Pedro Pascal Shares Candid Struggles Behind ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Role

Pedro Pascal Admits the Emotional Toll of Playing Joel Miller

Pedro Pascal has never been the kind of actor to just clock out emotionally at the end of a scene. But in The Last of Us Season 2, things got a lot heavier than even he expected. While filming the next installment of HBO's dystopian hit, Pascal confessed that he found himself tangled up in his character’s trauma, so much so that it started spilling into his own life and state of mind.

Speaking about his experience, Pascal said he struggled to draw the line between where Joel ended and he began. Joel Miller, a hardened survivor still reeling from deep loss and responsibility, isn’t easy to shake off when the cameras stop rolling. "It’s this experience, more than any I’ve had. It’s hard for me to separate what the characters are going through and how it makes me feel," Pascal explained. He finds himself fiercely protective of loved ones in real life, just like Joel is with Ellie. That overlap, he admits, was both a blessing and a curse.

A ‘Grateful Yet Difficult’ Experience

Filming for Season 2 didn’t get any easier for Pascal. The aftermath of the previous season’s finale cast a long shadow, not just over Joel and Ellie’s journey, but also over the actors bringing them to life. Pascal described his connection to Joel’s pain as deeply personal: "In a way that isn’t very healthy… I kind of feel their pain. I was in an unhealthy mindset," he confessed. The producers aimed for raw storytelling, and it sounds like the cast really wore those emotional scars.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. Pascal has also talked about how grateful he is for the opportunity to take on such a layered role. Still, he’s honest about the cost. Dealing with anxiety on top of Joel’s heavy emotional baggage made for a uniquely challenging shoot. He approached the set each day balancing appreciation for the work with a real struggle to keep his own feelings separate from those of his character.

With The Last of Us Season 2 hitting screens on April 13, 2025, fans can expect the post-apocalyptic drama to go even deeper. The new season promises higher stakes, fresh threats, and another round of complex emotional journeys—not just for Joel and Ellie, but for the real people behind the characters striving to bring that intensity to life. Pascal’s raw preparation hints that audiences might be in for something just as intense off-screen as on.