame to meet the real Pascal.

So, Gountas decided to be a good hubby and shared his wife’s request on camera in hopes that Pascal would receive the message.

“Hey Pedro, this is Pedro No. 5 from New York,” Gountas began. “It would be a great, great, great gift if you could meet my wife, Jenny. It would mean the world to her. We need to make this happen.”

Although it’s currently unclear if Pascal is even aware of this whole fiasco, fans of the “Daily Show” were blown away by how much Gountas does look like the “Last of Us” star. See their comments below.

whoa...seriously? I almost feel like that is Pedro Pascal and they're punking us. Anyway Pedro has to meet Jenny he just has to!

— Nice4What (@mizztotal) June 18, 2025

@dailyshow should change their intro to say "now featuring pedro pascal on camera 2"

— Lucas Lyons (@lucaslyonsart) June 18, 2025

20 Years Of Free Journalism

Your Support Fuels Our Mission

Your Support Fuels Our Mission

For two decades, HuffPost has brought you the exclusives, scoops and hot takes on the news all your friends are talking about. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 — we can't do this without you.

We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.

Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.

We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.

Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.

Support HuffPost

Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.

20 Years Of Free Journalism

For two decades, HuffPost has brought you the exclusives, scoops and hot takes on the news all your friends are talking about. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 — we can't do this without you.

Support HuffPost

Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.

Pretty amazing!!! He's got the body language dialed in.

— Wear your masks (@tonyver45) June 18, 2025

He’s got the mannerisms down! If that’s not him trying to do that, it’s even more eerie

— j🍥 (@Noteless) June 17, 2025

This is unbelievable. At first I thought it was a prank.

— Joan Fuchsman (@joansnuggets) June 18, 2025
Read Entire Article