‘The Last of Us’ Creator Spoke to Matthew McConaughey About Joel Casting: ‘It Would’ve Been Great,’ But ‘I Like the One We Made’

For 10-year-old actor Keivonn Woodard, life is nothing but net. Literally. As the Emmy nominations were read on Wednesday morning, Woodard was at a basketball summer camp program while his mother, April Jackson, was at home watching her son make television history.

HBO’s The Last Of Us is gearing up for what could be a very successful awards season. This TV adaptation of Naughty Dog’s former Game Of The Year Award winner has been a huge hit and it’s really showing. TLOU could have a nice clean sweep in a wide range of categories.

HBO had another great Emmy nomination morning with big hauls for series such as Succession, The Last Of Us, The White Lotus and Barry.

The Last Of Us is a beloved franchise, and a Part 3 is inevitable. Both previous titles have been massive hits for Sony and Naughty Dog. Interests in the franchise spiked earlier this year as HBO Max and Neil Druckmann nailed the TV adaptation of TLOU Part 1.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director When thinking of the most important movie in Robert Downey Jr.’s filmography over the last 25 years, one might naturally assume the answer is “Iron Man,” the 2008 superhero tentpole that launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe and changed the blockbuster landscape in Hollywood. But that’s not the movie Downey Jr. himself would pick. In a new interview with The New York Times Magazine, the Oscar nominee cited 2006’s “The Shaggy Dog” and 2020’s infamous “Dolittle” flop as his most important titles. “I finished the Marvel contract and then hastily went into what had all the promise of being another big, fun, well-executed potential franchise in ‘Dolittle,'” Downey Jr. said. “I had some reservations. Me and my team seemed a little too excited about the deal and not quite excited enough about the merits of the execution. But at that point I was bulletproof. I was the guru of all genre movies. Honestly, the two most important films I’ve done in the last 25 years are ‘The Shaggy Dog,’ because that was the film that got Disney saying they would insure me. Then the second most important film was ‘Doolittle,’ because ‘Dolittle’ was a two-and-a-half-year wound of squandered opportunity.”

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves' oldest son has reached a cool new milestone!On Friday, in honor of their son, Levi's, 15th birthday, the proud parents gave him an official welcome to Instagram. In a video, shared on both McConaughey and Alves' respective accounts, the duo said that after three years of discussion, they have allowed their son to have his own account. "@levimcconaughey #happybirthday #welcometoinstagram," the caption read. Making the occasion more personal, the location was set to «Levi is LIVIN.»The Oscar-winning actor shared that Alves was nervous for the milestone.

A post shared by Matthew McConaughey (@officiallymcconaughey)“Good for you guys. More parents should have this rule,” one person wrote and another called them “parent goals.” A third commented, “Love this! Made me so emotional.

Matthew McConaughey and wife, Camila Alves, revealed they are allowing their son, Levi, to join social media for his 15th birthday, despite being "nervous" about the milestone.  "Happy birthday Levi Alves McConaughey," his father said in a joint Instagram post Friday with Alves, 41.  "Can you believe it?" she said, turning to her husband. "Fifteen years young," he answered, adding "Hey, buddy, your mom is a little nervous today.

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves McConaughey are asking fans to be kind and respectful to their son Levi, as they celebrate his 15th birthday. The celebrity couple shared a video, revealing that they are “a little nervous” about letting their son use social media, however, they think he is ready to use Instagram.The pair marked his birthday celebration with the announcement.

“Succession” and “The Last of Us” are facing Disney+’s “Andor,” AMC’s “Better Call Saul,” AMC’s “Interview with a Vampire,” Paramount+’s “The Good Fight,” HBO’s “The White Lotus” and Showtime’s “Yellowjackets.” As for individual acting achievements between the two leaders, both Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay were nominated for “The Last of Us,” and Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Jeremy Strong were nominated for “Succession.”As for comedies, nomination leader “The Bear” will be facing off against “Abbott Elementary” in Outstanding Achievement in Comedy. The ABC hit took home the top honor last year.

The Last Of Us, but his potential casting never became “serious”.While the HBO adaptation of the video game was in development, reports claimed True Detective stars Mahershala Ali and McConaughey were both in contention to play the role of Joel in the series, which eventually went to Pedro Pascal.Show co-creator Craig Mazin addressed the rumours on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where he confirmed talks with McConaughey had taken place.“I actually never talked to Mahershala,” Mazin said. “I did talk to Matthew [McConaughey]. I can’t say it was serious.

The cast of The Last of Us might have looked very different.

“The Last of Us” bosses originally had someone else in mind to play Joel Miller instead of Pedro Pascal.

It’s hard to imagine The Last of Us without Pedro Pascal, but cocreator Craig Mazin revealed that there was another contender for the role of Joel — Matthew McConaughey.

HBO has another hit on its hands with “The Last Of Us,” with the series breaking all sorts of viewership records for the network earlier this year. And a lot of the show’s critical success comes from its cast, leading man Pedro Pascal in particular.

 almost looked very different!During an appearance on the  podcast, showrunner Craig Mazin revealed that Matthew McConaughey was originally tapped for the role of Joel before Pedro Pascal signed on to the hit HBO series.«I did talk to Matthew. I can't say that it was a series [of conversations]. It was more of a, 'Hey, here's something to talk about,'» Mazin shared.

With “Special Ops: Lioness” arriving on Paramount+ next month, that marks six shows created by Taylor Sheridan on TV right now. And there’s more where than came from.

Craig Mazin, showrunner of The Last of Us, is opening up about working on the script for Dune: Part Two.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Pedro Pascal is charming, funny and incredibly talented. His resume thus far includes notable films and television series such as HBO’s “The Last of Us” and Lionsgate’s “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.” During his interview, I referenced his 2020 cover story. In that story, he said he couldn’t believe Patty Jenkins cast him in “Wonder Woman 1984” without auditioning. Then something happened that you don’t typically see. When asked what it feels like to be a role model to young Latinos, LGBTQ and Hollywood dreamers everywhere who yearn to sit in the same position he finds himself in, his usual charisma and confidence melted away.

Matthew McConaughey is hard at work on the upcoming movie The Rivals of Amziah King!