Since his debut as Joel Miller in The Last of Us, Pedro Pascal has totally won over fans of the video game as well as newcomers.
But, before he was formally cast as the complicated character, it was reported that Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali had a good chance of landing the part.
Jeffrey Pierce, who portrayed Joel’s brother Tommy in the video game and revolutionary rebel Perry in the TV version, talked up about the early phases of the HBO series’ creation in a recent interview.
When asked if he was in the running to reprise his part as Tommy for the TV programme, he recalled ‘talks’ with Mahershala regarding him supposedly taking on the primary role of Joel.
‘I think initially they had talked to Mahershala Ali about playing Joel, which is an obvious cue that I’m not gonna play Tommy…’ he told The Direct.
Then when Pedro was cast, Jeffrey claimed it made him recognise again further that he wouldn’t be in the running for Tommy, adding: ‘I’m older than Pedro Pascal. So I wasn’t under any delusions about it, for sure.’
Jeffrey, who has been vociferous in his support of Tommy actor Gabriel Luna on social media, detailed how several adaptation concepts were examined before the TV series was developed.
‘There have been a couple of different iterations over time. There was a movie at one point. There was a motion-capture cinematic animated series at one point. And both of those are things that I thought, “I got a pretty good shot at being involved to some degree,”’ he said.
While Jeffrey didn’t end up playing Tommy in the show, he did have a very memorable stint as Perry…
***Warning. Major spoilers ahead for The Last of Us TV show.***
In the fifth episode of the drama, revolutionary leader Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey) pursues Joel, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), Henry (Lamar Johnson), and Sam (Keivonn Woodard) before they are all attacked by a terrifyingly enormous infected onslaught.
Before failing to fire down a Bloater, Perry pushes Kathleen to flee and save herself… He then picks him up and rips off his head in a very unforgettable death.
After the episode came out, Jeffrey light-heartedly tweeted: ‘That’s not what I meant when I said “A little off the top,”’ alongside a gif of someone having their head shaved.
‘Epic way to go, eh?’ one fan tweeted in response, while another wrote: ‘That scene was so wild I lost my head trying to comprehend it.’
The Last of Us is available to watch on Sky and NOW in the UK, with new episodes released on Mondays.