The following contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 1, Episode 9, "Look for the Light," now streaming on HBO and HBO Max.
Actor Pedro Pascal recently opened up about why he signed on to play fatherly roles in both The Last of Us and The Mandalorian.
Pascal explained why he agreed to play The Last of Us and The Mandalorian's respective protagonists, Joel Miller and Din Djarin, in an interview with Radio Times. "You sort of step through the doors that open," he said. "I think this kind of reluctant-father dynamic was familiar to us all along from films and TV before The Mandalorian came around. It's probably a coincidence. Although maybe there is something about me… It doesn't go into my conscious decision-making as far as work is concerned. But maybe as far as what I can contribute to the character, it comes from a protective part of me. I can be very protective of my friends and family. But I ain't got no kids!"
The Chilean-American actor's comments echo previous remarks he made in the lead-up to The Last of Us Season 1 premiere. Asked why he couldn't turn down the Joel part, Pascal replied that he simply reacts to the opportunities presented to him. Pascal added that this applied to both The Last of Us and The Mandalorian, and noted that he joined these shows due to the people involved. Specifically, Pascal listed Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and The Mandalorian creator/showrunner Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni, and The Last of Us co-creator/showrunner Craig Mazin as individuals he felt he couldn't say no to.
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Pascal also touched on what appeals to him about the Joel role itself, citing the Last of Us protagonist's unsettling way of dealing with past and present traumas. "I think what's scary about Joel is that none of us really know what we'd be capable of if faced with the idea of losing love... Some people are not capable of applying rational thought to that kind of loss, or the threat of that loss, or the threat of that loss again, right?" he said. Pascal's comments presumably refer to not only the death of Joel's daughter, Sarah (Nico Parker), in The Last of Us, Episode 1, "When You're Lost in the Darkness," but also his violent rescue of Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in Episode 9, "Look for the Light."
Mazin recently weighed in on Joel's decision to save Ellie at the expense of potentially curing the Cordyceps pandemic, admitting that not even he is sure whether Joel made the right call. "I'm confused about it morally," he said. "I think it's a difficult choice, I go back and forth, and I think a lot of people will go back and forth on it."
Source: Radio Times