Excuse me for having such a daring and controversial opinion, but I think The Last Of Us is one of the greatest video games of all time. In fact, the entire team here at GAMINGbible believe that Naughty Dog's post-apocalyptic epic is one of the finest games of the last decade. It's a masterclass in immersive gameplay, storytelling, writing, and acting.
It's the performances, in particular, that I feel really help to elevate The Last Of Us from "amazing" to "genre-defining". The entire game is held together by stellar work from an outstanding cast - with Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson in the middle of it all as Joel and Ellie. The Last Of Us needs us to be invested in this relationship for the whole thing to really work, and Baker and Johnson deliver in fine fashion.
From their frosty first meeting to that final, heartbreaking confrontation up on the hill before the credits roll, Joel and Ellie are one of the most engaging and well-realised partnerships in gaming. That's why, when HBO announced that it had teamed up with Naughty Dog to adapt the 2013 title into a live-action series, I was a little unsure about whether the show should simply retell the events of the original game.
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The good news is that Troy Baker himself is very much up for seeing what another actor could bring to the role of Joel. Speaking to GAMINGbible ahead of the BAFTA Games Awards, the prolific performer confirmed that he has no interest in reprising his part as the gruff and grizzled survivor in HBO's The Last Of Us.
"I'm honestly excited to see... I wanna learn something new about that role," Baker said when asked if he'd consider playing Joel in the upcoming series.
"I had a tremendous amount of joy and accomplishment playing Joel in the games," he continued. "I'd love to see what someone could do in a different space, and show me a different side of Joel. I would love to learn something about Joel that I never knew, through someone else's performance."
While Troy Baker will probably always be the definitive Joel to many of us, he makes an interesting point. There are doubtless plenty of talented actors out there who could bring new shades to Joel and Ellie, and the HBO series has all the potential in the world to be something truly special. We'll have to wait for official word on casting for the show, but you can read about our dream picks right here.
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Of course, if anyone understands the pressure of stepping into a role that's already been made iconic by another actor, it's Baker. During our chat, the actor revealed that he actually turned down the role of Joker in Arkham Origins twice because he was "scared". With juggernauts like Mark Hamill, Heath Ledger, and Jack Nicholson having made the role their own over the years, who could blame him?
For Baker, a big part of the reluctance to become Batman's arch nemesis came down a role from his past. He explained to us he was actually fired from an early job because of his (perceived) inability to pull off what he described as a "maniacal laugh" - something that's obviously kind of a crucial for element to any Joker.
"After about 30 minutes of attempting to do that [the laugh], the director said 'why don't you go and step on out man?' And I walked out of the booth, and I never walked back onto that show again," he said.
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"And so here I was," Baker continued. "I'd just played Joel. I'd just appeared in Infamous: Second Son. There were some great games that I was appearing in and I was starting to get some really really good buzz. So for me, I was afraid that I was gonna put myself in a position where people go 'oh I knew it, he's not really that good.' So I turned Joker down."
As most of us surely know at this point, Baker went on to star as an excellent Joker who can absolutely nail the laugh. But it took him some time to recover from what he referred to as "impostor syndrome". In fact, it wasn't until the (then) President of Warner Bros. Games sat Baker down and played him back his audition clip that he realised he was right for the role.
Baker has since returned to the role of Joker across multiple DC animated projects to critical acclaim. Despite this, he did tell us that he still always likes to check with Mark Hamill before taking on a Joker role. He explained that to him, Hamill will always be the definitive Joker - and that he wants to respect that.
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The funny thing is that at this point, Baker is probably the definitive Joker to a whole new generation. He'll certainly always be the Joel to everyone who played The Last Of Us, regardless of who ends up playing him in the HBO series.
Featured Image Credit: Naughty DogTopics: PlayStation, Naughty Dog, The Last Of Us, PS4