Pedro Pascal Finally Addresses Those Comparisons Between The Last Of Us And The Mandalorian

It's somewhat inevitable for actors to fall into an archetype. Sometimes these are broad categories, like a performer getting used to playing comedies over dramas. Other times, they get pigeonholed into playing action heroes. Then you have oddly specific categories, which is what Pedro Pascal seems to have found himself in, which is "Reluctant father figure tasked with protecting an important child."

Pascal has been on the scene for a while, acting for many years before landing a prime spot on "Game of Thrones." He really got to show what he was capable of as an actor in "Narcos," but for many, their introduction to the actor came when he sported an iconic helmet and helped a Baby Yoda find his place in the galaxy within "The Mandalorian."

Despite taking place in the "Star Wars" universe, "The Mandalorian" is a classic story of a man reluctantly caring for a child and learning things about himself in the process. The same could be said of Pascal's latest role in "The Last of Us." The similarities weren't lost on the actor, and he spoke about how both Din Djarin and Joel are kindred spirits yet have some differences between them. 

In "The Mandalorian," Din Djarin takes care of Grogu while protecting him from those who seek to cause him harm. Meanwhile, in "The Last of Us," Joel takes care of Ellie (Bella Ramsey) while protecting her from those who seek to cause her harm. They're both embattled figures who have seen a lot of loss throughout their lives and are trying to do better by a new generation. The similarities weren't lost on fans, and Pedro Pascal finally spoke about how his characters are related in an interview with Collider. 

Pascal explained, "They're both very, very grumpy, aren't they? And they're reluctant, hardened figures under their own different forms of armor. The more I talk, the less difference there is between them." When it comes to Joel specifically, Pascal pointed out how he's a fully realized character who has been through loss and is therefore skeptical about taking on the role of a father figure to Ellie. Pascal went on to say, "What it could be, more than anything, is in the experience of playing a full realization of this type of character, where the emotional richness of this experience of a hardened human becoming human again, through the experience of a relationship, can expand itself to so many different types of storytelling. I don't know, necessarily, how to identify what's different about it, outside of how rich it was to play Joel and to know that everything about him hinged directly to his relationship to Ellie."

As anyone who has played "The Last of Us" video games can attest, they're very different from "The Mandalorian," so even non-fans have something to look forward to when the HBO series premieres on January 15.