It may involve flesh-eating monsters and vigilante warriors set against a backdrop of an apocalyptic pandemic, but at its heart, The Last Of Us is the relatable story of a protective father and his teenage daughter.
That’s what makes the casting of “internet daddy” Pedro Pascal (who has experience playing a likeable but unlikely paternal figure to “Baby Yoda” in the Star Wars series The Mandalorian) as smuggler turned surrogate dad Joel a stroke of genius.
Although he isn’t a father himself, the idea of a man doing anything for his family is second nature to the Chilean-born actor.
In February, he made headlines for calling out “vile” and “pathetic” bigotry aimed at the transgender community, which includes his younger sister, actor Lux Pascal.
“I am protective of the people I love and that’s probably the main component I can relate to,” Pascal, 50, says of playing Joel.
Based on the hit video game of the same name, The Last Of Us follows the grieving Joel as he transports a 14-year-old orphan named Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across a country ravaged by a fungal infection that turns human beings into zombie-like creatures known as “the infected”.
While outrunning season one’s onslaught of terrifying threats, the two loners become each other’s family.
So when Joel learns that Ellie’s brain is needed to create a vaccine, he opts to save his sullen adopted daughter rather than sacrifice her for the greater good.
The second season – which Pascal notes was filmed in Canada, “literally in a blizzard” – takes place five years after Joel rescued Ellie, with the two now estranged and living among an isolated community of survivors.
Among the new cast members are Apple Cider Vinegar star Kaitlyn Dever, who joins the cast as Abby, a soldier hell-bent on seeking vengeance for a loved one, and veteran actor Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek) as the jaded therapist helping Joel navigate his issues with Ellie.
Returning with Pascal and Ramsey is Gabriel Luna as Joel’s younger brother Tommy, founder of the survivor commune where Joel and Ellie have sought refuge.
Despite the season’s bleak setting, Luna believes it will resonate, given recent events.
“While the first season is a story about a pandemic … The second season is about conflicts and where do they start, and who started it,” Luna explains.
“Right now, all over the world, we are dealing with these conflicts.”
Likewise, Luna says The Last Of Us is a study in family frictions and “how we protect those that we love, how we help set those that we care for – and the children that we’re rearing – in the right direction.
What elements of danger are we allowing them to encounter so that they can develop their skills?”
Having forged a tight bond with Pascal in season one, Ramsey found the frosty new dynamic between Ellie and Joel more challenging to explore than the show’s numerous action sequences.
“I didn’t enjoy feeling estranged from Pedro within a scene. It wasn’t a nice feeling,” Ramsey explains.
“A lot has changed over those five years [since the events of season one]. Ellie was 14, and now is 19, and I think in any teenage life, that’s like the formative years. So that definitely informed [the father/daughter tension].”
A lot has also changed for Pascal since landing the role of Joel in 2021.
Although he already had a loyal fan base thanks to Game Of Thrones and The Mandalorian, he nonetheless acknowledges, “This job definitely created a new chapter in my life in a profound way.”
And for the series to have been received with the same level of passion as it was created, he adds, “is a rare thing. It will never happen again.”
Season 2 of The Last Of Us premieres on April 14 on Max, with new episodes dropping weekly, and is also available on Foxtel.
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