We had Kevin Costner as Calgary Stampede parade marshal last year, why not Pedro Pascal this year?
Perhaps Bella Ramsey? Both?
There’s a change.org petition out there calling for Pedro Pascal, who starred as the character Joel in the HBO series The Last of Us, to be this year’s Calgary Stampede parade marshal.
The petition has about 5,800 signatures as of Monday afternoon.
Pascal has been an unabashed fan of Alberta since he was here, along with co-star Bella Ramsey (Ellie), shooting the hit HBO series. The season one finale wrapped up earlier this month. The series hit a lot of fan buttons locally with many identifiable locations, such as SAIT, Mount Royal University, the 4 Avenue flyover and Northland Village Mall. One of the Wilder Institute / Calgary Zoo giraffes – Nabo – had an appearance as well.
“Because, well, it’s Pedro, what more is there too say? [sic],” Calgarian Jessica Morgan wrote in the petition comments.
Calgary Stampede says: We’ll announce later this year
The chatter has elevated enough for the Calgary Stampede to weigh in on the matter. They said on Monday that they will choose their parade marshal closer to the Calgary Stampede. This year, the Calgary Stampede goes from July 7 to 16, 2023.
“The Stampede Parade has been the official kickoff to The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth for more than 100 years and we are thrilled to see the community enthusiasm and support for this year’s Parade Marshal,” the organization said in a statement provided to LiveWire Calgary.
“The Last of Us has been an incredible opportunity to showcase Calgary and Alberta to the world and we would be thrilled to welcome them back to our beautiful city!”
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek weighed in on the petition Monday afternoon.
“I think the (petition) organizers forgot to put Bella Ramsey’s name on there. In addition to Pedro, obviously,” she said.
The mayor said the activity on the petition shows the kind of impact the show has had on the city.
“It was amazing to see our hometown profiled in a show that caught fire across the world,” Mayor Gondek said.
“People are pretty happy about the show being filmed here and they want to recognize, I hope two actors, that really took a journey together in our fine city and our fine province.”
