Pedro Pascal says he's ‘in active denial' after huge The Last of Us twist
Pedro Pascal has spoken out following the big twist in the latest episode of The Last of Us.
Spoilers follow for The Last of Us season two, episode two – you have been warned...
In the episode, titled 'Through the Valley', Pascal's character, Joel Miller, is brutally murdered by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) as an act of revenge for killing her father at the end of the first season. While the moment had been anticipated by fans of the video game on which the series is based, many viewers were left devastated by the twist.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Pascal admitted that he had known his character would be killed off when he first signed on to star.
'It's not like they said, 'Hey, we kill you at the beginning of season two,'' he said. 'But it was always an understanding that it would stay true to the source material in a specific way and that the, let's say, practical and exclusive obligation would be for season 1. It was just a matter of how and when.
'I'm in active denial,' he continued. 'I realize this more and more as I get older, I find myself slipping into denial that anything is over.
'I know that I'm forever bonded to so many members of the experience and just have to see them under different circumstances, but never will under the circumstances of playing Joel on The Last of Us. And, no, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it because it makes me sad.'
The actor, 50, alluded to his many previous onscreen deaths, in projects such as Game of Thrones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
'I get killed a lot,' he said. 'I like to die.'
Pascal added: "I've never experienced anything like I did that day [on The Last of Us ] where I stepped onto set in full makeup and then killed the vibe completely as soon as anyone set their eyes on me. This kind of shock and heartbreak… it was weird to be on the receiving end of that. It's like the extreme version of, 'Is there something on my face?' I really could see this sort of grief take over everyone's look in their eyes.'
The actor also expanded on his thoughts in an interview with HBO for the official The Last of Us aftershow.
'I have nothing but respect for the level of investment that people have in a video game or a TV show or movie or book,' he said. 'I experience that myself. I've flung books across the room because its impact is so profound on me and experiencing the story. I think it is incredibly painful for people and that's obviously a brilliant achievement of the storytelling.'
Dever has also responded to the twist, describing it as being 'heartbreaking' to watch.
'I watched you guys [Joel and Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey] in season one, and your relationship was so beautiful. And watching the end of you guys was really, really hard for me, as a viewer,' she said.
'It was just a massive scene emotionally, and with blocking, too,' Dever added. 'There were so many moving parts and so many things to navigate.'
In the UK, The Last of Us can be watched on Sky and NOW, with new episodes arriving every Monday.
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