Pedro Pascal relates to the protectiveness of his character in The Last Of Us. The 50-year-old star admits that he sees parallels with his alter ego Joel from the streaming platform HBO drama as both are “fiercely protective” of those they care about.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the release of the second season later this month, Pascal said: “I’m pretty fiercely protective. I’m protective of the people that I love. And I think that’s probably the main component that I relate to.”
Pascal’s character Joel is the strong-willed father figure to Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in the post-apocalyptic series – which is based on the video game franchise of the same name – and The Mandalorian actor admits that the role does take a toll mentally.
He said: “It’s this experience, more than any I’ve had. It’s hard for me to separate what the character is going through and how it makes me feel. In a way that isn’t very healthy. And so, I kind of feel their pain, so I suppose I was in an unhealthy mindset.”
The Last Of Us was praised by critics when the first season aired in 2023 and Pascal is delighted that the show is returning to screens.
He said: “I think there’s something that is really exciting about basically giving everyone another season of a show that everyone loved and that everyone has worked so hard on and has put so much into.”
Pascal admits that it was a “cathartic” to be involved in a project set amid the apocalypse and related it to the turmoil that can be felt in the real world.
He explained: “I think that storytelling is cathartic in so many ways, always has been. It’s the way that the human beings have made testimony to life. Whether it was handprints on the walls inside of a cave to a television show that you can stream on Max starting April 13th.”
The Gladiator II actor continued: “For me, growing up, I have always – and it’s all my development is based on, books I’ve read, movies I’ve seen, and television that I’ve watched. And so, it’s very much going to reflect the human experience.
“Under such extreme circumstances, I think there’s a very healthy and sometimes sick pleasure in that kind of catharsis, in a safe space to see human relationships under crisis and in pain and intelligently draw political allegory, societal allegory, and based off the world that we’re living in, and very beautifully and intelligently.”
