“I’m a little drunk,” Pedro Pascal announced at the Screen Actors Guild Awards Saturday night. The actor took the stage to collect the award for male actor in a drama series, a likely surprise given expectations that Kieran Culkin would be taking home the prize for his work on Succession. Instead, it was the star of The Last of Us at the dais, where he ended his acceptance speech with “I’m going to have a panic attack and I’m going to leave.” But after that speech, he had to run the press gauntlet, where he spilled just a few beans about the next season of the blockbuster HBO show.
The second season of the prestige video game adaptation started shooting in Vancouver on February 12, Deadline reports, and “filming is going amazing,” said its tequila-infused star.
Pedro Pascal, winner of the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series award for ‘The Last of Us’ poses in the press room during the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on February 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Monica Schipper
“It’s sort of awe-inspiring the kind of focus and dedication that everyone has going into season two,” Pascal said.
“Stepping into those boots again, it feels strangely brand new,” he said of his character. “I’ve never done anything like this before that has such original authorship before I ever got to it.”
Pascal is likely referring to the game that preceded the HBO adaptation, which thus far has been remarkably faithful to the originating material. Will the same be true in season two? At the risk of spoilers, I’ll just note that some fans might be hoping that series co-creator/executive producer Craig Mazin advocates for some significant changes.
Pascal wasn’t giving details like that up, however, but did say that on the set of the series, “learning something new every day, and I’ll be thinking about it probably for the rest of my life.” It will still be a while before we see what Pascal has learned, as last May, HBO Head of Drama Francesca Orsi told Deadline that the network doesn’t expect to release the second season of The Last of Us until some time in 2025.
Jeremy Allen White, winner of the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series awards for ‘”The Bear” poses in the press room at the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on February 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Gilbert Flores/Getty Images
Pascal wasn’t the only SAG winner who faced questions about their show Saturday night. Jeremy Allen White, who won this year’s outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series award for his role as Carmen “Carmy” Barzotto in The Bear, also offered some insights into the lauded show’s next season.
White already told us that in the show’s third season, “we’re going to go back to that functioning kitchen atmosphere that we had in the first,” so he was prepping by spending more time with real-life chefs. Now that production is underway, White is mulling what viewers should learn in season three.
“What I want people to take away or understand, to me, the show is so much about loneliness and how to combat that,” White told the press following his SAG win. “How to find belonging, how to communicate, and how to connect. I hope those who watch it and enjoy it feel less alone. I think a lot of the show is about found family and the connection we all are always searching for.”
