Wednesday brought some significant casting news for the HBO adaptation of The Last Of Us, to say the least. First there was word that one of the show’s main roles, Ellie, would be played by Bella Ramsey. Ramsey is a significant get for a major role: she played a fan favorite in a handful of Game of Thrones episodes as a Stark ally and also voiced the titular character Hilda in a charming Netflix series.
But later in the evening we learned the male role in the show will go to The Mandalorian himself. Deadline reported on Wednesday that Pedro Pascal would play Joel opposite Ramsey.
Based on the critically acclaimed video game The Last of Us, developed by Naughty Dog exclusively for the PlayStation platforms, the story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel (Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Game of Thrones‘ Bella Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
Pascal’s Joel, tormented by past trauma and failure, must trek across a pandemic-ravaged America, all the while protecting a girl who represents the last hope of humanity.
Shortly after the news broke, executive producer and creator of the Naughty Dog game Neil Druckmann confirmed the news: The Red Viper is returning to HBO for a very different role.
Aaaaand there’s the other half. Stoked to have Pedro aboard our show! https://t.co/Etsjvfb2Wi
— Dr. Uckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) February 11, 2021
It’s also noteworthy that the casting news came on the same day Pascal’s co-star on another major show, The Mandalorian, was removed from the Disney+ series after a long series of extremely problematic social media posts about a wide variety of subjects. Pascal will now be plenty busy filming The Last Of Us, and the timeline for a new season of The Mandalorian is far from certain right now but it’s clear the man behind the mask will be focus his attention on another television universe in the immediate future.