’The Last of Us Creators On Pedro Pascal’s Emotionally Draining Scene With Catherine O’Hara

Joel’s secret is still haunting him — and now, in The Last of Us Season 2, it’s unraveling in one of the most quietly devastating scenes the show has delivered yet. Sitting across from Catherine O’Hara’s sharp-tongued but compassionate therapist, Joel (Pedro Pascal) finally comes face to face with the guilt he’s buried deep since the Season 1 finale, but he’s still defiant in the face of everything. In the official HBO podcast for The Last of Us, series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann opened up about the episode’s emotionally charged therapy sequence — and why Pascal’s performance offers more with as few words as possible than it ever could with a three page monologue.

“Joel’s emotions are connected to Ellie. What he is struggling with is the fact that she’s pulling away from him, and he doesn’t really see — claims to not know why,” Mazin explained. “And we can see this. I mean, part of this episode is a little bit of a mystery. What is going on with the two of them?”

Pascal’s portrayal of Joel is as closed-off as ever until therapist Gail (O’Hara) presses him on what’s really eating away at him, and even offers her own secret — that she hates him for killing her infected husband, even though she knows he had no choice. She can’t forgive him. This opens the door for Joel to do the same, but…

“What he’s terrified of is that the rift is because she knows or has figured out what he did. But when you see him stand up and say, ‘I saved her,’ what’s clear is he has no regrets about what he did.”

Catherine O’Hara Was Cast In a Dramatic Role Because She’s So Funny

For O’Hara, best known for her iconic comedic roles, the scene was a chance to show a different kind of emotional gravity — and the showrunners couldn’t have been more thrilled with her casting.

“I am a big believer in the Vince Gilligan theory that comic actors make the best dramatic actors,” Mazin said. “There is a depth of humanity to funny people that is often discounted or overlooked. And Catherine O’Hara has done dramatic roles before, not too many… but there is a depth and soul to her that is so obvious.”

The entire scene is a masterclass in restraint, with Gail gently urging Joel to confront the truth out loud — and Joel barely keeping it together under the weight of what he’s done. “Say the thing you’re afraid to say,” O’Hara’s character urges in the episode. “I can help you. Say it out loud, no matter what it is… I promise I will help.”

Joel isn’t ready to say it just yet, but Season 2 is just getting started, and there’s time to reflect, but he’d better be quick about it, because a new threat looms on the horizon.

The Last of Us Season 2 airs every Sunday at 9PM on HBO.

The Last Of Us

Release Date

January 15, 2023

Network

HBO

Showrunner

Craig Mazin

Directors

Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado

Writers

Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin

Source: The Last of Us Podcast