Pedro Pascal Jokingly Compares Filming HBO's 'The Last of Us' to 'The White Lotus' in 'SNL' Monologue

Live from Studio 8H, it's Pedro Pascal!

The actor, 47, hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time over the weekend, where he was joined by Coldplay, who served as the evening's musical guest.

During his opening monologue, Pascal jokingly compared filming The Last of Us — the series he currently stars in — to another HBO hit, The White Lotus, telling in-studio audience members, "For some HBO shows, you get to shoot in a five-star Italian resort surrounded by beautiful people, but I said, 'No, that's too easy.' I wanna shoot in a freezing Canadian forest while being chased around by a guy whose head looks like a genital wart."

Pascal then detailed how he is honored to be a part of "huge franchises like Game of Thrones and Star Wars," before he then turned his attention to his family, most of whom he said still reside in his home country of Chile — including "34 first cousins."

He joked that his family members are so proud of the success he has found as an actor that they go around giving his phone number to everyone, leading to fans constantly asking him to go to someone's wedding or to sing happy birthday to their priest.

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During the show, Pascal took part in various sketches, including one where he played Mario in a dystopian take on the upcoming Super Mario Bros. film, and another where he and longtime friend Sarah Paulson portrayed teachers in love.

One other moment from the show saw SNL star Bowen Yang portray the suspected Chinese spy balloon as it was shot down from the sky after flying over the continental United States.

Coldplay — composed of members Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion — marked their seventh time as musical guests on the late-night series.

The group performed twice during the show, first singing "The Astronaut," before later taking the stage once more to croon a mashup of their tracks "Human Heart" and "Fix You."

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Season 48 of SNL has been taking place as the comedy sketch series navigates a major cast shakeup. Longtime series regulars Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney exited after the season 47 finale.

PEOPLE then confirmed on Sept. 1 that the series was also losing Melissa Villaseñor and Alex Moffat, as well as featured player Aristotle Athari. Then, Chris Redd announced his departure from SNL after five seasons, while Cecily Strong left the show in December 2022.

On Sept. 15, NBC revealed the four new featured players joining SNL in season 48: Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker.

SNL creator Lorne Michaels recently called season 48 a "transition year," telling reporters backstage at the 2022 Emmy Awards, "There are new people, and things are changing, and a different generation comes into the show."

Saturday Night Live airs weekends on NBC.