December 7 2021 Nick Offerman is confirmed to be playing Bill in The Last of Us HBO series
Nick Offerman, of TV series Parks and Recreation fame, has joined The Last of US HBO adaptation as Bill. Variety confirmed the casting, after Murray Bartlett inadvertently let it slip during an interview with The Guardian.
Bartlett (who has appeared in several HBO shows, including Andrew Haigh’s Looking) let slip that he has been filming scenes with Parks and Rec’s Nick Offerman. Bartlett has a guest role as Frank, a survivalist who lives with Bill. Con O’Neill was playing Bill, but had to leave due to scheduling conflicts, and now Offerman is in his place.
The hotly-anticipated sci-fi series stars Pedro Pascal as the smuggler Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, the teenager that Joel must escort across a post-apocalyptic United States. Set 20 years after civilisation fell to a deadly fungus, Joel is tasked with taking Ellie out of Boston’s designated quarantine zone, and the two begin a heart-breaking journey as they struggle to survive in a zombie-infested and lonely world. Fans of the horror games feel very protective of the characters, so this version will likely be highly scrutinised.
The show will also star Gabriel Luna as Joel’s younger brother Tommy. Anna Torv has the recurring role of Tess, Joel’s smuggling partner. Nico Parker – Thandiwe Newton’s daughter – plays Joel’s daughter Sarah. The production reportedly has a budget of eight figures per episode and is the largest television production in Canadian history, as it is being filmed in Alberta.
Filming began in July 2021 and is scheduled to end in June 2022. The release date should be in 2022, although that doesn’t leave very much time for post-production, including VFX. If you’re impatient to get stuck into HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us, check out our guide to the best zombie movies to tide you over.