HBO’s The Last of Us has been referred to across many corners as the golden standard for video game adaptations. The series has, in its seven episodes so far, awed and entertained audiences to brilliant effect. However, perhaps it could have been all different, at least regarding the role of Joel which is exceptionally portrayed by Pedro Pascal. According to series star, Jeffrey Pierce, the role could have been given to someone else.

In the show’s latest episode, "Left Behind", we saw that after his encounter with raiders at Colorado University, Joel was badly wounded and struggling to hang on. Pascal’s depiction of the character as a continually grieving father who is scared of opening his heart to another “dependent” in Ellie (Bella Ramsey) has drawn much acclaim. However, according to Pierce who also stared as Perry in the series, we could have had another familiar face playing Joel. Having initially voiced Tommy, Joel’s younger brother in the 2014 video game, Pierce revealed he had no “illusions” of playing the character onscreen but revealed what gave it away. "I think initially they had talked to Mahershala Ali about playing Joel, which is an obvious cue that I'm not gonna play Tommy,” the actor said in an interview with The Direct. “And when they cast Pedro [Pascal], I knew like, yeah, that was certainly not going to happen regardless, I'm older than Pedro Pascal. So I was not harboring any illusions about that, for sure."

While we can agree that Pascal has turned out to be a solid choice for the Naughty Dog adaptation, Mahershala Ali would also not have been a bad choice either. An Oscar winner, Ali would certainly have brought his A-game on set as seen in his previous works. Also, had he signed on to work on The Last of Us, the Marvel star would only be extending a partnership he has shared with HBO over the years appearing in True Detective and the network’s upcoming limited drama titled Unruly.

Mahershala Ali-True Detective 1

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'The Last of Us' Has Been Renewed For Season 2

Looking forward, we get to enjoy the brilliant performances put out by Pascal in his role as Joel. As we prepare for the show’s next episode, it will be nice to see him back on his feet given that he has mastered the trope of the “man on the run with a child”. The Last of Us has been renewed for a second season given its massively impressive first season which means we get to see more of Joel as the story shifts to the events in the second part of the game series, The Last of Us Part II.

The Last of Us returns with its eighth episode on Sunday. Watch the episode’s preview below: