Pedro Pascal recently opened up about the profound emotional impact of his character’s impending death in the highly anticipated second season of HBO’s The Last of Us. As audiences steel themselves for the arc’s predictable turn, Pascal opened up about his excitement and horror at this bombshell moment. He discussed these thoughts on a recent Eno-organized press tour.
As soon as Pascal came aboard to play Joel Miller, he understood what it meant for his character to perish. It was the most important part of the entire narrative arc of the story. It was only a question of how and when,” he said, adding that this understanding informed his performance from the outset. Pascal has jumped into Superman & Lois’ promotional efforts. As he admitted, he hasn’t had a lot of time to reflect on his character’s death.
Filming Joel’s death scene had quite an effect on Pascal, who called it a surreal experience. He still has very clear memories from shooting in Kamloops, Canada. In that moment—as everything disappeared, the space around him transformed into a creative bubble—it was just him and his co-star, Kaitlyn Dever, who plays Abby. “I have no idea if it’s captured on camera, but there’s a subtle sense that Joel can hear her in the last breath of life that he has left in him,” Pascal explained. He needed to get across the emotional immediacy of the scene. Joel may or may not have known that Ellie was in such dire danger and wanted to save her, but he was helpless to do so.
Though Euphoria’s experience, Pascal did find moments of solace while preparing for his death scene. He called his time in the makeup chair “weirdly relaxing.” During this time, he had meaningful conversations with prosthetics guru Barrie Gower and makeup designer Paul Spateri about what was to come. He noted, “I really could see this sort of grief take over everyone’s look in their eyes,” highlighting the collective emotional investment from the cast and crew.
As he anticipates the release of the new season, Pascal interjected humor into the conversation, joking about his plans for the day when his character dies. “It’s April 20. If it were the ’90s, I’d be high,” he quipped, before adding, “I think I’ll be working. So I have no idea.”
Showrunner Craig Mazin praised Pascal’s performance during this critical scene, recognizing the emotional depth he brought to Joel’s final moments. “It’s easy to imagine that his day was just lying on a floor covered in blood, but there are these beautiful moments,” Mazin said. Dever’s dynamic performance as Abby bursts off the screen. Pascal effused about her, referring to her as “a gangster of an actor” and talking about her “crazy” talent.
The deep bond Pascal has developed with the cast and crew is no accident. He expressed a sense of fulfillment from filming his character’s death scene and acknowledged the lasting connections developed throughout their time together on set.
