The original actor for Joel didn’t think The Last of Us show was a good idea

The latest episode of The Last of Us, “When We Are In Need,” pit Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie  (Bella Ramsey) against a group of survivors who had resorted to cannibalism to get through a hard winter. The leader of the group is David (Scott Shepherd), a preacher with a screw loose. But fans of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us video game may have noticed something about David’s right-hand man James: he’s played by Troy Baker, who voiced Joel in the games.

“[W]hen [showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig [Mazin] came to me with this role, they were like, ‘How would you feel about playing James?’ And I went, ‘Oh my God. Thank you, guys, so much. Who is James?'” Baker told Deadline. “But the beauty of this story is that we get to take some characters that may have been overlooked and zoom in and expand their roles. This is all about enriching the story, not replacing it. So, for me to play James in this is like, ‘Yeah, this is a unique opportunity for me to see this world through a whole new set of eyes.'”

"I thought I was going to be a clicker. So, this is an upgrade. [Laughs]. I was so happy. And then, when reading the script for James, I was like, “OK, there’s a good challenge”…I love playing a villain to show you he’s not the villain. Because if I can make you like him for just a second, that makes you hate him even more when I need you to. I love that dance; it’s very appealing to me. So, when it came to approaching James, I asked, “How can we make him not a henchman? How can we make him not just this David’s ‘Thug A,’ and make it so that he has some actual stake in the story?” And for me, it’s all about understanding that every character we meet throughout this story is somehow a reflection of Joel and or Ellie."

Deleted The Last of Us scene with Bella Ramsey’s Ellie and Troy Baker’s James

The way Baker thought of the character, he’s someone who doesn’t have the capacity to lead himself, but badly wants to be close to the person who does lead, in this case David. That’s why he has some antipathy towards Ellie, whom David sees as more of an equal than an underling, which is how he looks at James.

“For me, I definitely thought, ‘If he’s absent of a moral center, then he’s just not interesting. He’s just boring,’ and the thing that I realize is that what James wants more than anything is to be the right hand of David,” Baker said. “Not because he admires him or respects him but because he understands who he is. David is the Devil, and I definitely want to be on the right side of the Devil than the wrong side. So that’s where James is positioning himself, and along comes this girl who can completely usurp that position, and that’s what James clocks in David. In Ellie, David sees an equal, and that’s what he wants. And James knows that’s what he’ll never be.”

"There’s the line, “You have a violent heart,” which James doesn’t have. Because he’ll shoot the horse, he’ll stop the girl, but when it comes to leveling a weapon at a terrified 14-year-old girl lying down in the snow, James choked, and someone had to prod him, but he still wouldn’t [commit the violent act]. And that’s not because he’s afraid of getting in trouble with David; it’s because, at the end of the day, he still has a moral center."

We saw a little more of James’ dislike of Ellie in a deleted scene. Would that we have gotten to see this:

"So, Ellie is in this cage, and this is a scene that ended up getting cut because we didn’t need it. David is having this conversation with Ellie, and then he gets interrupted by my character. James comes in and asks, “Can I have a minute?” And David’s like, “Yeah.” So, David leaves, and in this scene, not scripted at all, I just give [fierce] dog eyes to Ellie. And every [take], it became this war without words to see who would win this brief spar. And every time, Ellie wins. I am selfishly excited for people to see me in this episode, but I think what I’m most excited to see is this episode where Bella really gets to flex and show you exactly what Bella Ramsey is capable of, and it is terrifying. [Laughs]."

Troy Baker didn’t think The Last of Us HBO show was a good idea

The Last of Us officially a hit on HBO. A of that comes down to Neil Druckmann, who directed the original games and produces the series.

But it wasn’t always a guarantee. Some people didn’t think it was a good idea to turn The Last of Us into a TV show, including Troy Baker. “Neil really helped me with that because I was against the idea of the show,” he said. “I was like, ‘Why not just leave it as a game?’ And Neil goes, ‘Because I believe this story is good enough to get out to people who will never pick up a controller, and we need to bring this story to them.'”

"And just seeing the amount of dedication, skill, and perseverance that both Neil and Craig, the producers, and the crew have shown pay off in fan art, social media posts, and tears have been incredible. Seeing this show’s resonance with people has been the most surprising thing. Because if you get to do it once, man, that’s a miracle. And then to be able to do this successful thing twice, we’ve just continually been climbing mountains, and the fact that we’re now sitting here at the top of this new one is truly a miracle."

We have one more episode of The Last of Us before season 1 ends. The finale airs this upcoming Sunday night on HBO and HBO Max.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels