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The Last Of Us 2--Here's Who Star Troy Baker Would Like To See Play Joel On TV

The actor who plays Joel in the games speaks about who should play him on TV.

20 Comments

HBO is making a Last of Us TV show, but so far, there is no word on casting for the lead roles of Joel and Ellie. Actor Troy Baker, who plays Joel in the video games, has now weighed in with his thoughts on who might be a good choice to step into Joel's shoes.

Speaking to Collider, Baker said veteran actor Josh Brolin is a "knockout choice" for the role--but he's not sure if Brolin would necessarily be the right person for the part.

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"I think on its face, literally, Josh Brolin would be a knockout choice, but I don't know if I would walk away learning something different about Joel," Baker said.

Baker went on to say that he had a drunken evening with Brolin some time ago where he mentioned to Brolin that he would be "honored" if Brolin would consider playing Joel. "I was like, 'If you ever get the call for a character named Joel, I would be honored and I think you would be enriched to play that character,'" Baker recalled.

No matter who ends up being cast as Joel in the HBO show, Baker said he comes out a winner.

"Either A) Somebody steps into that role. And [I'll be] like, 'Damn, dude, I never thought about that, wow, what an interesting choice.' Or B) They suck, and people go, 'Only Troy can play Joel,'" Baker said. "So either way I win."

The Last of Us TV show at HBO is coming from writer-director of the games, Neil Druckmann, and Chernobyl's Craig Mazin.

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UrbanMessiah

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So Thanos as Joel, eh? Interesting...although with makeup and special effects at the level they are, why can't Baker play Joel?

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RestatBonfire

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Gerard Butler.

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Ulargrind

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think they should hire Sean Bean. It will suit him perfectly!!

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UrbanMessiah

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@ulargrind: lol! Nice one...

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Asultana121x

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Druckmann writing the show has me concerned after what he's become nowadays........

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Gamerforlife96

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@asultana121x: too much soy man too much soy

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lionhartwolf

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Im pretty sure that movie already came out. It was called Logan, and Hugh Jackman did a pretty good job. The writers got the mutation thing mixed up though. They for some reason thought Joel and Ellie were the only two who were mutated instead of it being literally everybody else...

Oh wait. My mistake that was an Xmen movie that just looked exactly like TLoU. I mix those up all the time. I meant to say Viggo Mortenson. He was the one who played Joel, but the writers accidentally thought Ellie was a boy...

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Doomerang

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Edited By Doomerang

@lionhartwolf: My issue with TLOU2 is that it focused more on being "art" first and "game" second. The devs don't seem to realize that the sales are because the game's riding on the coattails of the first game and that not making a good game could end up jeopardizing the franchise as a whole (the same thing happened with Mass Effect 3).

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Pyrosa

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@lionhartwolf: Perfectly, absolutely perfectly, said.

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sippio

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Why is Gaming media pretending TLOU2 is the game the paid reviews claimed it to be??

I hope the paycheck was worth The credibility hit..

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Cikatriz_ESP

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Edited By Cikatriz_ESP

@sippio: I feel bad for you people, because you’re so bitter you won’t allow yourselves to enjoy something. Then I remember you’re all probably terrible people anyway and I feel a little bit better.

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Blev08

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Edited By Blev08

@Cikatriz_ESP:

Potential minor spoilers:

For me, it's hard to get behind a game where everyone would have been better off just going home and doing nothing. The story just felt needlessly dark, brutal, and pointless, and maybe that was the point there were trying to make. I dunno, but it is hard to enjoy a game like that for me these days, and it definitely wasn't the follow up I was looking for after the first game.

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Asultana121x

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@Cikatriz_ESP:

We're not bitter, we just are pointing out a massive injustice that is occurring far too often these days in the gaming and entertainment business now. Marxist ideology has infiltrated everything now and has ruined it.

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Doomerang

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@asultana121x: That... that's being bitter. You're even injecting political crap into it and claiming it's in everything. I don't like TLOU2 myself, but at least I haven't convinced myself that EVERYTHING is so bad that it's ok to be bitter about literally everything.

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Asultana121x

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@Doomerang: it is in everything now. You either don't understand it, don't belive in it, or you support it which makes you part of the problem.

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Nabinator

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How can you be a knockout choice for the role, but not the right person for the part? Someone explain that to me. Is knockout just going on fame and skill only?

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Doomerang

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Edited By Doomerang

@nabinator: Because Troy's saying HE thinks the guy's perfect for the role, but is acknowledging that he might be wrong. Given how anal some internet readers are, it's not that surprising that he's covering his bases.

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Pyrosa

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@Doomerang: You forgot the obligatory complimenting among actors in interviews...

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Doomerang

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Edited By Doomerang

@Pyrosa: Well I mean, I think it would make things more socially awkward if you don't say anything nice in an interview about someone you work with lol. Memes are made with even less than that (looking at you, sad Affleck).

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