HBO's upcoming live-action adaptation of The Last Of Us has found its Joel Miller. Pedro Pascal, star of The Mandalorian, will take on the role of the gruff Texan in the new series from Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog Co-President Neil Druckmann.
After a series of casting rumours started doing the rounds last night, Deadline finally reported that Pascal has landed the role. He'll star alongside Game Of Thrones actor Bella Ramsey, who's set to play Ellie. The upcoming series will be a fairly straight adaptation of the first video game, in which Joel is forced to smuggle Ellie across a post apocalyptic America in the hopes of finding a cure for the Cordyceps virus that has ravaged the world, turning all those infected into mindless monsters... and driving the few human survivors to do unspeakable things just to stay alive. Should be a good laugh.
Druckmann, who directed The Last Of Us and its sequel and will be working alongside Mazin as producer and writer on the series, said that he was "stoked" to have Pascal and Ramsey along for the ride. While neither actor was at the top of any dream cast list, these admittedly unexpected choices are absolutely fantastic all the same. I for one can't wait to see what they do with the roles.
This is another huge win for Pascal, of course. Having won legions of new fans for his turn as Din Djarin in The Mandalorian, The Last Of Us will be the second major show in which he finds himself the reluctant primary caregiver to a small child in a dangerous world. The man loves an escort mission, clearly.
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"Craig and Neil are visionaries in a league of their own," said executive vice president of HBO Programming Francesca Orsi to Variety late last year. "With them at the helm alongside the incomparable Carolyn Strauss, this series is sure to resonate with both die-hard fans of 'The Last Of Us' games and newcomers to this genre-defining saga. We're delighted to partner with Naughty Dog, Word Games, Sony and PlayStation to adapt this epic, powerfully immersive story."
There's no release date for The Last Of Us yet, but this major new casting news implies things are really starting to move along. Hopefully filming can start soon, but with the world the way it is right now, that's probably going to be a case of "wait and see".
Featured Image Credit: Sony/NetflixTopics: News, The Last Of Us
