In PlayStation’s The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II, the role of Joel Miller is played by Troy Baker. While Baker will appear in HBO’s adaptation of the series, he’ll be playing a much different role. Instead, Joel will be played by The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal. In a recent appearance on the Play, Watch, Listen podcast, Baker heaped praise on Pascal’s take. The original Joel actor even went so far as to say that there are elements of his own performance he would change based on Pascal’s take!
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“What (Pascal) proved is that this character is bigger than any oneperformance. Man, it’s also earned… I am inspired by Pedro’sperformance as Joel,” Baker told host Alanah Pearce. “I wish that I could go back and do some thingsdifferent.”
Fans will soon be able to judge for themselves just how well Pascal does in the role, as the series is set to launch in just a few short weeks! The Last of Us is one of PlayStation’s most popular franchises, and anticipation for the adaptation is quite high. Joel is a character that has come to mean a lot to fans over the last 10 years, and Pascal’s take is going to be under a lot of scrutiny as a result. Hopefully he can manage to deliver a take that can entertain fans of the games as well as newcomers!
While video game adaptations have always been a mixed bag, there are a lot of reasons fans should feel confident about The Last of Us. The series was co-written and co-created by creator Neil Druckmann, alongside Craig Mazin. Mazin was responsible for HBO’s excellent Chernobyl, which definitely bodes well. Reception to the show’s trailers has also been quite strong, so things are looking pretty good!
The Last of Us is set to debut on HBO on January 15th. In the meantime, readers can check out all of our previous coverage of the show right here.
Are you looking forward to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation? Are you excited for Pascal’s take on Joel? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
[H/T: Forbes]