Nick Offerman joins HBO’s The Last Of Us as Bill
The series based on the hit video game is expected to air in late 2022
Aux News Nick Offerman
Nick Offerman is joining HBO’s The Last Of Us series, based on the popular PlayStation game of the same name. Offerman will play Bill, a survivalist who’s riding out the end of the world with his partner Frank, who’ll be portrayed by White Lotus’ Murray Bartlett. Con O’Neill was originally cast as Bill, but according to Variety he had to drop out of the production due to scheduling conflicts.
Offerman is best known for playing the taciturn Ron Swanson on Parks & Recreation. Ron always seemed to be preparing for a post-apocalyptic future where he’d have to live off the land, so he’d probably approve of Offerman’s casting. The actor also hosts Making It, the NBC arts and crafts show, with his former Parks costar Amy Poehler. He’s set to appear in both Amazon’s A League Of Their Own series and in Hulu’s Pam & Tommy.
The Last of Us series will take place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed by a deadly fungus. Pedro Pascal stars as Joel, a survivor who’s tasked with smuggling a young girl across the United States. That young girl, Ellie, will be played by Pascal’s fellow Game of Thrones alum Bella Ramsey, who stole scenes as the fiery Lyanna Mormont.
Gabriel Luna, best known for his work on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will play Tommy, Joel’s idealistic younger brother. The show also stars Nico Parker, Anna Torv, Jeffrey Pierce, and Merle Dandridge, who will reprise her role from the video game.
Craig Mazin, who created Chernobyl, will write and executive produce the series alongside Neil Druckmann, who wrote and created the video game. The show began filming this summer and is expected to end this summer.
The series is reportedly costing more than $10 million per episode, rivaling Game of Thrones, The Pacific, and The Mandalorian as one of the most expensive shows of all time. We’ll see if this costly bet for HBO pays off.
17 Comments
Offerman is good and all but why not let W. Earl Brown play the role he originated and is still perfect for?
While it’s not exactly tied to the character in the game, this is great casting. I’m thrilled by this news.
You won’t enjoy the HBO/NBC mash up “This Is The Last Of Us”. Lots of crying and long gazes mixed with shooting, lots of shooting.
I love Nick Offerman, but given this is an HBO joint, if ever there was a role I would assume they could just give to the original actor from the game, it’d be Deadwood’s own W. Earl Brown.
It is astonishing to me that there is no mention o W. Earl Brown in this piece. Absolutely he’d be the right guy. I can only assume that he was offered the role but turned it down for some reason.
ABSOLUTELY. W Earl Brown did a fantastic job in characterizing Bill.I’m actually most curious on the fact they cast Frank, considering he’s only mentioned in the game. I wonder what the idea of having him in there is, though not that I’m complaining- I will enjoy the shit out of any more of Murray Bartlett, after his White Lotus performance.
Agreed 100%. I’m surprised it didn’t happen unless he’s somehow aged out of the role, but he’s got one of those deeply entrenched, timeless old-west faces, so…
Also the age of the character barely matters. Oh well!
Yeah, this actually kinda sucks. I remember playing the game and getting to the town and being happy and surprised that it was Brown.
Well at least it went to Brown’s promising young Deadwood co-star…
I love Con O’Neill, and I’m sure he would’ve done a great job, but I can’t help but feel happy about this. Offerman seems like an inspired choice for Bill, and I can easily imagine him just absolutely killing it in the role.
I’d love to see a Season 2 of Devs. Nick Offerman is such a great actor to watch!
It’s killing me that Devs hasn’t received a physical release yet. Just a masterpiece show.
The show began filming this summer and is expected to end this summer.
Say whaaaa?
Stole SEASONS as Lyanna Mormont!
Mazin is co-host of Scriptnotes podcast and said a few weeks ago they wrapped principal photography. He’s an avid gamer and after watching Chernobyl I think it’s in good hands.
That’s solid casting for the role, imo.