Pedro Pascal breaks his silence on Joel’s shocking death in The Last of Us season 2

Pedro Pascal has spoken candidly about the emotional toll of Joel's tragic passing in season two of The Last of Us. The actor recently talked about the difficulty of saying goodbye to the part, acknowledging that he is still processing the loss and is in "active denial" about what happened to his character even though he was aware of it when he signed the show.

Pedro Pascal reacts to Joel’s shocking death in The Last of Us season 2

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Pedro Pascal opened up about his emotional response to Joel’s death in The Last of Us season 2. He revealed, “I’m in active denial,” admitting that he struggles to accept the end of such a significant chapter. “I realise this more and more as I get older, I find myself slipping into denial that anything is over,” he said.

Pascal reflected on the deep connections he formed during the show, acknowledging that while those bonds remain, the experience of playing Joel is something he’ll never have again. “I know that I’m forever bonded to so many members of the experience and just have to see them under different circumstances, but never will under the circumstances of playing Joel on The Last of Us,” he shared.

He also confessed that he avoids thinking about Joel’s fate too often. “No, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it because it makes me sad,” Pascal added.

Why did makers pick episode 2 for Joel’s death plot?

The HBO show's creative team determined that Season 2 Episode 2 was the ideal time to depict the "fu**ing horrible" moment of Joel's death on television, as series co-creator Craig Mazin stated in an interview with Variety.

Craig Mazin, a co-creator of the series, discussed the difficulty of coping with Joel's death in season two of The Last of Us, stressing the necessity of narrative over shock factor.

“If people know it’s coming, they will start to feel tormented. And people who don’t know it’s coming are going to find out it’s coming, because people are going to talk about the fact that it hasn’t shown up yet,” he said.?

They wanted to make sure the scene seemed natural in the story.

For those who don’t know, The Last Of Us has been renewed for season 3.?