SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Off the meteoric success of HBO’s television adaptation of The Last of Us, Pedro Pascal revealed he researched his role of the hungry survivor under immense pressure by working at Naughty Dog.
“Role research is important to me, and the only way I could understand the crushing, inhuman conditions Joel is under was to work at the studio that made The Last of Us,” Pascal explained. “After shadowing a Naughty Dog developer for only a week, I completely understood how someone’s humanity can be eroded away from having to go through indescribable trials and tribulations on a daily basis. While there is no zombie apocalypse happening, spending time observing the scrappy, depleted souls of Naughty Dog employees taught me everything I needed to know about Joel.”
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says he admired Pascal’s incredible commitment to the role.
“Pedro has shown that he’s clearly willing to go the extra mile,” Druckmann said. “I’ve seen actors starve themselves, take drugs, or gain immense weight for a role, but to spend even one normal work day in the Naughty Dog offices is a death-defying stunt I’ve never seen an actor undergo before. When he approached me about entering the Naughty Dog offices, I was worried for his health and safety, but when emerged, he was Joel. In such a short time he learned volumes about loss and trauma, and when he is on set you can see the mysterious horror of his time at Naughty Dog in his vacant glances. I don’t think he’ll ever be the same.”
At press time, sources reported that while many developers are not able to escape the confines of the Naughty Dog offices, Pascal was luckily able to get fired by filing a sexual harassment complaint.
