Pedro Pascal Didn’t Want to Just ‘Imitate’ Joel From ‘The Last of Us’ Game in HBO’s Series

Pedro Pascal is our Joel Miller in the upcoming HBO series adaptation of The Last Of Us, and while promoting his latest movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, the star talked a bit about how nervous he was to “imitate” Joel from the game and how different the show is from the source material.

Speaking with Jack King for GQ, King brought up to Pascal being a big fan of The Last of Us, since Pascal is currently filming the first season of HBO’s series based on the games, as its main character. Pascal first had questions for King, mainly about playing the game, and revealed that he isn’t very good at gaming: “Did you play the game? It’s so sad, I haven’t any skill. I tried, you know. And then it was only a matter of minutes before I had to hand it over to my nephew. It really takes a specific kind of skill, and I don’t have it.”

While Pascal didn’t watch the entire playthrough, he was captivated by what he did see and talked about his admiration for the character. “I watched for as long as I was able to that day, and then I had to leave Florida. I found Joel so impressive — I found the whole of it such a visually impressive experience,” he said to King. “And then I got worried that I would want to imitate too much, which I think could be right in some circumstances, and then a mistake in others. So I just wanted to create a healthy distance, and for that to be more in the hands of [show co-writer] Craig Mazin and [game writer and show co-writer] Neil Druckmann.”

Different from the game

We’ve heard in the past that the show will differ from what happens in the game, and when King brought up the storytelling aspect of the game and asked how the show differed, Pascal admits that the show is different but does honor the game in creative ways.

“There’s a very, very creative way of honouring what’s important and also preserving what is iconic to the experience of the video game, and also [to include] things that you wouldn’t necessarily expect,” Pascal said. “And then directions that you would expect it to go, and it might not… they’re doing some really smart things, is all I can say. It’s similar to the way Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni treat The Mandalorian, in how [Mazin and Druckmann] are treating The Last of Us — it’s in good hands because they love it so much. Well, clearly Neil created the video game, but Craig loves it so much. So it really is made for the people that love it. And there’s some very intense storytelling for people who might be less familiar.”

They’re still filming The Last of Us, and I highly suggest diving into King’s entire interview with Pascal where he talks about Nic Cage and his upcoming movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which is in theaters April 22. Also, Pascal says he’d be in Face/Off 2 in this interview, so I now feel revived, renewed, and rejoiced.

(image: HBO)