Pedro Pascal Forgot He Landed His Biggest Role After Taking Drugs

Pedro Pascal says he forgot he had been offered the role Joel in The Last of Us after taking Ambien to help him sleep.

By Douglas Helm | Published

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Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in The Last of Us

Pedro Pascal seems to only take top-notch roles when it comes to his TV shows, but he actually almost forgot that he nabbed the gig to play Joel Miller in The Last of Us. Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Pascal talked about how he was in London having late-night calls with executive producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann about potentially playing Joel. However, he got so excited from the conversations that he took an Ambien to fall asleep and forgot that they called him afterward to tell him he got the part.

Luckily, Pedro Pascal got a text congratulating him on the part the next morning, so he was able to remember his conversation from the night before. We’re all fortunate he did get the part, because Pascal is doing a fantastic job in the highly acclaimed show so far. Although we’re only three episodes into HBO’s The Last of Us, every episode has been fantastic and well-reviewed by critics, new fans, and video game fans alike.

HBO’s The Last of Us is based on the video game of the same name, which follows a man named Joel and a young girl named Ellie as the navigate a post-apocaplytic world ravaged by a fungal pandemic. Joel reluctantly agrees to bring Ellie from Boston to the West Coast after learning that she has an unexplained immunity to the virus. While the roles were played by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson in the games, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey take on the roles in live-action.

Along with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us stars Anna Torv, Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, Nico Parker, Gabriel Luna, Storm Reid, Merle Dandridge, and more. The success of the first three episodes of the show led HBO to already greenlight a second season of the series. While it was always assumed that a second season would come out, since there’s The Last of Us: Part Two video game, it was always going to be dependent on people tuning in for the first season.

the last of us pedro pascal
Pedro Pascal in The Last of Us

Fortunately, The Last of Us is knocking it out of the park and might just be the best video game adaptaion yet. It’s rare that a video game adaptation pleases people who have never played the games and dedicated fans of the game alike, but this series is pulling it off so far. If you’re wanting to catch up, you can stream the first three episodes on HBO Max and tune in for new episodes on Sundays.

Pedro Pascal also happens to have the starring role in The Mandalorian, another one of the biggest shows on TV (streaming). We won’t have to wait long until we see him return to the world of Star Wars, as the third season is set to premiere on Disney+ on March 1. The third season will see Din Djarin returning to Mandalore with his young ward Grogu to try and right some of the wrongs of his past.

It’s hard to know how Pedro Pascal could escalate his career further, as starring in a huge video game adaptation and a Star Wars show at the same time is pretty impressive. Perhaps a major role in the MCU could be next? Stay tuned for more news on Pascal and his latest projects.