One of the coolest things about The Last of Us has been seeing the video game actors playing different characters. For instance, Episode 8 brought in original Joel actor Troy Baker as James, a man who has been helping a preacher feed their group with human remains. So how is filming the live-action series different from working on the Naughty Dog title? Baker weighed in on the difference between the show and the game.
Troy Baker recently spoke to GamesRadar about working on The Last of Us and not surprisingly, he discussed the main differences between filming for the game and the live-action show.
"It’s a commerce of trust. If I'm on the set of The Last of Us game, there's a different set of resources that are given to me that are entrusted to me. I have a motion capture stage, I have a motion capture suit, and I have a camera that's on my head. I have rudimentary props, so there's a lot of imagination, but they're trusting me to use the resources that I have to be able to effectively bring that character to life and make you as the player feel something," he said.
"Hopefully this will kind of shine a light on the hard work that people in games do," Baker continued. "But [The Last of Us TV show] is not the template because this is such a remarkable thing."
He added, "It's not just like, oh, we should now adapt games into shows. That is a reductive way to look at this because this has taken a remarkable story that presented itself in one medium that did phenomenally well. And then it's the attachment of that creator with another creator who's passionate about the game and trying to stay true to the original intent of the game in a different medium."
Baker addressed that having a budget for the live-action series also made things easier.
"They're given a lot of money to do that. So it's all of those ingredients that are what make this thing possible. But at the end of the day, what Craig [Mazin] says is so great: we like to focus on what we're thinking and what we're feeling, and do that as honestly as possible. And he gave me a great note one time about writing," he stated. "He said, don't try to be clever, just be honest. And that's what they're doing in every episode. We're just being honest. And I think that's why this story is resonating with a whole new audience."
Working on the video game was truly something special but so is being a part of the TV show. Needless to say, we're glad that Troy Baker had the chance to work on both.
Troy Baker appears in The Last of Us Episode 8 which is now streaming on HBO Max.
Related: The Last of Us Episode 9 Preview Teases Heartbreaking Conclusion
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!