How he landed the role and ‘Jizzboy’ speech

Spoiler alert: This story contains spoilers of “day one”, season 2, episode 4 of “The Last of Us”, which now streams at Max.

There was an unexpected “Drake & Josh” and “The Last of Us” crossover on Sunday evening.

Josh Peck, the Nickelodeon icon that also stole scenes as a Manhattan project scientist in “Oppenheimer”, appeared at the start of HBO’s latest episode of “The Last of Us”. He supplied a memorable monologue such as Janowitz, a soldier of the federal disaster response agency who connected to his brothers in the poor by telling them an expletive story about holding ‘voters’-the ironic Fedra-bine name for residents of Quarantinezone who have taken away their rights.

In a deviation from the video game ‘The Last of Us Part II’, the show flashes back to 2018, while soldiers in the Seattle Quarantine zone in the back of a tight van drive to a mission. Janowitz entertains his friends by telling them about the time he stopped three voters who spread religious pamphlets. He remembers that he received a backup from Greenberg, a particularly violent Fedra soldier who apparently ‘spread’ confused because of ‘jerking off and things on the street’. Janowitz says that when one of the prisoners corrected Greenberg, the officer hit his head against the wall and shouted, “Nobody asked you, Jizzboy!”

The story becomes raw laughter from his comrades, except one person: the strict, humorless Isaac Dixon by Jeffrey Wright. “The Last of Us Part II” Gamers know that Isaac is the leader of the Washington Liberation Front who helped to take control of the Fedra region, but little is known about his past. It appears in the show, Isaac is a Fedra sergeant who betrays his own men to help the local rebels, led by the character of Alanna Ubach, Hanrahan. After their van has been stopped by a blockade led by Hanrahan, Isaac gets out, greeted Hanrahan and then immediately throws a grenade in his vehicle full of surprised troops, so that the door behind him is locked. Hanrahan shakes the hand of Isaac and says, “Welcome to the fight.”

The explosive moment of Isaac is underlined by Peck’s airy speech that opens the episode, but, as fans know, “The Last of Us” is used to shocking turns. Creeks with VarietyPeck explains how he ended up his role and how he has had his ‘despicable’ character.

Were you a fan of the video game or season 1 of the show before you did an audition?

To be honest, I’m a bit of a wimp. So when the show came out for the first time, knowing how big the video game is, I didn’t watch it first. When I got the audition, I have something like: “Let me make sure I understand.” It is clear that I knew that people were obsessed with the show and how huge it was, but I really wanted to ensure that I matched the tone for the audition. So I watched the first episode and eight hours later I had viewed them all. It grabbed me right away. It was just an audition that came in and, like most great writing, when I read the scene, I had something like: “I think I know how to do this.” I sent it into the universe and hoped, but I expected that I would not hear anything back because I usually don’t get things as good as this. So when I heard again, I was so excited.

What did you attract and made sure you wanted the show Binge?

Like most people, episode 3 was one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever seen. I have to give so much honor to what feels like a perfect cast show. You think of the great shows of our generation, and most of them have been to HBO, such as “The Sopranos” or even a show like “Breaking Bad”, and there is no character in that show that could have been played by someone else. That is how I feel with ‘the Last of Us’. I immediately fell in love with every character I had to fall in love with, and I hated everyone I had to hate.

How does it feel to be on one of that generation of HBO shows?

I didn’t see it, so I have to impose your word. Is it good?

It’s great. Your scene starts the episode and immediately I thought: “Wait, that’s Josh Peck.”

Amazing. I will enjoy it when everyone sees it on Sunday. I feel very, a lot of luck that I have been involved and have been able to work with someone like Craig Mazin, which I have been a fan of for a long time. I do not think it is coincidence that everything I have done that has been at a higher level, whether it is something like “Oppenheimer” whether this or when I have had the opportunity to work with great actors, it feels refreshingly simple because everything has been worked out. There are no gaps in the script. Everyone is at the top of their game and you feel excited to be part of that team.

You have all these hilarious lines, such as “Jizzboy” and “Splovement” in this world that is normally very dark. What did you tell about your character?

War can let people say and do things that they never thought they were able to do. It is important that you have empathy for your characters, even if they are despicable, because otherwise I don’t really know how to humanize them. What gave me a great insight into this guy was that I had to personalize the story in a certain way. It is clear that nothing in my life could ever match something so extreme and terrible, luckily, but I could relate to tell my friends one of my favorite stories that still destroys me. That was my access point to personalize this thing, and to remove its extreme nature and just to do what this man does. He talks to his colleagues, his friends and tells a story that happens to be pretty terrible. Another good access point is when he was confronted with his superior, the great Jeffrey Wright, he is injured. He is like: “Hey, man, this is my favorite story. Are we not all here on the same page?” There were access points in ways in which I could humanize it, although what he is talking about is beyond my understanding.

How did you find something to deal with him?

I tried to connect the story in my real life that I told earlier that it is completely benign and perhaps just make it laugh. He talks a bit that he wanted to save the boys, in a sense they were bullied. Like, he was almost upset or he just threw his hand on that this one man who kept talking, knowing that they had this insane colleague soldier who would have that person paid. It was finding these subtle, humanizing points so that I don’t look at this child as a total monster. He is like a consiglieri. He seemed like a mouthpiece. He was good at following orders and what not. But had I ever thought he would reach the ranks of an Isaac? I’m not sure.

What do you think you have an audition that has brought you the role?

This is very actor-y in baseball, but as much of what you are fed as an actor of my level, where you probably audition to play a supporting character, there is not always much to do. So the truth is, I was thrown away before if I didn’t get a part, and my acting teacher looked at me and said, “Josh, this is not a Hamlet.” With certain things you do audition, such as a foolish procedural or whatever, she will say: “There are probably 20 guys who can play this part.” So then it comes down to taste and a look. If you write great and such a monologue, you get excited as an actor, because you go, there is a lot for me to do here. I can make a lot of choices. I can take myself and do the work that is needed. Those are the auditions that you feel best about, because you have left everything on the table. With ‘The Last of Us’, writing was so good that I immediately had a very specific take and choice about who this man was.

Where did you shot the scene? How many days have you done filming?

We shot in the streets of Vancouver and then we shot at a sound phase. It was two days. I remember putting on the helmet, it was as if we had just enough headroom in the vehicle in which we were. I was renewed, because if we had been more tight, it would have been more difficult, but we had exactly the right amount of space to deliver what we needed. The first day was the outside on the street and shot into the vehicle. Then we shot the stage the next day. What is great about a show like this is that you have offered the time and sources. They built the van so that they could remove the walls and get every corner we needed.

Finally, do you have a greenberg in your life that you place when you talked about him?

Oh, yes, I have a greenberg in my life and he knows who he is. You don’t know him. He is a burger, I don’t want to give his name. He is a wild, wild person.

This interview has been edited and condensed.