Pedro Pascal petitioned to be Calgary Stampede parade marshal

A petition has been launched asking to make HBO’s The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal the Calgary Stampede parade marshal.

Pascal has been pretty open about his love for Alberta while filming the popular show.

Through many social media posts and interviews with talk show hosts, Pascal has lavished the province with praise.

Now, a change.org petition has been signed by 8,000 people as of Tuesday afternoon to lead the charge at the city’s famous parade.

The series is based on the best-selling, critically-acclaimed PlayStation videogame of the same name. It is the most expensive film or television production shot in Canada.

It began filming in Calgary and the surrounding area in 2021.

The show features many of the city’s familiar spots, such as post-secondary schools SAIT and Mount Royal University, the Northland Village Mall, the Barron Building and Stephen Avenue, and Airport Trail NE at the tunnel just west of 36 Street.

There are also many spots outside Calgary, like the Canmore Engine Bridge.

“Nabo,” a giraffe with the Wilder Institute and Calgary Zoo, also made a cameo.

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Christian Bilou, a petition signer, said that “Pascal loves our city and has been absolutely brash about letting the rest of the world know it.”

“We could hardly have a better ambassador.”

Another petition signer says, “His love for Calgary has resonated within all of us.”

“What an awesome show. We should give back to a person that has helped make Calgary so much more noticeable than ever before,” said Michael Cunnington.

Candice Kaye, with “Breakfast with Candice and Billie Jo” on CityNews’ sister station Star 95.9,  started the petition calling for the actor to be given the honour this year.

Shannon Greer with the Calgary Stampede spoke with the two Tuesday, and she says there’s a lot of hype with the show.

“I feel like you can go anywhere in the city right now without hearing something about The Last of Us,” Greer said.

“It’s all over my social feeds. People are talking about it at the grocery store, in the coffee shops, and everywhere you go. So, I think it goes well beyond the Stampede. There’s just a huge amount of excitement about this show.”

Greer later told CityNews in a statement the Stampede is “thrilled” to welcome back The Last of Us crew for the second season, along with interest in this year’s marshal.

“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,” Greer said in a statement.

“We can’t wait until closer to July when our volunteer president will share who will be leading this year’s parade.”

The Calgary Stampede is slated to run from July 7 to 16.