Actor Troy Baker, who played Joel in The Last Of Us and The Last Of Us Part II, has revealed that he wants to be involved in HBO's upcoming live-action adaptation... although you might be a little surprised at who - or rather what - he wants to play.
Baker recently hosted a stream over on his YouTuber channel Relater - Troy Baker to talk about the first look at Tom Holland in action as Nathan Drake for the upcoming Uncharted movie. Baker and Nolan North - who played Nathan Drake in the Uncharted games - are close friends who go way back, of course, but Baker thinks Holland looks the part and should be able to show a new side to the iconic treasure hunter.
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During the stream, Baker also touched on HBO's The Last Of Us, which is currently being developed by Naughty Dog director Neil Druckmann and Chernobyl showrunner Craig Mazin. The actor's co-host Tom Breck asked Baker if he could see himself talking to Joel's as-yet unannounced live-action actor on the beach in the same way that Holland and North recently did. Baker playfully replied that he'd love to show up in the series as an Infected (or Clicker) and get blown up by Joel. That's the spirit.
While it seems we're still a ways off any casting news for HBO's The Last Of Us, Baker has been fairly vocal about who he'd like to see take over as Joel for the series. A few months back he expressed his desire to see Josh Brolin (Avengers: Endgame, Sicario, Deadpool 2) don the flannelled shirt, so to speak.
"I think on its face, literally, Josh Brolin would be a knockout choice," Baker said in an interview with Collider. "But I don't know if I would walk away learning something different about Joel."
"I'm in a great position," he continued. "Because either A) Somebody steps into that role. And [I'll be] like, 'Damn, dude, I never thought about that, wow, what an interesting choice.' Or B) They suck, and people go, 'Only Troy can play Joel.' So either way I win."
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In fact it turns out Baker even pitched the character of Joel to Brolin over drinks one night, although he stopped short of sharing just how interested Brolin was by the idea. He said: "I was like, 'If you ever get the call for a character named Joel, I would be honored and I think you would be enriched to play that character.'"
Whoever ends up playing Joel in HBO's The Last Of Us, Baker is clearly ready to let the part go. "All I want out of Joel, I have done," he said. "I have taken Joel as far as I can take it. I did the same in part one. Same in part two. That was my job, was to move that character as far forward as I could. What I'm excited about is finding someone that can give me a completely different side of Joel, and show me how far that character can stretch."
Honestly, I feel like allowing himself to play a Clicker that gets blown up by the new Joel would be kind of symbolic. Hopefully HBO can make it happen. Until then, why not check out our top picks for who should play the game's main characters right here?
Featured Image Credit: SonyTopics: The Last of Us Part II, PlayStation, Naughty Dog, The Last Of Us