Pedro Pascal feels a special connection with his character in The Last of Us, because they have some striking similarities.

The 50-year-old actor plays Joel, who is a protective father to his daughter Elle, which is a quality Pascal shares with his character.

“I’m pretty fiercely protective. I’m protective of the people that I love. And I think that’s probably the main component that I relate to,” the Game of Thrones alum shared at the press conference ahead of the upcoming season 2’s release on April 13th, as per People Magazine.

Due to the parallels between himself and the character, Pascal shared, he struggled emotionally. “It’s this experience, more than any I’ve had. It’s hard for me to separate what the characters are going through and how it makes me feel.”

He added, “In a way that isn’t very healthy. And so, I kind of feel their pain I suppose, so I suppose I was in an unhealthy mindset.”

Describing his excitement for the second season to come out, he said, “I think there’s something that is really exciting about basically giving everyone another season of a show that everyone loved and that everyone has worked so hard on and has put so much into.”