Principled Stand: Pedro Pascal Has Walked Off HBO’s ‘The Last Of Us’ After Realizing It’s Not The Kind Of Game That Involves Collecting Orbs

Ever since HBO announced The Last Of Us would be coming to the network as a series, fans have been waiting with bated breath to learn whether or not this would finally be the title that broke the curse of video game adaptations. Thankfully, a new development on the set shows that the cast and crew are handling Naughty Dog’s iconic series with the reverence it deserves: Series lead and acclaimed actor Pedro Pascal just stormed out of a scene after realizing The Last Of Us is not the kind of game that involves collecting coins or orbs.

Now, this is the kind of commitment to video game excellence we like to see!

“Obviously, we understand that Pedro is upset about the lack of gem collection in The Last Of Us and we want to do everything in our power to make that right,” said showrunner Craig Mazin, noting that the actor had been settling nicely into the role of hardened survivor Joel Miller before the onscreen outburst led to him cursing out his co-star Bella Ramsey and rushing into his trailer. “In the past few weeks, he kept asking when Joel would start picking up tokens or golden bananas to spend on upgrades. The cast and crew mostly just kept quiet, and hoped he would figure out that it wasn’t that sort of game.”

“Unfortunately, now he’s locked in his trailer and won’t leave until we write up a new episode where his character has to go through a portal and grab as many colorful stars as he can during a timed period,” he continued.

Despite attempts to explain the mature themes and realistic narrative of The Last Of Us, Pascal has reportedly grown increasingly enraged at the show’s producers for failing to take his advice that Joel and Ellie at least spend part of the pilot traveling to a lava or ice world, where they could gather “some sort of fire rubies or icicle emeralds or something” to progress in a side quest. Sources within the production team added that soon thereafter Pascal could be heard smashing his mirror and hurling obscenities at the makeup team for declining to make him look like a “real video game character” by outfitting his character with a giant prosthetic head and large white gloves.

Whether you agree with his tactics, gamers, you’ve got to respect Pascal for sticking to his guns! The A-lister believes all video game adaptations should feature their protagonists charging through thousands of gems, and that holds true whether the source material features Spyro the Dragon, Gex the Gecko, or bereft father Joel Miller. So here’s to you, Pedro Pascal! Even if your principled stand means The Last Of Us is delayed indefinitely, we can never get enough people with backbone representing the gaming world!

The Onion