Pedro Pascal almost wasn’t the star of The Last of Us, as another seriously huge celebrity was considered for the role of Joel Miller.
The show was a smash hit, with praise specifically reserved for the performances of Pascal and his co-star Bella Ramsey.
Not just critics seemed to like Pascal’s performance, as he became something of an internet sensation overnight, sparking loads of memes, as well as garnering lots of attention from people calling him ‘daddy’.
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Strange to think that it could have been so different, then
Yep, it turns out Matthew McConaughey was considered for the role, too.
It would have been a massive A-list appointment, but – when we now know how much Pascal brought to the role – would it actually have been better?
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Pascal is a big name too, having starred in shows like Game of Thrones, Narcos, and The Mandalorian, but even he would probably admit that McConaughey is one of the biggest names out there.
Still, it was the 48-year-old Chilean-American who got the nod for the big-budget HBO video game adaptation, and he seriously killed it.
In the end, there was interest in McConaughey that never really became ‘serious’, but there was also interest in Mahershala Ali as well.
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Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the show’s creator Craig Mazin confirmed that they had approached Matthew Mac before finally choosing Pascal instead.
He said: “I actually never talked to Mahershala,
“I did talk to Matthew [McConaughey].
“I can’t say it was serious.
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“It was more like, ‘Hey, here’s something we can talk about.’”.
He continued: “It’s one of those things where, I’m sure there’s an alternate universe where it’s a different actor.
“Matthew McConaughey is an amazing actor, I’m sure it would’ve been great, but it would’ve been different, and I like the one that we made.”
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So did everyone else, too.
Mazin said that Pascal was on the ‘list from the start’ but his agent initially said he might be unavailable
He explained: “As we were floundering about a little bit, I got a call from his agent who said, ‘You know, he actually might be available'.
“Normally when you send scripts off to actors like this, you’re lucky if you get a read within a month.
“He was in England at the time working on a movie and I thought between the movie and the time change, this will be forever.
“I sent it on Friday. Saturday morning I get a call: ‘He loves it. He wants to get on a Zoom.’”
The series was immediately renewed for a second season after the success of the first run, so it’s likely that we’ll be seeing plenty more of Pedro Pascal in The Last of Us.
Topics: TV and Film, HBO, Celebrity, Matthew McConaughey
Tom Wood