It’s Pedro Pascal‘s world, and we are just living in it! Thanks to ‘The Last Of Us‘ and ‘The Mandalorian,’ Pascal is all over the pop-culture zeitgeist. Ever since his tragic albeit memorable stint as Oberyn Martell on ‘Game of Thrones,’ the Chilean-American actor has gone on to appear in movies such as ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ and ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent‘, and now the HBO series in which he plays Joel Miller.
Pedro Pascal is currently basking in the glory of his HBO series ‘The Last Of Us.’ The series debuted on January 15, 2023, to phenomenal reviews, including rave reviews of Pascal’s performance as Joel Miller. It might be hard to believe, Pedro Pascal was not the top choice to play Joel.
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Matthew McConaughey Was The Ideal Choice To Play Joel Miller In ‘The Last Of Us’
Like most projects, ‘The Last Of Us’ underwent massive overhauls to become a finite reality. A report surfaced in 2021 saying the part of Joel Miller was offered to none other than Matthew McConaughey. The actor, who had previously collaborated with HBO for the first season of ‘True Detective‘ walked away from their exciting video-game adaptation.
The project was then passed to another Academy Award winner, Mahershala Ali. The ‘Moonlight’ actor passed up on the project, again leaving Joel Miller’s part in casting limbo. Jensen Ackles of ‘Supernatural‘ fame also pushed for his candidacy to play Joel. Lucky for us, Pedro Pascal bagged the role of Joel Miller. Now that we’ve seen him in the show, it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the part.
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Who Were Other Actors Considered To Play Joel Miller In ‘The Last Of Us’?
Like always, there’s a section of disappointed hooting and hollering. There’s been an outrage, as fans have accused HBO of engaging in ‘woke politics’ for the ‘The Last Of Us’ casting. Regardless of what people feel about the show, there’s no denying how terrific Pedro Pascal is as Joel.
Kudos to him for landing this part, as he had to fight his way to the mountaintop. Before Pascal took the reigns, actors considered for his part were Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, Jon Bernthal, Gerard Butler, Josh Brolin, Jon Hamm, David Harbour, Keanu Reeves, Chris Hemsworth, Harrison Ford, Tom Hardy, and Joel Edgerton.
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