‘My nephew’s going ‘It’s a video game, you idiot!’: Pedro Pascal on his limited knowledge of ‘The Last of Us’ before working on the series

Everyone has come to know Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller, but before he was cast in the lead part, Pascal’s own family had to confirm what exactly The Last of Us was. Although the sensational video game from developer Naughty Dog has garnered massive international attention and spawned a sequel, Pascal still wasn’t totally sure how big of a deal it actually was. When he auditioned, he’d had fairly limited knowledge of who Joel was and the world he lived in, but not enough to really know the character inside and out like we’re certain he does now.

The first season of The Last of Us aired from January to March on HBO Max, now known as just Max. It went on to be considered the best video game adaptation in existence and even had HBO’s second-biggest launch since 2010 with The Walking Dead (which, ironically, has a similar concept). Apparently, the ticket to instant success is zombies — always zombies. In January, after only a few episodes had aired worldwide, the series was renewed for a second season, which will be in development soon.

The series follows Joel, a hardened smuggler who loses his daughter and is forced to transport Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, across America in the midst of a pandemic, defending her against infected, which are living beings infected with a fungal virus known as Cordyceps. Naughty Dog’s PlayStation exclusive video game was (obviously) the series’ biggest influence; the game has been cited as one of the best ever created, often included in several “Best PlayStation Games” lists.

For Variety‘s YouTube channel, Nope star Steven Yeun sat down with The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal to get the gossip on how he landed the role of Joel Miller, but his nephews had to clue him in on what exactly the Naughty Dog video game was — and just how massive it is. He fondly recalls contacting his family after being offered the role, over which his nephews were ecstatic.

“My nephews went ‘It’s a video game, you idiot!’ It’s amazing! If you don’t do it, we won’t talk to you anymore.”

And now, we’d argue that Pascal knows Joel Miller better than anyone. Perhaps even Joel’s voice actor in Naughty Dog’s version, Troy Baker, couldn’t understand the character as well as Pascal, who has embodied the role for several months and will continue his story in the second season. And that won’t be too far away, even though the prospective 2025 release date does feel a little imposing.