The adaptation of the celebrated video game “The Last Of Us” is undoubtedly one of the most interesting series projects of the coming year 2023. Fans are not only excited, but naturally also concerned that one of the undisputed gaming highlights of the last ten years will not be properly processed here for the screen. The past has proven (particularly in the cinema) that good video game adaptations are really, really rare.
That one can still have good hopes is not only due to the HBO company, which has always stood for great quality television (such as “House Of The Dragon”, “The Wire” or “Euphoria”), but also to the plaster. Alongside Bella Ramsey (“Game Of Thrones”) as Ellie, Pedro Pascal (“The Mandalorian”) has staged a real coup. Of course, things could have turned out differently in this regard – and a The Boys star would have been ready to star in The Last Of Us.
This is Jensen Ackles, who made his debut as, well, at least a questionable soldier boy on season three of The Boys. Speaking at the Nashcon 2022 convention, the actor revealed that he worked very hard to play Joel. Shortly afterwards, however, he said, “I don’t think I was really in the running for the Pedro Pascal role or even had a chance.” You can watch the clip here:
Jensen Ackles as Joel? The fans disagree!
The fact that Jensen Ackles has gathered an extensive fan base is not only due to his performance in “The Boys”, but especially to the cult fantasy series “Supernatural”, in which Ackles spent more than 15 seasons hunting demons as Dean Winchester. . Would he have worked as Joel in The Last Of Us? His followers on Twitter have no strong opinion on this.
Judging by the comments below the Nashcon convention clip, many Twitter users would have been happy if Jensen Ackles had landed the part of Joel. However, much of the team always makes it clear that Pedro Pascal was a damn good choice. However, Ackles sees some of the comments not in Joel’s role, but in that of Tommy, Joel’s brother. This is now played in the series by Gabriel Luna (“Terminator: Dark Fate”).
Overall, it’s fair to say that Jensen Ackles wouldn’t have been a bad cast if those in charge decided to cast him as Joel in The Last Of Us. Not only does he bring the deep voice, but he can also grow the necessary full beard to do Joel justice. But in the end, Pedro Pascal was at first sight a more than satisfactory choice.
But we’ll see how well Pascal really fits in on the night of January 15-16, 2023 (probably from 3am) when the first episode airs on Sky and the Sky streaming service WOW.
Podcast: The 22 best series of 2022
While ‘The Last Of Us’ is already a candidate for the best series of 2023, our colleagues from Moviepilot cover the best series of 2022 in their podcast stream trawl. The big annual overview also features FILMSTARTS video editor YouTube Face , Marvel expert and series viewer Sebastian Gerdshikow is there and throws his top list into the race: