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Update – Marhershala Ali Won’t Play Joel In The Last Of Us HBO Series, But He Was Circled For The Role

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Update 11/02/21 03:55 – Pedro Pascal has been cast as Joel Miller in the HBO series. Read the full story here.

Update 11/02/21 00:50 – The Hollywood Reported in the process of reporting that Bella Ramsey will be playing Ellie has also confirmed that Mahershala Ali won’t be playing Joel in the show, but that he was circled for the role, “but a deal never came to fruition.” The full statement is as follows:

One person not involved with the show is former True Detective star Mahershala Ali, whom geek websites on Wednesday had pegged as having an offer. Ali did circle the role, say sources, but a deal ever came to fruition.

Original Story – The Illuminendri is reporting that Mahershala Ali (Blade, True Detective, Moonlight) has been offered the role of Joel in the series, but right now the rumor doesn’t hold a lot of weight behind it.

Ali reportedly has the role locked in for himself and all he has to do is sign the contract he has been offered. This is a fascinating development and will mean that the producers behind the show will change the race of Joel. However, this ultimately doesn’t make a difference to the narrative and structure of the story as The Last of Us is a show about personal connection and growing to love someone and has nothing to do with his race.

Ali is a well-respected actor and has one a number of awards, including two Oscars. He has produced some of the best performances in recent years and is set to star in Marvel’s upcoming reboot of Blade.

Keep in mind though that this isn’t confirmed by an official Hollywood Trade right now and so it should be taken as a rumour and nothing more. The Illuminendri also doesn’t have any previous track record of scoops or big reveals when it comes films that we can see so, as of now, this is all speculation. Ali would certainly fit the role though.

The show is set to enter production at some point in the future and Neil Druckmann and Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin are leading development with Kantemir Bagaalov set to direct the pilot. The show which is reportedly set to enter production sometime soon will apparently feature a moment that was cut from the original game, likely adding a new twist or aspect to the viewing experience.

Source – [The Illuminendri]