Troy Baker Reveals Something Fans Probably Didn’t Notice in Episode 8 of ‘The Last of Us’
Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) face a new monster in episode 8 of The Last of Us. Fans of the PlayStation game likely noticed Troy Baker, the original voice actor for Joel, who plays James, one of the cannibals in the Mar. 5 episode of the HBO series. In an interview, the actor points out a moment in “When We Are in Need” The Last of Us fans might not have noticed that says a lot about his character. Find out what you might have overlooked regarding James.
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead regarding episode 8 of The Last of Us “When We Are in Need.”
Joel voice actor becomes an otherwise overlooked cannibal James in ‘The Last of Us’
Baker wasn’t sure he would appear in the live-action series based on the PlayStation game of the same name. But when showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann asked him to play James, Baker responded, “Oh, dude, thank you. Who’s James?” (via Vulture).
James is a member of the cannibalistic group of survivors Ellie encounters while she’s in search of food for a wounded Joel. The character only has a few lines in the Naughty Dog game, but the HBO series expands on James, the right-hand man of David (Scott Shepherd), a religious man and leader of a group of starving people.
“That’s what I love about this story,” Baker elaborated to Vulture. “We have the opportunity to explore characters who may have been looked over in the game — characters who perform their function well but don’t necessarily do anything to move the story forward.”
James neglects to pray in episode 8 of ‘The Last of Us’
David’s group of unknowing cannibals trust their leader, who relies heavily on religion to lead his people. Whatever David says goes, but Baker says James is much more of a “pragmatist.” He sees that David has elevated himself to a “position of tyrannical oppressor using religion and hope” — one who “weaponizes that in order to assume control of people.”
As David points out in “When We Are in Need,” he turned to religion after the Cordyceps changed the world. “… Which is either the best time or the worst time to find him,” he says.
David may be able to control his group using religion, but James sees right through it, which is demonstrated in an otherwise unsuspecting scene. “There’s this wonderful moment that I don’t think anybody will see when we’re in the dining hall and David is leading everyone in prayer,” Baker revealed. “James is the only one who doesn’t pray.”
Despite the actor’s directions to pray in the scene, Baker insisted otherwise. “This guy doesn’t pray,” he said. “He thinks it’s all bulls***,” he added. “[James thinks] ‘I’ll go along, and I’ll do what I have to do — I’ll take my hat off on Sunday morning when we walk in — but I am here to do whatever it takes to protect these people and protect myself.'”
Cannibals in ‘The Last of Us’ nor religion define James — he’s a survivor
While on the hunt for Ellie in episode 8 of The Last of Us, James says it might be “God’s will” that she’s alone in the wilderness and unable to feed herself. Knowing how strapped his community is for food, James’ comment highlights his survival instinct — the defining quality of his character.
“When he says that maybe leaving Ellie is God’s will, that’s him trying to use David’s position against him,” Baker explained. If they find her, Ellie becomes another mouth to feed. James also senses Ellie will take his place as David’s right-hand man (David wants her to become more, but that’s a different story). As Baker explained to Vulture, James would be “damned if [he] let that happen.”
But James wasn’t willing to go to the same lengths as David to get his way.”He doesn’t want to kill her; he doesn’t want to eat her,” Baker said. “He just wants her gone.”
In the end, Ellie gets her way and kills James and David before “When We Are In Need” ends. Watch The Last of Us on HBO and HBO Max.
