Every actor from The Last of Us games who appeared on the show (and who they played)

4. Troy Baker (Joel) as James

We move next into the dreaded winter section of the story. Troy Baker is a veteran voice actor who has appeared in literally hundreds of games and animated TV shows, but his best-known role is as Joel in The Last of Us. Baker brought a level of humanity to Joel that set him apart from the average video game hero, and though he was initially skeptical about the HBO adaptation, he came around like everyone else.

Baker appears in the HBO show during Episode 8, “When We Are In Need,” where he played David’s number one henchman James. David, James, and their cultish following were explored in much more detail in the television series than 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 recalled to 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."

Baker is also the host of HBO’s The Last of Us Podcast, where he and showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann discuss each episode of the series in detail. This is a must-listen for fans of the series, and yet another example of the synergy between the show and game.