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Pedro Pascal, who plays Joel in HBO's The Last of Us, has discussed the "sometimes sick pleasure" of working on the post-apocalyptic series and how "storytelling is cathartic" when the real world is undergoing change and upheaval as it is today.

"There's a very healthy and sometimes sick pleasure in that kind of catharsis and a safe space to see human relationships under crisis and in pain and intelligently draw a political allegory, societal allegory, and base it off of the world that we're living in," he said, as reported by Variety.

Also during the call with reporters, Pascal discussed why he's excited to see The Last of Us come back for its second season, after the first was such a hit.

"I think there's something really exciting about giving everyone another season of a show that everyone loved and that everyone has worked so hard on and has put so much into," he said.

Pascal, who previously starred in HBO's Game of Thrones, returns for Season 2 in his starring role as Joel. He's joined by Bella Ramsey as Ellie, while Kaitlyn Dever joins the Season 2 cast as Abby. For more, check out the gallery below to see who's in Season 2 and what role they play.

Season 2 arrives Sunday, April 13, and there are seven episodes in all. As for the game series, The Last of Us: Part II Remastered comes to PC on April 3, while The Last of Us: Part III might not happen. Or it might.