"The Last of Us" star Troy Baker talks about filming in Calgary

Mar 6 2023, 5:00 pm

If you saw the latest episode (8) of The Last of Us,Ā you would have seen that a new character James was introduced. You may also have recognized his voice.

The character was played by the iconic voice actor Troy Baker who also happened to play the lead character (Joel) in the game. It was a cool connection to see from the game to the HBO limited series and like like so much more than your average cameo or Easter egg moment.

Baker has been the voice in other games as well, like Uncharted, Call of Duty, God of War, Marvel’s Avengers, Batman, and more. He’s also been featured in other TV series, like Rick and Morty, American Dad, and Family Guy.

Daily Hive had the chance to speak with Troy Baker in an exclusive roundtable interview and he spoke about what it was like shooting in Alberta, starting with what he thought of the setting itself.

“I can’t believe how lucky we — and that’s not true — that’s a disservice to our locations and also our showrunners and our producers. Luck is simply opportunity meeting preparation,” Baker told us in the interview.

“They were very prepared and to be able to find the sound stages that they shot at and be able to literally take that over like they did… all of the locations that we found within Calgary to be able to shoot… it was surprising how much they could be completely transformed.”

While many cities, especially Canadian ones, often double for other cities, it’s still been a thrill to watch the limited series and see familiar spots. That’s been true even in an apocalyptic wasteland covered in vegetation and crumbled buildings.

“The thing that I really appreciate is, while there is the temptation now especially with the advent of technology to just rely heavily on visual effects — and we certainly have visual effects on our show — but there’s something that is practical with everything across the board.”

“Calgary provided this beautiful landscape — inside the city and far outside of it,” said Baker. “Waterton is the town where we shot a lot of our episodes. It’s a far cry away from Calgary but the landscape that it provided really set the stage and you could believe that this was what the world could look like absent of civilization.”

It also sounded like Baker, originally from Dallas, Texas, might not have gotten used to the cold temperatures during the filming of the hit show.

“I also learned what battery-operated clothes are because that’s the way that I keep myself sustained was by heated clothes,” said Baker. “Never felt more like more of an Angelino walking around… people in shorts and I’m walking around in parka.”

It just sounds like method acting to us.

Canadian viewers can subscribe to the HBO package through Crave to watch The Last of Us.

 

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