‘The Last of Us’ Eugene Mystery Finally Solved in Episode 6: Here’s Who Plays Him
The Last of Us’ latest episode has addressed the mystery that has been teased ever since the second season’s episode 1. Here’s what we know about Eugene now and the actor who portrays him in the HBO series.
There’s only one week left until The Last of Us’ ongoing sophomore season comes to its end, with the show now addressing its most burning questions.
Specifically, the second instalment’s latest episode 6 titled “The Price” clearly understood the assignment, not only delving into the complicated relationships between Joel and Ellie not long before the former’s death, but also shedding the light on the mystery surrounding Eugene’s death and Joel’s involvement in it.
With so far only one physical appearance in the show, Eugene is portrayed by another prominent actor who, apparently, you’ve already seen in lots of famous movies and TV shows.
Joe Pantoliano Is Introduced as Eugene in ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2
Initially teased in the second season’s first episode, Eugene does make a physical appearance in latest episode 6, becoming one of the reasons why Ellie nearly decided to break it all off with Joel forever.
The character is portrayed by Joe Pantoliano, an American actor mostly known for the roles in HBO’s hit crime drama series The Sopranos, Christopher Nolan’s neo-noir psychological thriller Memento and a 1999 hit sci-fi movie The Matrix.
In The Last of Us, Pantoliano finally makes things clear about the mystery behind Eugene’s death that Gail accused Joel of, since the show reveals Eugene was beaten by an infected during his patrol that coincided with Joel and Ellie’s.
As Ellie begs Joel to let Eugene go back to Jackson and say goodbye to his wife Gail, he initially agrees — only to later shoot Eugene once Ellie is out of sight looking for the horses she and Joel came there on.
Already in Jackson, Joel unsuccessfully tries to invent a story for Gail, telling her that Eugene didn’t want to infect her too and even shot himself in desperation, with Ellie interrupting and confronting him for telling lies.
Joe Pantoliano Didn’t Recognize Pedro Pascal Over 20 Years After Their First Meeting
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The actor, who did a pretty small role on the show, shared most of his screen time with Pedro Pascal, a longtime friend he didn’t remember about at some point.
Ahead of the episode’s release on Sunday, Pantoliano recalled having had a bad injury after a car accident which eventually resulted in some memory problems, which completely erased Pedro Pascal from his mind.
As the actor admitted, he was completely confused when Pascal rushed to hug and kiss him, also calling him “Joey Pants”.
“Because even if I didn’t get hit on my head, you see and meet so many people, and you forget, did we work together? Or didn’t we work together? So, he could read [that]. He’s like, “You don’t fucking remember me?! I’ve been to your house, for Christ’s sake! I’ve been to your apartment in Hoboken!” Then he said, “Sam Weisman? The play reading?” Now that Pedro was 21 years old. Skinny kid. I remember him, but 25 years later, there was this whole other person. He pulled up a picture, later in the day. He said, “Look, I have a picture of when we did the reading. Here’s a picture of you and me.” And I was like, Holy Christ, yeah, I remember that guy”, Pantoliano revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair.
When Is ‘The Last of Us’ Next Episode Being Released?
The Last of Us’ second season’s finale will air on Max on May 25.
