The Last of Us’ Troy Baker tells us how to make your death scene count

polygon.com:

Troy Baker has always been a true believer. Most people know him for his work as a prolific voice actor, and his career-defining role as Joel from the PlayStation games The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part 2. But the games’ fan community can also count him as one of its most prominent members — from day one, there have been few bigger Last of Us stans than he.

Baker, like many who love the story kicked off by Naughty Dog’s 2013 video game, fully believes that The Last of Us is “one of the greatest stories ever told,” both for the plight of its human characters and for the way that it brought a uniquely immersive and cinematic texture to big-budget video games, effectively changing them forever.

When The Last of Us made the leap to HBO, Baker was looking forward to making the transition to 100% fan, watching from “the stands,” as he put it. But then he got the call to once again be a part of Joel and Ellie’s story — this time as James, the right-hand man of a preacher with dark secrets.

In a Zoom interview from Los Angeles, Baker talked to Polygon about handing the reins over, his conflicted new character, and how to make your one and only death scene count.

Polygon: So, before the show, how did you describe The Last of Us to people?

Troy Baker: Kind of the same way that I would after the show came out. I think that The Last of Us is one of the greatest stories ever told. And the reason why is because it’s not about you know, infected. It’s not about post-apocalypse, it’s not about survival horror, it’s a story about love, and what love looks like in this world, and how terrifying that is. So to me, it’s been one of the greatest games ever, because everything about the game was inspired by the story.

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