Gabriel Luna attends The Last of Us season 2 premiere

Variety

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00:00So you, of course, have the benefit of being here from the beginning.

00:04You knew what this was like, what all of this craziness was going to be.

00:08Meanwhile, a lot of your new cast members are entering into the world of The Last of Us.

00:13What was your advice for them?

00:15You know what? I feel like it's a trial by fire, and they have such great instincts.

00:21I didn't want any of...

00:23Even when I was a younger person, both as an athlete, as an artist, whatever it is,

00:28you kind of got to be given the reins to figure it out on your own,

00:33which is really kind of appropriate for the story.

00:35I think Joel and Ellie are learning that lesson, you know?

00:38And Joel is learning.

00:39You got to sometimes just let them kind of ride out on their own and figure it out.

00:43So, you know, they had beautiful instincts.

00:46I just say, you know, just trust yourself.

00:48I love that you say trial by fire,

00:50because that just only immediately makes me think of the flamethrower.

00:55What is it like to really get to light it up this season?

00:59Oh, my goodness. Oh, wow.

01:01I did a lot of research. I watched Aliens.

01:04Oh, that's crazy.

01:05Jim Cameron's Aliens, which is...

01:07I worked with Jim, of course, on Terminator Dark Fate,

01:09and I watched Once Upon a Time in Mexico,

01:13that one last scene with Leo.

01:15He got to keep his flamethrower. I didn't get to keep mine.

01:18But they trained me on it for like four minutes

01:21and just gave me my flamethrower license.

01:23It was like, you're good to go, so I appreciate that.

01:26I mean, that is also trial by fire for you then, too.

01:29First time I ever saw a flamethrower was in Fredericksburg, Texas,

01:33on a field trip with my elementary school at a World War II museum.

01:37And it was probably lit it up about 20 meters from me,

01:41and I felt the heat instantly.

01:43And that's the same experience I had here,

01:46shooting 30 feet of liquid propane that gets ignited.

01:50It's just amazing.

01:51You've been prepping for this role since you were...

01:54Since I was like eight.

01:56That's right.

01:57That's dedication.

01:58Well, we also get a chance to meet Papa Tommy in this as well.

02:02The idea that, you know, now you're in the dad role.

02:05What does that mean for you this season?

02:09You know...

02:12I guess boarding on getting too personal.

02:14But most people know this about me,

02:16and it was a very formative experience for me

02:18to have been raised by a single mother.

02:19My mother was a 15-year-old widow when she had me.

02:22And so fathers and sons, stories about fathers and sons

02:26have always been very, very important.

02:28And I just...

02:31I just saw this beautiful story play out in front of me in black and white,

02:37and it offered me this opportunity to, you know,

02:42to try to imagine what it is,

02:46what in my constitution I would want to be crystallized and solidified,

02:50and what am I really about?

02:52What is Tommy really about?

02:53What does he want to pass down?

02:55And so that really informs everything in Tommy's world.

02:59You know, his beautiful wife Maria and his son Benjamin.

03:05And then it just kind of expands from there.

03:10He wraps his arms around his family

03:12and then tries his best to wrap his arms around the community

03:15and around Jackson, Wyoming.

03:17All right, I'll ask you this as my last question.

03:19What was it like to wrap your arms around this TV family?

03:22What's one of your favorite moments from set?

03:24We love each other so much.

03:26I think it shows.

03:27I think it just shows in the work.

03:29I think we love the story so much.

03:31A lot of us had some experience playing the game.

03:33Sure.

03:34And so...

03:35But not only the cast, but also the crew.

03:39Sure.

03:40So many times when you're working on such a high-profile program,

03:42they're always trying to keep everything under lock and key.

03:44They're very kind of cloak and dagger about a lot of things.

03:47But in this case, because the source material existed as the game,

03:52we had grips and costumers and dressers and stunt performers

03:55and people who knew the story.

03:57So we were all on the same page, working towards the same goal

03:59with an idea of the story we're trying to tell.

04:02And I think that also suited us and served the story

04:06and served towards the success of the show.

04:08We love each other, across the board, all the way down.

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