Sci-fi streaming shows dominated the list of the most-pirated shows this year, with Pedro Pascal headlining a one-two hit between Last of Us and Mandalorian.
Arguably their characters in The Last of Us and The Mandalorian are relatively similar, at least I thought so, but I have only seen two seasons of The Mandalorian.
The characters are both fatherlike and have PTSD, yeah, but the actual acting? They are entirely different human beings who show different reactions and emotional cadences, where Din’s childhood trauma has him become the savior of himself (Grogu) - there is little anger, mostly fear which is rebuffed by his dedication to his religion, the other thing that saved him. Joel’s fear on the other hand is rebuffed by his anger. Him saving Ellie is something that he almost seems to regret because it makes him that much more afraid, but also fights through it because it’s worth it to have a chance at being a father again. He’s also an older character which he does well and probably helps a bit with that separation.
I’d say yes, the characters have similar aspects to them, but between his portrayal and the wider scope of both characters I think they’re actually quite different. Plus, in Mando he’s legitimately in the costume most of the time so not just him always, just his voice and sometimes body.
Not as a slight against Chris Pratt for this example but compare Starlord to his character in Jurassic Park - besides their backstories how they are portrayed is basically the same, down to how he cries over loss of a loved one. I don’t think it’s entirely his fault, it’s likely a symptom of the industry/writing opportunities/directing but they are pretty stark contrasts. Like for 2 characters to be so wildly different and get portrayed so similarly, compared to the 2 similar father-like characters who are portrayed so differently. When Pascal cries it’s a range from insanity (WW84) to dismay and grief (TLoU) to pain and relief (Mando)
Yeah, I can agree with that. I definitely feel like Joel is quite a lot angrier and scarier than Din, which is a pretty big difference. Joel is also far more reluctant and tries very hard not to be overly caring or become attached to Ellie, which is quite different than how Din acts overall. So, fair enough, I think I feel the same way :). But they are weirdly similar rolls at a surface level at least! I don’t think I’ve seen much of Pedro’s other rolls, but I really liked them as Joel (and Bella as Ellie), felt like they had really good chemistry and it was cool to watch their relationship develop on screen. I didn’t really like The Mandalorian all that much, everything felt a bit… stiff? None of the characters really seemed to stick around that long and it felt kind of like just watching a bunch of different short films. I think that was kind of what they were going for originally, but it felt a bit weird and disjointed with how short the seasons were, and when they started introducing more continuity it just felt like there wasn’t enough of a foundation to really support that to me. Still, it’s a really technically impressive show and they definitely picked some really hard problems to solve. Just having your main character always wear a mask and the other main character being a weird alien baby makes it a lot harder to convey emotion and stuff, so it’s impressive how well they handled all of that!
One of the few actors to actually have differentiation between his characters.
Who he is on The Bubble vs. WW84 vs. TLoU vs. The Mandalorian are all very different, much moreso than many of the “repeat cast” actors.
Arguably their characters in The Last of Us and The Mandalorian are relatively similar, at least I thought so, but I have only seen two seasons of The Mandalorian.
The characters are both fatherlike and have PTSD, yeah, but the actual acting? They are entirely different human beings who show different reactions and emotional cadences, where Din’s childhood trauma has him become the savior of himself (Grogu) - there is little anger, mostly fear which is rebuffed by his dedication to his religion, the other thing that saved him. Joel’s fear on the other hand is rebuffed by his anger. Him saving Ellie is something that he almost seems to regret because it makes him that much more afraid, but also fights through it because it’s worth it to have a chance at being a father again. He’s also an older character which he does well and probably helps a bit with that separation.
I’d say yes, the characters have similar aspects to them, but between his portrayal and the wider scope of both characters I think they’re actually quite different. Plus, in Mando he’s legitimately in the costume most of the time so not just him always, just his voice and sometimes body.
Not as a slight against Chris Pratt for this example but compare Starlord to his character in Jurassic Park - besides their backstories how they are portrayed is basically the same, down to how he cries over loss of a loved one. I don’t think it’s entirely his fault, it’s likely a symptom of the industry/writing opportunities/directing but they are pretty stark contrasts. Like for 2 characters to be so wildly different and get portrayed so similarly, compared to the 2 similar father-like characters who are portrayed so differently. When Pascal cries it’s a range from insanity (WW84) to dismay and grief (TLoU) to pain and relief (Mando)
Yeah, I can agree with that. I definitely feel like Joel is quite a lot angrier and scarier than Din, which is a pretty big difference. Joel is also far more reluctant and tries very hard not to be overly caring or become attached to Ellie, which is quite different than how Din acts overall. So, fair enough, I think I feel the same way :). But they are weirdly similar rolls at a surface level at least! I don’t think I’ve seen much of Pedro’s other rolls, but I really liked them as Joel (and Bella as Ellie), felt like they had really good chemistry and it was cool to watch their relationship develop on screen. I didn’t really like The Mandalorian all that much, everything felt a bit… stiff? None of the characters really seemed to stick around that long and it felt kind of like just watching a bunch of different short films. I think that was kind of what they were going for originally, but it felt a bit weird and disjointed with how short the seasons were, and when they started introducing more continuity it just felt like there wasn’t enough of a foundation to really support that to me. Still, it’s a really technically impressive show and they definitely picked some really hard problems to solve. Just having your main character always wear a mask and the other main character being a weird alien baby makes it a lot harder to convey emotion and stuff, so it’s impressive how well they handled all of that!