The Last of Us' Troy Baker believes Joel is 'bigger than any one actor'
Troy Baker, the actor who played Joel in The Last of Us video games, is a Pedro Pascal fan just like the rest of us – believing the character is bigger than any one performance.
During an interview with GamesRadar, Baker shared his thoughts on handing the reins to Pasal.
“What I love is that you don’t necessarily think Pedro Pascal, but the second that you mention the name, you go, ‘Okay, okay, I can see that,'” Baker said. “And then you see him as Joel, and then you watch him as Joel. And what it showed me was that, thankfully, this character is bigger than any one performance.”
“If it had just been like, I’m the only one who could do it, then we didn’t do a good enough job,” Baker continues. “This character needs to be bigger than one actor. And thankfully, not only Pedro but Bella as well as – as well as the rest of our cast – shows that this story, these characters, are bigger than just one version.”
Changes were inevitable, whether it was casting or storyline tweaks, though Baker is still in HBO’s The Last of Us. In episode eight, which aired Sunday, longtime fans no doubt recognized Baker played the character of James. It was a casting that surprised everyone, including Baker.
“It was a surprise. I really wasn’t anticipating it. I didn’t expect it,” Baker explains. “It wasn’t something where I was like, ‘You better find a role for me.’ If there was one, then great. If not, I’m happy to observe and cheer, and my voice will be above the den of all those that I know will be supporting this show. And so [Neil Druckmann] came to me and was like – I’ve been jokingly saying this all day – he said, ‘Hey man, I got a role for you.” I’m like, ‘Oh dude, thank you.'”
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.