SPOILER ALERT! This post contains major details from Sunday’s episode of HBO‘s The Last of Us.
Pedro Pascal is reacting to Sunday night’s heartbreaking episode which saw the death of his character Joel. While not a surprise to those who have played The Last Of Us Part II video game, the second episode of Season 2 was a shocker to many, but not Pascal.
“It’s not like they said, ‘Hey, we kill you at the beginning of season 2,’” Pascal told Entertainment Weekly in an interview. “But it was always an understanding that it would stay true to the source material in a specific way and that the, let’s say, practical and exclusive obligation would be for season 1. It was just a matter of how and when.”
As to how he feels? In the episode, Joel is beaten to death by Kaitlyn Dever‘s Abby, in revenge for his killing Abby’s father, a doctor, in order to save his daughter Ellie (Bella Ramsey).
“I’m in active denial,” Pascal admitted to EW about Joel’s fate. “I realize this more and more as I get older, I find myself slipping into denial that anything is over. I know that I’m forever bonded to so many members of the experience and just have to see them under different circumstances, but never will under the circumstances of playing Joel on The Last of Us. And, no, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it because it makes me sad.”
He also said there was a strong reaction by cast and crew when he showed up on the set with his bloody makeup. “It was interesting to step into the room and see the reactions in people’s faces. It wasn’t one of revulsion but of heartbreak,” he told EW.
Ramsey revealed their thoughts about the episode in HBO’s after-show. “I knew that Joel was going to die, but reading it in the script, I was dreading getting to that bit… and I cried,” they said. “I actually sobbed my little heart out. It’s the first time I’ve cried from reading a piece of writing.”
Pascal says he is proud to see Ramsey taking charge of what is now Ellie’s story.
“Bella was never my child, but there’s an obvious parental dynamic between the characters of Joel and Ellie,” he said “I did feel this sort of pride that I had nothing to do with but was able to observe how effortlessly they stepped into a position of leadership.”
“It definitely felt heavier,” Ramsey told EW of the shift in their role. “I’ve felt the weight of the responsibility of it more, and not the responsibility of being the main character as much. It is more just the workload and being there literally every day. I did feel at times I was carrying the whole thing on my back, which obviously isn’t true. So many people are contributing. Within how dark the story gets this season, it definitely felt heavy, but I was supported the whole time.”
See Deadline’s interview with The Last Of Us creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann about Sunday’s episode here.
