Game Of Thrones Alumni Lead Cast In HBO Series Adaptation Of The Last Of Us
In an exclusive posted by Deadline on February 10th, 2021 and later confirmed by Naughty Dog via social media, HBO has revealed that actor Pedro Pascal – Din Djarin on The Mandalorian – has been cast as Joel Miller in the HBO series adaptation of The Last of Us which is based on the popular video game franchise of the same name. Fellow Game of Thrones actress Bella Ramsey – as reported by The Hollywood Reporter – who portrayed Lady Lyanna Mormont in the sixth, seventh, and eighth season of the Emmy Award winning series will be taking on the role of Ellie. Pascal also spent some time in Westeros during its fourth season in a recurring role as Oberyn Martell.
The series is being developed by Sony Pictures Television and co-produced by PlayStation Studios, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and Naughty Dog – the latter of which are the developers of the PlayStation exclusive. Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Co-President of Naughty Dog Neil Druckmann will be serving as both Writers and Executive Producers with Carolyn Strauss (Game of Thrones, Chernobyl) also serving as an Executive Producer. Russian film director Kantemir Balagov has been tapped to direct the pilot episode of the series with Naughty Dog president Evan Wells and Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan from PlayStation Productions serving as Executive Producers as well.
The critically acclaimed video game series The Last of Us centres around Joel Miller – a single father and hardened survivor – living in a dismantled and decrepit world following a deadly fungal outbreak that has ravaged civilization. After encountering Ellie, a 14-year old girl that is seemingly immune to the infection, they make their way through quarantine zones and hostile territory in the hopes of finding a possible cure; relying and depending on each other to survive and eventually forming a surrogate father/daughter relationship.
Pascal has been earning high praise for his role on the critically acclaimed Disney Plus series – The Mandalorian – which concluded its second season back in December 2020 and is slated to return for a third season sometime in 2022 after The Book of Boba Fett which is slated to release in 2021 as confirmed by Executive Producer and Showrunner Jon Favreau. He also portrayed Maxwell Lord in the DC Comics film Wonder Woman 1984 alongside Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, and Kristen Wiig which released exclusively on HBO Max and Digital platforms on Christmas Day – December 25th, 2020 – to mixed reviews.
It is currently unknown as to when exactly shooting will begin for the series, how much has already been written, as well as additional cast members given that the COVID-19 pandemic is still impacting and affecting the world; lockdowns have halted many television and film productions in both Canada and the United States.
The Last of Us: Remastered and The Last of Us: Part II are available now exclusively on PlayStation 4.
