The Last of Us Game’s Original Joel Actor Says Fans Will Hate His New Character for HBO Show

The Last of Us HBO TV series is about to premiere, bringing one of the best-selling and most highly-acclaimed video games of all time to the small screen. It’s no industry secret that gamers are notoriously fickle about how their favorite video games get adapted for the screen – just ask anyone involved with the current wave of video game TV shows, like The Witcher (Netflix) or Halo (Paramount+). Well, The Last of Us is a game that is renowned for its deep characterization and brutal character arcs, and getting a live-action actor to match (or even supersede) what game directors Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann achieved is going to be nothing short of a feat. 

MORE: The Last of Us TV Series Official Review

The Last of Us games star Troy Baker (who provided the motion capture and voice for the main character, Joel) has also been included in the HBO series – but obviously not as Joel again (who will be played by The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal). A minor character named James was expanded on for The Last of Us TV series, and Baker warns fans that while they may forever love him as Joel, they are probably going to hate him as James: 

“They will hate me, Troy Baker told Deadline at The Last of Us premiere. “But hopefully they’ll understand me, I don’t know… I believe that all characters are the heroes of their own story, and that’s kind of how I approached everything. I never like to play ‘the bad guy.’ But this was a role that was smaller in the game, and Neil and Craig [Mazin] were kind enough to kind of put some meat on the bones and let me really chew. And it was a lot of fun, it was a big challenge, it was an opportunity to flex, and it was such a fun time.” 

Who Is James in The Last of Us? 

The first Last of Us game was organized into seasonal segments and the “Winter Segment” is where we met James. WARNING: MAJOR GAME SPOILERS FOLLOW! 

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James and his partner David were part of a settlement of people that had turned to cannibalism. While Joel was recovering from serious injury, the girl he’s protecting and escorting cross-country, Ellie, is forced to take up supply gathering and hunting game for them survive winter. 

One day while out hunting, Ellie meets James and David. While initially skeptical about them, they help her fend off a wave of infected, earning their trust. Well, that trust turns out to be extremely misplaced, as Ellie eventually finds out she’s intended to be dinner for David and James. One of the game’s most extreme “boss fights” sees Ellie break free and kill James, facing an infected David in a deadly game of hide-and-seek in a diner. Ellie viciously killed David with a machete – a pivotal moment that also “kills” what’s left of her hope and innocence. 

It will be interesting to see how The Last of Us HBO series makes David and James’ ambigious roles into a longer set of episodes featuring Ellie getting to know them. 

The Last of Us premieres on HBO this week. 

Source: Variety