Key Takeaways
- Actor Daisuke Tsuji auditioned to play Jesse in The Last of Us Part 2, but didn’t realise how old the characters were supposed to be.
- Because Ellie – who he still pictured as a child – was in his audition scene, he played Jesse as if he was “a little kid”.
- Daisuke Tsuji, who played Jin Sakai in Ghost of Tsushima, shared this story at an MCM Comic Con panel earlier today.
Daisuke Tsuji, who played Jin Sakai in Ghost of Tsushima, almost had a role in another major PlayStation exclusive. Speaking at MCM Comic Con in Birmingham, the actor revealed that was eyed for Jesse in The Last of Us Part 2, but messed up his audition.
Speaking at a panel earlier today, Tsuji admitted that he wasn’t aware that there had been a time jump between the sequels. So, when his audition called for him to perform in a scene that Ellie appeared in, he assumed she was still young, and played Jesse like he was “a little kid”.
Daisuke Tsuji Auditioned For Jesse From The Last Of Us Part 2
…but accidentally played him as “a little kid”
“I auditioned for Jesse, but I didn’t get that,” says Sakai, adding that Neil Druckmann was present, as well as Laura Bailey who read lines for Ellie.
“I know what I did wrong too. In my mind, Ellie was young, because of the first game, so I was trying to play young – like I’m a little kid – instead of just being myself,” he continues. “Playing the game, Jesse’s an adult – even if he’s young he’s lived through a life of zombies, so he’s very mature. I was like, ‘Oh I should have just been myself’. Which is always the acting thing, always be yourself. You always try to be the thing that you think that they want.”
This would have made 2020 an even bigger year for Tsuji, as The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima launched within a month of each other. Ultimately, Jesse was played by Stephen Chang.
Jesse will be portrayed by Young Mazino in the upcoming second season of the TV show. There’s no release date for the second season just yet, but it’s set to drop sometime in 2025.
Placing you loosely into real history, you take on the role as the Jin Sakai, a lone warrior fighting to bring peace to your home. Will you take on the role as the titular Ghost of Tsushima, forsaking the honor of the samurai in order to defeat the invading Mongols?