HBO's The Last of Us TV show casts The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal as Joel. Naughty Dog's wildly popular video game franchise took a major step forward to getting a live-action adaptation last year. HBO announced early in the year that Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin was developing The Last of Us as a TV show. It was then announced near the end of the year, and after The Last of Us Part II's huge launch, that it had been picked up for a series order.
While news on HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us had been relatively slow beyond these updates, some signs of it making major progress materialized recently. The series added a new director for its pilot after the original choice had to exit due to scheduling. It was also just announced that Game of Thrones breakout Bella Ramsey was cast as Ellie. The news gave HBO's The Last of Us show half of its leading duo, and fans only had to wait a few hours to find out who is playing Joel.
According to Deadline, Pedro Pascal is set to star in HBO's The Last of Us as Joel. He is the lead character in the first game and a fatherly figure to Ellie as they travel together through the dangers of the apocalyptic setting. Pascal is currently the star of The Mandalorian for Disney+, but he also has a history with HBO through his role on Game of Thrones. Pascal's other credits include Narcos, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and Wonder Woman 1984.
Pascal's casting as the lead of The Last of Us continues what has been an incredible rise through Hollywood over the last several years. It will give him his second leading role in a major IP-driven TV show after The Mandalorian. This report notes that The Last of Us should not cause many conflicts with Pascal's The Mandalorian schedule either. Even if the shows are in production at similar times, Pascal isn't always required to be on the set of The Mandalorian since Din Djarin usually conceals his face. While that started to change by the end of season 2, Pascal's availability for The Last of Us could mean that isn't' as guaranteed now.
No matter what happens with The Mandalorian, it is easy to imagine Pascal being an excellent choice to play Joel. Pedro already made a habit of playing fatherly figures in 2020, and it looks like that will now continue as Joel watches over Ellie. This also represents a slight change from the games, as Joel was not Latino before. While this will give The Last of Us some added diversity among its cast, Pascal is a terrific selection to play Joel in HBO's show.
Source: Deadline