Earlier today, we were fortunate enough to spend a few minutes catching up with Troy Baker about his standout role as The Joker in Batman: The Long Halloween. We'll bring you the full interview next week, but while we had this iconic performer on the phone, we had to ask about The Last of Us.
Troy played Joel in both of the Naughty Dog PlayStation games, a role that will be filled by The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal in HBO's upcoming TV series.
Recently, we learned that Jeffrey Pierce (Tommy in the games) will play a quarantine zone rebel in the show, but surely his co-star from the games will join him? After pointing out how much fans would love to see that happen after the incredible performance he gave as Joel, Troy opened up on the possibility of that happening and his hopes for the highly anticipated live-action series.
"Cheers, man. I appreciate that. The thing I’m most excited about with that show specifically, and this is what I told Neil [Druckmann] from the very beginning when we were talking about it, ‘No matter who you get, I just hope you find someone that is able to teach me something about the character I’ve never learned about. Surprise me,'" the prolific actor told us. "If there’s an opportunity for me to be a part of that show, I will work for Neil and specifically inside of that franchise because I want to be in that world, I’ll do it any day of the week and twice on Sundays!"
"That’s the challenge we have as actors. I want Pedro Pascal to surprise me and teach me something about a character I am so intimately familiar with. It’s the same thing I want to do. Hopefully, The Last of Us will do with the HBO series; that’s the whole point, man," Troy added, sharing his hopes for The Last of Us on television. "We’re here to tell stories. If it’s a story that’s already been told, then the challenge becomes, ‘How do we tell this story in a unique way?’"
Troy also talked to us about how he took this same approach to Batman: The Long Halloween, and we'll share his full answer with you on Monday. We're certainly optimistic that he'll make some sort of appearance in The Last of Us, as it would be a real disservice to the incredible work he put into those games for the actor to be overlooked in any way (it may just come down to scheduling).
Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two is now available on Digital platforms and on Blu-ray August 10.