The Clickers In The Last Of Us Were 'Too Practical' For Pedro Pascal

HBO's "The Last of Us" is not only a faithful retelling of the beloved video game it's based on, but it has already improved upon several key elements. The television adaptation utilizes the full potential of the medium, often adding instead of subtracting from the dense material. From the opening moments of the pilot, it's clear "The Last of Us" will be a new experience built on a familiar foundation. However, as avid fans of the game, we cannot help but get giddy when the show pays direct homage to its predecessor. That won't be stopping soon, either, as clickers will be making their live-action debut. Joel himself, Pedro Pascal, may beg to differ, though.

Judging based on the latest trailer footage, the fungi-infested monsters have been translated to live-action in stunning fashion, bringing over one of the most terrifying aspects of the video game without mincing details. For the uninitiated, clickers are an evolved, stronger form of the infected that track its victims strictly through echolocation. An unsettling clicking sound follows their every footstep, as if the giant protruding mushroom heads were not scary enough. The HBO adaptation will be using practical effects to bring the clickers to life, so much so that it freaked out Pascal when seeing them for the very first time.

In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes TV, Pedro Pascal discussed the practical nature of the clickers on "The Last of Us," revealing that they have been a bit too realistic (and terrifying) for his own sake:

"It was very practical. It was too practical. Yeah. I didn't – I knew that they were gonna pull something really brilliant out of the hat as far as that was concerned, but I didn't expect it to be as real looking on the day. And some things, sometimes, you know, the opportunity for everything to be at your disposal in that way, and to immerse you into the experience to shoot the story, but sometimes things are better left to the imagination. Because that was very disturbing."

Judging from the production design of "The Last of Us" thus far, the post-apocalyptic world has been re-created to the point where it is nearly indistinguishable from its digital counterpart. To that point, Pascal's sentiments regarding the clickers are well-founded. Even the hard-nosed Joel Miller was intimidated by the deadly creatures, which are far more dangerous than the typical infected folk. In the original game, clickers are a force to be reckoned with and often provide the most horror-tinged moments of the story.

In "The Last of Us," the people that Joel and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) encounter are often more dangerous than the infected they encounter, but that's not the case when it comes to the clickers. The ravenous bunch is scary even when wandering aimlessly in a room, especially if the player has to maneuver around them without making a sound. We already know that is not afraid of straying from the original game, but HBO's "The Last of Us" will borrow from a key moment involving the clickers. 

In one of the more memorable sequences in the game, Joel, Tess, and Ellie encounter a group of clickers at a museum on their way out of Boston. The trio fends off the extra-strong infected, not without an injury or two. "The Last of Us" is re-creating that scene, and based on Pascal's comments, it'll be the first time we see the clickers. If it is as anxiety-inducing as it is in the original game, it's no wonder Pascal was shaken up at the sight of the ugly monsters. We quickly lost count of how many times we died while fighting clickers during "The Last of Us," so this is the least they can do.

New episodes of "The Last of Us" arrive Sunday nights on HBO and HBO Max.