The Last Of Us Star Pedro Pascal Admits He's Terrible At The Game
In the near future, "The Last of Us" fans will finally be able to see Pedro Pascal as reluctant hero Joel. In the meantime, the actor is preparing for the role by trying his hand at the video game phenomenon that inspired the upcoming HBO show. Apparently, he's pretty bad at it.
In an interview with GQ, the actor revealed that he hasn't actually finished playing the popular Naughty Dog video game — on purpose. "I got worried that I would want to imitate too much," Pascal said of his experience with the game, "which I think could be right in some circumstances, and then a mistake in others." The actor also says he purposely cultivated a "healthy distance" from the game, so that his characterization would fall in line with the scripted vision of series writers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (who created the game).
Someone give Pascal the cheat codes
Pascal says he has witnessed "The Last of Us" gameplay, but only during one day spent with his nephew. "It's so sad, I haven't any skill," he admitted. "I tried, you know. And then it was only a matter of minutes before I had to hand it over to my nephew."
Hey, there's no shame in being a backseat video game player, especially for a game as gorgeous and emotionally involved in this one. After all, the "The Mandalorian" actor won't need fine motor skills for the part of apocalypse survivor Joel: he'll just need to understand and embody the complicated heart of the character. The game follows Joel as he's tasked with accompanying a teen named Ellie across an apocalyptic, zombie-riddled landscape.
An on-screen adaptation of "The Last of Us" has been a long time coming. A planned 2014 movie adaptation fell apart, and the casting process for the current iteration has seemed protracted, with Pascal and Bella Ramsay ("Game of Thrones") confirmed as the show's leads over a year ago and more cast announcements still trickling in. Luckily, the HBO series isn't stuck in the production hell that the previous version seemed to end up in. In fact, it's already started filming.
If I sound like I'm being precious about every detail of this adaptation, it's because I count myself among the game's passionate fans. Like Pascal, I'm not a skilled gamer, but felt lucky to sit back and get swept away watching someone else work through the story. "I found Joel so impressive," Pascal told GQ. "I found the whole of it such a visually impressive experience." Cinematic and shattering, the game version of "The Last of Us" is special that way, appealing broadly to gamers and movie fans alike. Hopefully, the new series will be much the same.
"The Last Of Us" has no announced release date, but will premiere on HBO.