Pedro Pascal: “In ‘The Last Of Us’ fascist and controlling societies emerge. It is terrifying”

When HBO premiered the series ‘Chernobyl’ in 2019, one of the best-written dramas of recent years, it was surprising that it did not come from the author of other prestigious fictions but from a screenwriter seasoned in somewhat questionable comedies such as ‘Scary Movie 3’, ‘ Superhero Movie’ or the sequels to ‘The Hangover’. With the Golden Globe and the Emmy shining on his shelf, now it is not surprising that the next step in Craig Mazin’s career does not have much to do with the previous one or that HBO has trusted him for its most ambitious series of the year. new (and undoubtedly one of the 25 most anticipated series of 2023). Is about the adaptation of the video game ‘The Last of Us’, considered by many players the best of the past decade and that has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, on whose scripts he has worked closely with Neil Druckmann, creative manager of the games. With Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as protagonists, from January 16 we will once again face a post-apocalyptic world, but this time with the promise of a complex and stimulating narrative.

From Grogu to Ellie

Pascal comes from having Grogu in his arms in ‘The Mandalorian’ and Ramsey has voiced ‘Hilda’, but They are especially known for ‘Game of Thrones’ where they played Oberyn Martell and Lyanna Mormont respectively. “By the time I walked in, Pedro had already gone completely eyes out of his sockets, so we didn’t get a chance to work together,” Bella recalls. “We didn’t meet until we met on set. [de ‘The Last of Us’]but it was something we had in common and as soon as we talked about it, it connected us.” He adds: “Yes, it was a common bond from the beginning and I think neither of us would have made it to ‘The Last of Us’ if we had not been there before in ‘Game of Thrones'”.

Pascal plays Joel, a man tasked with getting a girl, Ellie, out of the oppressive quarantine zone in which they live; she may be the key to a cure for a disease that turns people into cannibals, but to complete her mission he must take her to the other side of the United States. Curiously, the premise of transporting a child is, savagery aside, quite similar to that of the ‘Star Wars’ series starring the Chilean actor. “It’s fascinating. They couldn’t be more similar and, at the same time, they couldn’t be more different. In both cases I felt very lucky to be under the guidance of showrunners who love their projects as much as Jon Favreau and Craig Mazin do. I think both stories inspire each other and they inspire me, but their development and execution are very different. It’s been like getting paid twice for the same thing, I’ll never see myself in another like it,” jokes the actor.

The end of the world on the road

With ‘The Walking Dead’, up to now the queen of post-apocalyptic series, already settled, now ‘The Last of Us’ picks up the baton for this type of story. It is expected to be visually more powerful (this is what all the trailers point to), but also deep and innovative. “This apocalypse has a scientific characteristic that makes it very close to us because it is based on fungi, which is something we know and is a dominant element in nature and that is part of our world. That is why it feels so close. , as if it could happen to us”, explains Pedro Pascal, “but, more than that, there are very, very original ideas around a very classic concept such as the zombie apocalypse, if you want to call it that. After a much-loved genre, stories are told that are very human. That’s what makes it different.”. The social context that he proposes is also very important: “Society as we know it falls. So, what humanity does is rise up in the form of fascist and controlling societies, which is absolutely terrifying. That is the most horrible part of the story that ‘The Last of Us’ tells. Although, on a closer plane, it adopts the perspective of voices that are often not heard”.

His partner, Bella, supports the argument: “I like that at the beginning of the series there is that scientific part because it makes it more real. The mutation is not something supernatural, it is not a person who rises from the dead or a monster that eats people. It comes from something that is in the fungi and that idea that it would be possible is what is scariest,” says the interpreter, “That infected world is the backdrop of the real story, which is about some people creating an unlikely relationship that neither knew what they needed. It’s the cool thing about ‘The Last of Us’, that you’re going through the apocalypse, but it’s really about relationships. And these are sometimes more terrifying than the virus. For Joel, it’s the fear of living again and losing everything again, and for Ellie, the fear of being alone and losing Joel.”

In addition to the leading couple, in the first season of the Naughty Dog video game adaptation we will see Gabriel Luna (‘Agents of SHIELD’) playing Tommy, Joel’s younger brother and Anna Torv (‘Mindhunter’) as Tess, Joel’s smuggling partner. And, as a curiosity, the actress Merle Dandridge (‘Sons of Anarchy’) repeats the role of Marlene that she already did in the video games, while Jeffrey Pierce (‘Bosch’) who voiced Tommy in the games will appear here giving life to another character, a rebel from the quarantine zone named Perry.