Pedro Pascal at a Los Angeles event for "The Last Of Us" in April. (Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

(CNN) — Pedro Pascal is now one of Hollywood's most famous and beloved figures, but his path to this point would not have been possible without the harrowing journey his parents undertook from Chile, their native country.

The "Last of Us" actor participated in the new episode of the "Smartless" podcast, in which he told in detail the story of how he and his family became political refugees during the 1970s, after being forced to flee the regime of then-Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Pascal explained that his parents were "young liberal university students" at the time and that, although they were not "revolutionaries by any means," his mother's first cousin was "very involved in the movement of opposition to the military regime."

He then explained that a victim of an exchange of gunfire, in which his parents did not participate, was taken home so that his father, who was doing a residency at a local hospital, could help "heal the wound." His parents also agreed to "hide" the person "for a while."

Pascal, then just four months old, said he was told the person who brought the injured victim home was then "detained and tortured, and gave names."

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"They came looking for my parents, and then my parents had to hide for about six months," she said. He also added that his parents eventually found a way to physically scale the wall of the Venezuelan embassy in Santiago and "ask for asylum."

"And it worked," he said.

Pascal and his family were granted asylum in Denmark before immigrating to the United States. His parents raised him and his siblings in Texas and Southern California.

The "Game of Thrones" actor credits his parents with the success he currently enjoys for a sentiment he touched on in his "Saturday Night Live" monologue in February, when he said they were "very brave."

"Without them, I wouldn't be in this wonderful country and I certainly wouldn't be standing here with all of you tonight."

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