Original Joel Voice Actor Says You'll Hate His The Last Of Us Character
The Last of Us is everywhere right now, and if it isn't Neil Druckmann getting us hyped for a potential Part III, it's HBO's live-action series being dubbed the greatest video game adaptation of all time.
Troy Baker has some impressive voice roles under his belt, with the likes of BioShock: Infinite's Booker DeWitt, Uncharted's Sam Drake, and Batman in various projects. Of course, many will know him as the voice behind Joel in Naughty Dog's The Last of Us games.
Who Is Troy Baker Playing In The Last Of Us?
While we now know Game of Thrones stars Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal will be playing Ellie and Joel, Baker and Ellie voice actor Ashley Johnson will play new roles in Craig Mazin's nine-episode series.
Speaking to Deadline, Baker explained why you'll "hate" his character of James. You might remember James was a secondary antagonist from The Last of Us' Winter Segment and was a prominent member of the cannibals.
"They will hate me, but hopefully they'll understand me, I don't know," said Baker. "I believe that all characters are the heroes of their own story, and that's kind of how I approached everything.
"I never like to play 'the bad guy.' But this was a role that was smaller in the game, and Neil and Craig [Mazin] were kind enough to kind of put some meat on the bones and let me really chew. And it was a lot of fun, it was a big challenge, it was an opportunity to flex, and it was such a fun time."
By the sounds of it, James' role has been expanded for the series - which is good news for Baker as he's remembered so fondly as Joel in the games. Still, it remains to be seen how many episodes he'll appear in.
Will The Last Of Us Get A Season 2?
Johnson has a very different role in The Last of Us season one, and while we won't ruin what that is here, safe to say it'll bring tears to your eyes.
Although we originally thought season one would only tell part of the story from 2013's game, it seems likely that it'll round off all of Part I in one sitting.
This leaves the door open for Mazin to tackle Part II in season two, but we're already teased that this could also spill over into a potential season three due to there being more story to cover.
Either way, we know Druckmann and Mazin have no plans to keep the show running forever - which could be taken as a jibe at AMC's The Walking Dead.
We know Abby actor Laura Bailey is keen to return to the role, and even if not for Part III, we're sure HBO could cast her as Abby or find a new role in season two.