The Last Of Us showrunner reveals Matthew McConaughey was in talks to play Joel

Internet heartthrob and overall lovely guy Pedro Pascal is an incredibly talented actor, who genuinely seems to make every show and movie he touches fantastic. Alongside Bella Ramsey, he definitely helped make The Last of Us TV show as engaging and emotionally compelling as it is, even for those who were already familiar with the plot well before watching it.

After watching The Last of Us season one, it’s hard to imagine that any other actor could have brought Joel to life in the same way as Pascal, but in a new interview on Josh Horowitz’s Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, showrunner Craig Mazin revealed that American actor Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) was in the running for the role too.

Take a look at this comparison of Ellie from The Last of Us game and TV show below.

If this news sounds familiar to you, there’s good reason why. Previously, actor Jeffrey Pierce (who played Perry in The Last of Us show and Tommy in the games) confirmed rumours that Mahershala Ali had been in talks to play Joel, but a couple of years ago, an industry insider claimed that McConaughey had been approached, too. This is the first time that Mazin has confirmed that he personally had a chat with the latter.

“I actually never talked to Mahershala. I did talk to Matthew,” Mazin said. “Pedro was on our list from the start - we were told that he was unavailable. And then, as we were kinda floundering around a little bit, I got a call from his agent who said, ‘You know, he actually might be available.’”

Mazin explained that at this point, he sent a script off for Pascal to read, and received a call the next day confirming that he loved it and wanted to “get on a Zoom”. Clearly, it was always meant to be.