Matthew McConaughey turned down the role of Joel in HBO's The Last of Us

Matthew McConaughey said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he seriously considered playing Joel in HBO's The Last of Us but declined because the timing was not right. He had stepped back from acting in the early 2020s to focus on writing. "Last of Us was really good but it wasn't for me at the time," he said. The role went to Pedro Pascal.