With HBO's adaptation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us franchise into a TV series, the biggest question on fans' minds is: Who is going to play Joel? The original voice actor for the character, Troy Baker, has now thrown in his hat, claiming what kind of a role he would like to see himself in if he's ever approached to appear in the HBO The Last of Us series.
Baker's latest opinion came as part of a livestream on YouTube on his channel Relater - Troy Baker, as the actor was discussing a number of promotional shots about the upcoming Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland. While most of the discussion did revolve around the few released set photos and promotional shots, Baker did elaborate on a few related topics from his career, comparing the Uncharted production to HBO's The Last of Us.
According to Baker, who has been asked before if he would want to reprise one of his most famous voice roles of his career for the series, he would prefer a smaller part in HBO's The Last of Us series. Claiming that he would rather be an infected within the series, rather than a major character, Baker states, "I wanna be blown up by Joel." He also throws up a few other options, such as a grizzled character who might meet an unfortunate fate, but the way he describes it, Baker would likely rather not take up too much screen time on his own and let the new cast take over.
Baker has previously voiced his pick for Joel in the HBO series, making it clear that he is more than willing to pass on the torch to another actor who can explore new facets of the character. This is especially reflected in the way the voice actor comments on the Uncharted production and what he hopes to see coming from Tom Holland's new take on Nathan Drake. Either way, Baker has made it clear that he is excited for what is going on with the upcoming The Last of Us series and how HBO's production is moving forward.
Overall, fans are mixed on HBO's The Last of Us adaptation thanks to how film and series adaptations from video games have been received by critics and audiences in the past. However, if some of Baker's hopes are realized, then this may be a completely new look at Naughty Dog's series. Hopefully Baker's cameo should be a nice decoration to a series as compelling as the games it is adapting, however large or small his role may be.
HBO's The Last of Us is currently in production.