Pedro Pascal Was Forbidden From Playing ‘The Last of Us’ for His Role — But He Did It Anyway
HBO’s The Last of Us brought the hit video game to the small screen, and it wouldn’t have been the same without Pedro Pascal. Pascal plays Joel Miller, a man who lost his daughter in the apocalypse and was then tasked with a mission involving 14-year-old Ellie. While show creator Craig Mazin asked Pascal not to play The Last of Us video game, Pascal didn’t follow his wishes.
Pedro Pascal played ‘The Last of Us’ despite the creator requesting him not to
Show creator Craig Mazin brought The Last of Us to life with the help of Pedro Pascal in the leading role. Pascal plays Joel, a survivor of a fungal apocalypse who lost his daughter when the infections took hold. While Pascal wasn’t much of a gamer before his starring role in the HBO series, he says his role as Joel changed his tune.
“I’m ready to become one,” Pascal told IGN Nordic. “I’m ready to retire and become a gamer because I feel that if I become one, all our systems will start crumbling down, and I’ll never leave the house again.”
While Pascal’s ready to get into gaming now, Mazin requested that he and Bella Ramsey, the actor who played Ellie, not play The Last of Us before they filmed the show. Pascal didn’t listen, of course. While he attempted to play through the game, he didn’t get far.
“We started to play it before we started shooting,” Pascal noted. “I wasn’t great at it. I got a little far, and then my nephews took the console away from me and had enough of my inability to survive a certain level of the game. And then we started shooting, and we started to live it instead of play it.”
Ramsay noted she’s not much of a gamer, even with her leading role in the HBO series. “This is one of my biggest flexes — I still have Flappy Bird on my 2006 iPad,” she said. And when it comes to The Last of Us, she said she was “nervous” to give it a try. “I think, because, like you said, we did live it,” she added.
“I started in ‘easy mode.’ It wasn’t that easy,” Pascal concluded about the game.
The Joel actor doesn’t know what’s to come in ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2
Fans who loved the video game and the first season of The Last of Us are excited to see what’s to come in season 2. But nobody should ask Pedro Pascal what’s next for Joel in the second season, as he doesn’t know. Those who played The Last of Us Part II expect Joel to die, as this is what happens. But Pascal thinks Joel’s ending could differ.
“I don’t know. I think part 2 has more leeway,” he told Variety. “It seemed to be a different immersive experience, while things must happen for the central narrative to occur. It seems it’s a little bit more open. That means I don’t f***ing know.”
Fans will have to wait longer than they want to for The Last of Us Season 2 due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Creator Craig Mazin and HBO hoped to start filming in early 2024 and release in early 2025. Now, the expected release date is pushed to fall 2025.
“We are all raring to go,” Mazin said on Entertainment Weekly’s podcast, The Awardist. “This is what we are born to do. This is how we not only choose to live our lives, but I believe [how we] are compelled to live our lives. Otherwise, why the hell would we do this insane job? I can assure you it’s not for money.”
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