Pedro Pascal, the fan-favorite actor behind Joel Miller in 'The Last of Us,' has opened up about how his real-life personality aligns with his character's protective nature in the HBO series. Ahead of the highly anticipated season 2 premiere on April 13, the Hollywood star shared how he can relate to Joel's fierce protectiveness of Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey), especially in a post-apocalyptic world.
"I'm pretty fiercely protective," Pascal, 50, said during a press conference with the cast. "I'm protective of the people that I love. And I think that's probably the main component that I relate to." As Joel, Pedro portrays a father figure who is committed to safeguarding Ellie as they navigate the dangers of a world ravaged by a devastating pandemic.
The role has had a significant emotional impact on the actor, who confessed that playing Joel has been unlike any other experience he's had. "It's hard for me to separate what the characters are going through and how it makes me feel," he explained. "In a way that isn't very healthy. And so, I kind of feel their pain, I suppose, so I suppose I was in an unhealthy mindset."
Despite the challenges of portraying such an emotionally complex character, Pedro expressed his excitement about season 2, which will follow the events of 'The Last of Us Part II,' the sequel to the video game.
"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," Pedro said.
Filming the series has also made Pedro reflect on the "cathartic" nature of storytelling. "I think that storytelling is cathartic in so many ways, always has been," he said. "It's the way that human beings have made testimony to life."
'The Last of Us' shows the complexity of human relationships in extreme circumstances, which Pedro believes provides a "healthy and sometimes sick pleasure" for audiences. He also emphasized that the series serves as a platform for political and societal allegory, allowing viewers to draw connections between the fictional world of the show and the real world we live in.