Neil Druckmann, writer and director of The Last of Us, explained why Pedro Pascal was chosen over voice actor Troy Baker for the role of Joel in the HBO adaptation.
Druckmann told Buzzfeed while talking about the new HBO show, The Last of Us, why Baker wasn’t brought back to play the same role he did in the game. Druckmann said, “The cool thing about video games is that you don’t have to look the part.” “So Ashley Johnson, who was 27 then, could play Ellie, a 14-year-old girl. Troy Baker was a tall, skinny, bleached-haired hipster then, but when he talked and moved, he became the part. We couldn’t have those same people play these roles on the show because of this, but they were very important in making those characters come to life.”
Is Troy Baker In The Last Of Us Show?
In December 2022, a trailer for The Last of Us showed Baker would be in the movie version, but it wasn’t clear what his role would be. Fans thought he might play David, the preacher who leads a group of cannibals that Ellie meets in the Winter chapter of the game, or one of David’s followers. Some people thought he could play James, David’s right-hand man.
Baker is also the host of a new podcast that goes along with the HBO version. In The Last of Us Podcast, Baker, TV creators Craig Mazin, and Druckmann talk about “their personal connections to the iconic game, their experiences adapting it for TV, and stories from behind the scenes.”
Ashley Johnson Returns In The Last Of Us On HBO
Johnson also made a brief appearance in the trailer. The Last of Us hasn’t said who she’ll play in the HBO version, just like Baker. But the trailer showed her holding a baby, so many people thought she might play Ellie’s mom, Anna, who died soon after her daughter was born. Druckmann recently said that the story of her mother’s life would be told in The Last of Us show, which they couldn’t fit into the game. The writer said that the team had even thought about telling Anna’s story as an animated short or as downloadable content, but in the end, Naughty Dog decided against those ideas.
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