'The Last of Us' Episode 6 director Jasmila Zbanic reveals emotional Pedro Pascal was 'crying' after each retake
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: HBO Max's 'The Last of Us' is surprising the audience with each new episode and the series has successfully managed to leave viewers in an emotional state, particularly in the last three episodes. The same is the case for the recently released sixth episode of the series, which is titled 'Kin'. 'Kin' is directed by Jasmila Zbanic and in a recent interview, Zbanic has given a closer look into the episode. She revealed the emotional process that Pedro Pascal went through while shooting the iconic scene.
The sixth episode of 'The Last of Us' showed us Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) and Joel (played by Pascal) escaping the Kansas City and reaching the thriving town of Jackson, where the estranged brothers, Joel and Tommy (played by Gabriel Luna) reunite. 'Kin' has successfully recreated several iconic moments from the game, including the heavy conversation between the brothers. The conversation shows a teary-eyed Joel confessing to Tommy about the losses and pain that he has endured. Joel asks his brother to protect Ellie as he feels he is no longer capable of it.
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'I was amazed by Pedro’s talent'
In a recent interview with Variety, director Zbanic opened up about the process that went through to make episode six. She recalled the extremely cold conditions on set, which were almost at -15° C. Then Zbanic opened up about the brothers' conversation scene. The director noted that it was a long scene and it was particularly emotional for Luna. They filmed the portions of Gabriel first and Pascal, second. And during each retake, Zbanic said that she saw Pascal crying, even though he wasn't on camera.
Pascal merely did it to give Luna everything he can to act. Zbanic was so impressed by this move of Pascal and admitted her amazement over his impeccable talent. "I noticed that each time we repeated, Pedro was crying. He was not on camera, but he was crying because he was giving his partner everything so that he can act. This is very special. It’s so generous of an actor to do this so deep. I was amazed by Pedro’s talent," said director Zbanic.
Perfected with every try
This significant scene was not done easily. Zbanic recalled that the scene was rehearsed numerous times and remarked that both the actors would read it, act, repeat and try different stuff. Zbanic also went on to add that both Pascal and Luna suggested some changes to delve deeper into emotions so they did justice to the characters they were playing.
This scene showed how Joel feels in a deeper and more grounded way as he opened up about his recurring nightmare and revealed his fear of losing someone. This emotional scene serves as a key moment for the show as it showed his concern over Ellie's life. The sixth episode ended with a cliffhanger, where Joel is being stabbed and a shocked Ellie tries to wake him up.
The first six episodes of 'The Last of Us' are streaming exclusively on HBO Max.
