The upcoming The Last Of Us TV show - in the works with HBO - will see Pedro Pascal don the iconic flannel shirt to become Joel Miller. However, this scoop suggests that an Academy Award winner might have been in the running for the role.
For fans, the casting of the two characters wasn't so much a hot potato as it was a contentious cookie. The story of The Last Of Us delves into difficult themes and there are a handful of excruciating scenes that turn your stomach, and of course, you'd like to imagine that the actors chosen could contend with these sorts of requirements. The Last Of Us Part 2 pushes the cinematic storytelling capabilities of Naughty Dog to the next level, and though not all of its beats landed with us, the game impressed a lot of people. Enough to secure over 260 Game Of The Year awards from outlets across the world, knocking The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt off its throne. Even Xbox admitted that the Sony subsidiary plays to its strengths following the nail-biting journey that Ellie embarks on for her revenge on Abby. "Not every game's designs can support the level of visual detail they produce, and not every team has the money or talent needed to produce it, but this game sets a new bar for what we should hope to be able to achieve going into a new generation of consoles," read its review.
It is one of the most controversial games of 2020, so listen to our thoughts on The Last Of Us Part 2 in our review right here.
Advert
We are aware that the TV show is going to change a fair few things from the game, but that checks out seeing as the story must be translated from one medium to the other. "Things sometimes stay pretty close," explained executive producer and game creator Neil Druckmann. "It's funny to see my dialogue there from the games in HBO scripts. And sometimes they deviate greatly to much better effect." Us lot at GAMINGbible were over the moon to hear that Joel will be played by Pedro Pascal and Ellie will be played by Bella Ramsey. But, before the news broke, we had our own dream cast for the adaptation and we definitely didn't expect this name to crop up in conversations about casting.
As per industry insider Daniel Richtman via Full Circle Cinema, HBO initially approached Matthew McConaughey for the role of Joel. This suddenly helps the rumours that Mahershala Ali was also in consideration to play the character on the small screen, as both McConaughey and Ali have had professional relationship with HBO through their work on True Detective. Of course, we can't verify Richtman's claims, but it is an interesting insight to the development of the show, which actually started off as a movie back in 2014. Filming on the HBO adaptation recently wrapped in Calgary, Alberta and the show is expected to release in early 2022.
Featured Image Credit: Naughty DogTopics: News, Naughty Dog, The Last Of Us