Before actor Pedro Pascal signed on to play Joel in HBO's The Last of Us, he called his sister to ask for advice. Unbeknownst to him, her children were in the car, and their input seemingly helped Pascal be convinced he should take the part.

In a roundtable video interview with co-star Bella Ramsey, writers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, and PlayStation Productions boss Asad Qizilbash, Pascal recalled the events surrounding his casting. He said he called his sister, who was taking her children to school, and was on speakerphone when his nephews chimed in to express their excitement about it.

"I didn't even know they were in the car. I was like, 'I've been having a conversation about this amazing job, it's based on a video game, actually, and it's called The La...'"