WARNING: This article contains major spoilers from The Last of Us season two, episode two.
The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal, who portrays Joel Miller in the TV series, says he’s in “active denial” over the plot twist that saw him brutally killed by Abby (played by Kaitlyn Dever). His heartbreaking end came during the second episode of series two, aired on April 21 in the UK, while his on-screen adoptive daughter, Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey), watched on in horror.
Those unfamiliar with the action-adventure video game by Naughty Dog that inspired the gripping HBO series were braced for Joel’s tragic ending, while those unfamiliar with the game were left shocked by the gut-wrenching twist. While many fans are wondering if this really is the end for Joel, or if there’s a chance he might have miraculously survived, it appears the actor himself was left devastated at his untimely ending in the series.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Pascal opened up about shooting his final scene, describing it as “dreamlike”, but said, “I’m in active denial.”
“I realise this more and more as I get older, I find myself slipping into denial that anything is over,” the actor confessed.
“I know that I’m forever bonded to so many members of the experience and just have to see them under different circumstances, but never will under the circumstances of playing Joel on The Last of Us. And, no, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it because it makes me sad.”
Joel’s devastating death came after he killed members of the Fireflies rebel group during series one in order to save Ellie, despite her death meaning a vaccine would have been created against the virus that creates ‘the infected’.
Joel also shot a Firefly doctor in the head when rescuing Ellie from the operating table, which turned out to be Abby’s father.
This led Abby to hunt down Joel in series two to kill him for his actions against the Fireflies, promising that his demise would not be quick. In harrowing scenes, Abby shot Joel in the leg before hitting him multiple times. His last breath came in front of Ellie, who was screaming on the floor while being pinned down by one of the Fireflies.
Pascal knew that this day would come, as the creators were eager to adapt the TV series from the crucial events played out in the Last of Us videogames. He shared, “It was just a matter of how and when.”
Reflecting on filming his final scene, the actor said that he was “always sidestepping” how he felt about his time on the show coming to an end.
He told the publication: “I guess that was the strangest thing to step through because I felt so bonded to everyone in the show after going through the gauntlet of season 1 together, not just with Bella, but with the entire cast and crew. So to have this goodbye was very sad for me, and I had such a physical manifestation, a violent mirror of how sad it was for Joel to die. To be honest, it was quite dreamlike.”
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