We learned just yesterday that Ellie has been cast in the upcoming HBO adaptation of The Last of Us. Now we know who will play her surrogate father as well. According to Deadline, The Mandolorian's Pedro Pascal will take on the role of Joel and serve as the co-star to Bella Ramsey who will portray Ellie.
Both actors served supporting roles on Game of Thrones, and longtime HBO binge-watchers will be familiar with how the brand likes to find new roles for its previous cast members, so the hires make a lot of sense just from that angle.
But both actors look a good deal like their roles as well. It was reported earlier this week that Mahershala Ali of True Detective season three was in talks to portray Joel, but for reasons not made public, it's now Pascal's job.
The Chilean actor's star rating has been streaking brightly as of late. Alongside his starring, albeit masked, role as the titular Mandolorian, Pascal has also recently appeared in Wonder Woman 1984, and before that was in Netflix's Narcos. He portrayed Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones, while his Ellie co-star Ramsey portrayed the fiery Lyanna Mormont in Martin's adaptation for HBO as well.
There's no word yet on how much of the game series the TV show will adapt, or how closely it will adhere to the source material for that matter. Should the series try to tell the story of both games, it will be interesting to see if the showrunners try to fill the half-decade gap between the game's with more linear story, whereas The Last of Us Part 2 only revealed some of that lost time through flashbacks during the 25-hour runtime.
The news comes a month after it was announced that a director was found for The Last of Us. Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov will be directing the upcoming series. Balagov is mostly known for directing the dramas Closeness and Beanpole. Chernobyl's Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann will co-executive produce the series while the former will also write the script. There's no set date for when the series will premiere but subscribers can expect to find it on both HBO and HBO Max upon its debut.
