The Last of Us Season 2 explored the notion of generational trauma, and episode 6, "The Price," opened by revisiting a conversation between a young Joel Miller and his physically abusive father. It was only a few minutes long, but is one of the standout moments of the season.
Daredevil: Born Again star Tony Dalton played Javier Miller, and we asked the actor about his cameo while discussing his role in the fun new action thriller Trap House (which arrives in theaters on November 14).
"Yeah, that was great. To be honest with you, that kind of came out of the blue," the actor recalled. "One day, Neil [Druckmann] called me up and said, 'Hey, listen, you want to be Joel's father?' I said, 'That's a great idea,' and he told me, 'You've got to grow that moustache back,' and I said, 'Sure, no problem!' I went up to Canada and shot that scene. It was wonderful. I had a good, good time doing it."
Of course, beyond his work in the MCU as Swordsman—he debuted in 2021's Hawkeye—many of you will know Dalton best for his phenomenal, often terrifying, performance as Better Call Saul's Lalo Salamanca.
In Season 6's mid-season finale, Lalo guns down Howard in front of a horrified Jimmy and Kim. The scene has become as iconic as any moment from Breaking Bad, and we wondered if Dalton was aware of that while filming it.
"We kind of had an idea. I remember, way before we shot that, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould called me, and they were very, very excited. They'd just written that scene and were like, 'Tony, you have no idea what we're going to do this next season.' I said, 'Okay, sounds great.' 'No, no, no, wait until you read this. You're gonna shit in your pants!' 'Really? What are you talking about?' 'We can't tell you much, but...'"
"These guys got so excited about what they wrote, they called me on the phone to tell me that they'd written it and couldn't tell me what it was. Then when I finally read it, I said, 'Oh, I see. This is huge,'" Dalton continued. "When we were there, it kept growing and growing, and yeah, they delivered. That scene was iconic."
In the video above, the actor talks to us about playing the villainous Benito Cabrera in Trap House, how he approached the character, and confirms that he will return as Jacques Duquesne in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2.
Check out the trailer and synopsis for Trap House below.
El Paso DEA Agent Ray Seale and his team infiltrate a drug trafficking operation run by notorious cartel boss 'Guzman'. But things go wrong and one of his team is shot and killed. In the aftermath, the slain agent’s son, Jesse, is devastated and struggles financially having to move back to Spain with his mom. Ray’s own son, Cody feels sorry for Jesse and bands together a group of other DEA kids to utilize their skills and access to resources to enact revenge, stealing money from trap houses operated by the Guzman family.
As the teenage ring of thieves goes for riskier targets, the DEA and the cartel close in. Cody quickly realizes he’s entered them all into a deadly game, and when Ray Seale finds out the truth, he must desperately protect his son from the increasing danger that has resulted from their heists.