I decꦯided to open my red carpet interview with Troy Baker at The BAFTA Game Awards by doling out the deepest of deep cuts, and he warms to me immediately. Long before The Last of Us and BioShock Infinite put him on the map, I remember Bဣaker from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
“I get The Last of Us a lot, or BioShock Infinite and Death Stranding, but it’s some of the unsung ones that I worry about slipping into obscurity,” Baker tells me. “The fact that I’ve been able to be a part of someth𒐪ing that means something to anybody still surprises me.”
Of course, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us has grown into an inescapable behemoth, even more so following the hugely successful HBO adaptation starrಞing Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay - with Baker making a brief appearance in one episode - so it’s interesting to look back on its legacy and whether those involved ever expected such acclaim.
“Not at all,” Baker explains. “As a matter of fact, when I was filming out there for my ౠepisode we were sitting out in the cold by this beautiful river and I’m looking at this fꦬake deer within a very real place, and I just laughed. If I could have gone back 12 years ago to the person who walked into that audition and said, ‘Guess what?’ they never would have believed me.”
Joel would be nothing without Ellie though, with Ashley Johnson’s iconic turn in the role also translating over to the television show as she steps into the shoes of the young girl’s mother. “I knew when I first walked in and saw Ashley there was a spark,” Baker remembers. “And fortunately that spark has grown into a flame and become one of my dearest friends. She has grown into one of the most talented people in this industry, or any industry, and her episod🉐e is utterly heartbreaking. It’s been life-changing, and I still love this industry and want to tell stories in any way that I can, but there’s just something special about The Last of Us.”
While Johnson takes on the role of Ellie’s mother, Baker is a fairly passive cannibal who only really exists for Ellie to drive a meat cleaver into his neck. “I had to look back and ask, ‘Wh๊o on earth is James? Oh yeah, it’s Buddy Boy!’ and I never expected to have a role with some kind of depth to it. I mean, every character in that show does, but I was glad that they gave me something I could reall🔯y do something with.”
There’s also the matter of Joel🥀’s death at the hands of Abby, which if HBO’s dedication to the source material remains, will more than likely open the second season. “I want to see [Joel’s death] again,” Baker admits. “I want people to be able to wrestle with it. I did, and for me it’s a part of that story, it’s the truest version of that story. I know that Craig [Mazin, showrunner] believes in the story we told in the games and we’ll do that. We’ll see how they do it, but I definitely feel that if we made people feel something we did our jobs, and that’s what we’re here to do.”
