Matthew McConaughey has explained why he ultimately passed on playing Joel in HBO’s The Last of Us – a role that, of course, went to Pedro Pascal instead.

Back in 2023, showrunner Craig Mazin confirmed he’d spoken with McConaughey during casting, though he was always clear it never got particularly “serious”.

“It was more of just like, ‘Hey, here’s something we can talk about’… I’m sure there’s an alternate universe where it’s a different guy. Matthew McConaughey is an amazing actor – I’m sure it would’ve been great, but it would’ve been different, and I like the one that we made,” he said at the time.

Now, speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, McConaughey said the timing simply wasn’t right.

He wasn’t doing much acting in the early 2020s, having stepped back to focus on writing and other pursuits, and said he’s generally wary of signing on to television projects at all outside of a rare exception like the first season of True Detective.

“I wasn’t really acting at that point. That was when I was doing more writing and looking at leadership roles in life. It was really good. I was excited,” McConaughey said (thanks, Variety).

“Correct me if I’m wrong, I’m not a huge TV watcher, we pulled off a real coup with True Detective at a time when series were not something that actors like myself or Woody Harrelson would hop over and go do. That one succeeded in a real royal fashion.

Talking of the critically-acclaimed show, he added: “Last of Us was really good but it wasn’t for me at the time.”

He also pointed to the scale of commitment a hit show demands.

“I don’t know what would have been for me at the time,” he said. “The first thing I came across was Rivals [of Amziah King]. This was extremely particular. It’s one movie. A series, you do have to consider if you want this to succeed, this is something you’ll be doing for years and years and years. Do I want that to be the case in success?”

As teased in The Last of Us season two’s finale, season three will largely focus on Abby’s story in Seattle, and we recently learned that Peter Sarsgaard has joined the cast as brand-new character, Amon. It also introduces a number of new characters from the games, including Patrick Wilson as Abby’s father Jerry, and Sarsgaard’s fellow Seraphites Yara and Lev, played by Michelle Mao and Kyriana Kratter respectively.

While The Seraphites’ presence was felt during the second season, the group is set to play a much greater part in season three.