by The Last of Us (TLOU) has become one of the most important series of 2023, this production has managed to offer a more shocking and human look at the plot offered by the successful video game that was released as an exclusive title for PlayStation 3 in 2013.
The HBO series has become an opportunity to better understand the traits of the different characters that appear in the story created by the Naughty Dog studio.
With two episodes to go before the first season of this blockbuster ends, Sklaper.com had the opportunity to speak with Jeffrey Pierce, an actor who gave his voice to play the character Tommy, Joel’s brother, in the first and second parts of the video game and is now part of the cast of the series based on the game.
Pierce commented that The Last of Us it gave him an incredible experience, from the moment he entered the recording booth along with the sensations he experienced while playing both video games and he even assured that both titles were absolutely perfect due to the sensations he received.
For this reason, re-entering the TLOU universe represented a path that exceeded all his expectations and stirred many of the emotions that arose after his participation in the videogames that were made years ago.
Pierce revealed to Sklaper.com that it was very impressive to learn how the process was to recreate all the scenarios, especially since it involved recreating various areas of a city. and actually everything was done in a parking lot that was adapted to record the scenes.
In fact, the actor revealed that many of the visual effects used in the production of the series were based on practical tricks and not everything was generated through computer animation, a factor that made his experience much more special during the filming of the episodes in where your character appeared.
“If there is any use of CGI, it was mostly with the sky, everything else is with other techniques and that was incredible. They made 15 or 20 houses that they built like frames and then they gave them a real façade, but then everything burned down and the only thing that was left was the scene of a fire, everything was done with great detail,” the artist recounted.
In that sense, Jeffrey Pierce highlighted the precision that the production team had to create the perfect places to develop each scene and thus tell the story with great beauty.
“I think the success that the series has had is due to its artistic sense, it has worked with that courage and I love that from Neil Druckmann (the creator of the series), because he has had the courage to do something that pleases him as artist,” Price said.
“Being part of something that took love, sweat and blood to build it is something you should honor and for that it was a really special experience, I assure you.”added the actor.
The series changed the perspective that people have towards the video game
Jeffrey Pierce stated that the series has achieved something very interesting by offering such a powerful story that it managed to captivate those who have never played the games in the saga and while again connecting with the people who lived Joel’s journey a couple of years ago and Ellie through the video game.
“The idea is also that people who have not played the game before, who may have never been interested in the title, say, ok, I would like to experience that first person. They will have the opportunity to do something that no one has done before.”.
In fact, Pierce told Sklaper.com that at this moment Naughty Dog and PlayStation are not ruling out a third installment for The Last Of UsHowever, the actor indicated that it would be a title that offered a new vision of a world destroyed by a fungal apocalypse.
In addition, he pointed out that the game would have new mechanics to be able to experience the threat of the infected and relationships with other characters in a different way than what has been seen so far.
However, the American actor and novelist did not confirm if The Last of Us Part 3 is a project that is officially in development or if it is just an idea that is only being explored for now.
On the other hand, Pierce stated that he feels great gratitude to the fans of TLOU and confessed that at no time has he felt pressured by the fans, because they have provided “encouragement, generosity, and affection.”
“I haven’t felt any pressure for the role that I did, and certainly knowing the scope of the show it was great for me not to have such a momentous role. I just had to show up and not be mean. Obviously, Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Melanie Lynskey and everyone else that’s there, they’re at a very high level and they made it very easy for me, therefore the pressure was not on my shoulders.”
Finally, Jeffrey Pierce stressed that the script for the series endowed the characters in the series with great complexity, since their decisions carry great weight and this helps the public reflect on their own morality in difficult situations.
The artist referred to the events that occur in episode 5, where his character ends up paying the price for collaborating in a revenge that ended up destroying everything he and his community had.
The creators are really interested in a narrative that shows the idea that there are not necessarily good or bad people. It’s the things we do, the choices we make have value.
