In HBO's The Last of Us, Pedro Pascal plays Joel, a character who the creators say they changed to translate the game and the ending to TV.
The Last of Us premiered on HBO and HBO Max on Jan. “I found him to be a very hardened person, and not somebody who reflects on his own feelings, even before losing his daughter or the world ending before his very eyes. “And that was part of the casting of Pedro Pascal as Joel. “Pedro is so charismatic, and there’s like a pull — he’s funny, he’s a genuinely funny guy — that to suppress all that when you watch him on screen, it feels like there’s something missing from this guy, and you want it to come out,” Druckmann says. And viewers who have played the game might spot key differences in his TV counterpart: He’s no longer dealing weapons like he does in the game, but trying to hunt down a battery for his car so he can go find Tommy. [The Last of Us](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23547254/last-us-review-hbo-tv) looks [a lot like the video game that inspired it](https://www.polygon.com/e/23314881), but don’t mistake that for damning it with faint praise.
Turns out, Pedro Pascal's character's outerwear of choice is a Huckberry favorite: the Flint and Tinder Flannel-Lined Waxed Trucker Jacket.
[Read our full in-depth review of the Flint and Tinder Flannel-Lined Waxed Trucker Jacket](https://www.gearpatrol.com/style/a41389325/flint-and-tinder-waxed-trucker-jacket-review/). [Huckberry](https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=31959X896062&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhuckberry.com%2F&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gearpatrol.com%2Fstyle%2Fa42409682%2Fpedro-pascal-last-of-us-flint-and-tinder-waxed-trucker-jacket%2F), and one of the brand's best-sellers, to boot. Let's hope that the rest of the show was treated with the same care and attention to detail. One way or another, there's one absolute certainty: The Last of Us marks one of the most hyped and highly anticipated cinematic releases of the new year (and it's already getting praised by critics, [with 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_last_of_us) as of the time of writing). [HBO Max's The Last of Us](https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=31959X896062&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hbomax.com%2Fseries%2Fthe-last-of-us&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gearpatrol.com%2Fstyle%2Fa42409682%2Fpedro-pascal-last-of-us-flint-and-tinder-waxed-trucker-jacket%2F) hope to break the long-standing video game adaptation curse. [Having won nearly 40 awards](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2140553/awards/?ref_=tt_awd) since its release in 2013 — including multiple for its narrative, music and a few crowning it the Game of the Year — the source material has already laid the groundwork for the filmmakers behind the series.
The entire plot of the video game to series adaptation hinges on the relationship between the grizzled and capable Joel and young spitfire Ellie as they journey ...
As we came to understand the characters and the experience of playing them more, it opened itself up to us more and more—just like the characters open themselves up to one another more and more. The more we grew comfortable with each other, the more we would be generous with each other and help each other’s performance by throwing things in to help it feel fresh. The scripts were so tight and so perfect; I never felt trapped or constricted by them. ET on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. There was so much of the script to adhere to and be held by, but there was always room for spontaneity. The entire plot of the video game to series adaptation hinges on the relationship between the grizzled and capable Joel and young spitfire Ellie as they journey across a post-apocalyptic America. [HBO’s The Last of Us](https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/the-last-of-us-season-1-hbo-review/) to work, the casting of series leads Joel and Ellie needed to be perfect. We cultivated it as the show went along because we didn’t have the time. The jumping right-in aspect ultimately made sense and paralleled the characters and the actors playing them. [beloved franchise is widely considered a landmark in storytelling](https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/the-last-of-us-part-ii-review) for the medium. The Last of Us arrives on HBO with Thrones-like expectations, as the Both performers have quite a history with HBO, having seen their careers explode thanks in part to landing roles on Game of Thrones.
The series adapts the popular video game with Pedro Pascal in the role of Joel, a hardened smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), ...
The Last of Us premieres on Sunday, Jan. According to the early reviews, The Last of Us stands tall, with many critics already calling it the best video game adaptation ever made. We can expect the tonal differences between The Mandalorian and The Last of Us to be vast. The Last of Us is inspired by a very bleak story, albeit very captivating. The series adapts the popular video game with [Pedro Pascal](https://movieweb.com/person/pedro-pascal/) in the role of Joel, a hardened smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), across a dangerous wasteland in a post-apocalyptic world. [The Last of Us](https://movieweb.com/tv/the-last-of-us/) is finally premiering on HBO on Sunday night.
The Last of Us isn't the kind of show one would expect to shatter stereotypes and yet through it, Pedro Pascal is redefining masculinity.
[Pascal](https://latinamedia.co/tag/pedro-pascal/) wears the intricacies of loss on his skin as he sets out on a journey that will see him responsible for another young girl, one he steadfastly refuses to care for. He is both believable as a man who is focused on what he has to do and as a man fully in touch with his emotional side. And yet, through them, [Pedro Pascal](https://latinamedia.co/tag/pedro-pascal/) has not just made himself into Hollywood’s go-to [dad figure](https://latinamedia.co/?s=father), he’s also set a new standard for what exactly that entails – and for what masculinity really means in 2023. [Pascal](https://latinamedia.co/tag/pedro-pascal/) takes on the role of a man who has loved and lost a daughter before. For both of them, the journey isn’t just about saving them physically, though – in some cases, it’s the other way around – but about finding within themselves the emotional capacity to form a real bond. Now we’re about to experience the journey once again, but different, with The Last of Us.
Pedro Pascal opened up on allegations from some The Last of Us fanbase for "woke politics" and diverse cast. During an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, ...
"The game is very, very innovative in its inclusiveness." Pascal-starrer, The Last of Us will premiere on HBO and HBO Max on Jan. "You can't make everybody happy."
The Last of Us actress Nico Parker talked to CinemaBlend about bonding with co-star Pedro Pascal and bringing more to Sarah's story.
Head to our [2023 TV premiere schedule](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2023-tv-premiere-dates) to find out all the other big shows heading to the small screen throughout the coming year. I can only hope that the show's creators have another joyful flashback scene or two with Sarah to bring in later in the season. Thankfully, Nico Parker and Pedro Pascal's off-screen connection was strong enough that it popped with electricity in the show from the very start. Speaking of bonds, gamers know that Joel and Ellie won’t be meshing well right away, for all the reasons, and that it will take a bit longer for them to lower their exterior shells to allow the other in. As fans of Pedro Pascal’s might have expected (and hoped), it wasn’t a stretch for Nico Parker to pretend to adore him. It was hard enough reliving that moment in [the excellent 2022 remake/remaster](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/9-best-2022-video-games-for-tv-and-movie-fans), and was doubly tough to watch in live-action.