Pedro Pascal forgot he landed the role in 'The Last of Us' after taking Ambien to sleep

Pedro Pascal almost forgot he had landed the role of a lifetime hours after landing the job! On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, the 47-year-old The Last of Us actor shared his memories of what transpired after he was offered the lead part in HBO's brand-new post-apocalyptic sci-fi series. Additionally, Pascal told presenter Jimmy Fallon that when he received the call to talk about the program with Neil Druckmann (the creator of the video game on which the show is based), it was already late at night since he was in London while the rest of the team and producers were in Los Angeles. After getting his hopes up, Pascal took an Ambien to help him fall asleep and combat the adrenaline rush. And this caused him to wake up in a strange haze of confusion the next morning. Pascal said to Fallon, 48, "I get a call that I got the job after I took the Ambien, and so I was excited I guess, but I didn't remember. I woke up in the morning and the first thing that occurred to me was like, 'Oh man, I really want that job.'" [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Image credit: Tom + Lorenzo[/caption] He went on, "I'm in London, they're in L.A., I'm gonna wait by the phone all day long, this hasn't happened in a while, I'm gonna be longing and I'm gonna think about it all day long. And then it was like, 'Congratulations, I'm so happy for you!' when I looked at my phone." "And I was like, 'Oh yeah, I got the job!'" Pascal added. Also read: Jake Gyllenhaal plays a U.S. Army Sergeant in Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant

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The 2013 video game with the same name, The Last of Us, served as an inspiration for the series. It centers on Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), two apocalyptic survivors who band together to survive a fungal pandemic that has claimed the lives (and consciousness) of the majority of people. Moreover, since its premiere in January, the series, which also stars Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, Gabriel Luna, Merle Dandridge, Nico Parker, Jeffrey Pierce, and Anna Torv, has received a great deal of positive critical and commercial reception. On another note, this week, Pascal, who gained stardom from The Mandalorian, Narcos, and Game of Thrones, will host Saturday Night Live. Furthermore, Pascal joked that it was all chance and doors opening at the perfect time when questioned how he managed to land all these memorable parts on hit TV shows. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1440"] Image credit: Vanity Fair[/caption] Lastly, on Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC, Pascal will make his hosting debut for Saturday Night Live with Coldplay as the musical guest. And HBO broadcasts The Last of Us on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.