‘I was so scared’: Pedro Pascal discusses the ‘psychological game’ around adapting ‘The Last of Us’

Like clockwork, The Hollywood Reporter has released its latest Roundtable discussion, featuring some of the biggest talents in the drama sector as of late, including the internet’s “Daddy” and Joel Miller himself, Pedro Pascal, who’s become the talk of the town after starring in HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation, which reinvented the famous PlayStation exclusive Naughty Dog franchise. Joined by the likes of Evan Peters, Kieran Culkin, and Damson Idris, Pascal opens up about how terrifying it was to adapt such a major video game, especially one as complicated as The Last of Us. After Troy Baker’s phenomenal motion capture performance, The Mandalorian actor had some big shoes to fill.

For all the gossip, check out the conversation for yourself below, but paraphrasing Pascal, it wasn’t an easy task to bring Joel Miller to life. Again, much of the fandom believes there’s no replacing Baker — or at least they did before the show’s airing — so it wasn’t as simple as coming along and taking the role for himself. He had to first prove his worthiness, which isn’t particularly easy.

Pascal revealed that breathing life into Joel came with a hefty price, namely that of pushing aside his doubts and reminding himself that the payout would be huge — and well worth the stress.

“I was really, really scared before. And it’s the funny thing of compartmentalizing your feelings about stuff and kind of dealing with the amount of pressure you put on yourself, the amount of pressure that is actually out there. I have this sort of psychological game where I’m like ‘it’s no big deal, nobody cares, nobody gives a shit,’ you know what I mean? And this time around, (laughs) I was scared. I was so scared.”

After playing countless roles that he’d conditioned himself to believe “didn’t matter,” Pascal soon came to understand how crucial it was to nail Joel the first time. There were no do-overs, nor would The Last of Us fandom be too forgiving for any slip-ups, even if he is one of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelors. Thankfully, Season 1 has wrapped and ended on an astounding high, so we need not worry for the upcoming second season, which is set to adapt the sequel, The Last of Us: Part II, and will introduce fan-favorite characters into the mix — as well as a new rivalry for Joel and Ellie.