With just a short and exciting trailer, The Last of Us is already looking like one emotional and action-fueled ride. There have been many doubts surrounding the casting of certain characters, but the trailer should put those doubts to rest. Many characters from The Last of Us appear in the trailer, along with the actors that portray them.
9 Joel
If there’s an actor that seemingly everyone loves, then look no further than Pedro Pascal. He’s appeared in a lot of movies and shows, including as the protagonist and father to baby Yoda, The Mandalorian. Pascal was cast as Joel Miller for HBO’s The Last of Us, and if anyone can bring Troy Baker’s Joel to live-action, then it’s him.
Joel is heavily focused on in the trailer, which is unsurprising considering Pascal’s star power and the fact that Joel is the protagonist of the game the show is based off of. Pascal looks the part, with the clothing, facial hair, and iconic broken watch.
8 Ellie
The relationship that unfolds between Joel and Ellie is one of the selling points of the game. It’s an emotional connection that spurs from loss, and many are excited to see how Bella Ramsey brings that to life. Bella Ramsey first saw fame as Lyanna Mormont, a fan favorite character from the last season of Game of Thrones.
Ellie has a very memorable personality from the games. She’s world-weary and vulgar, but in a world full of violence she still has a childlike innocence that needs protection from the darkness. Bella’s dressed as the part of Ellie for the trailer, and many hope she can provide a memorable and emotional journey, just as Ashley Johnson does for the games.
7 Tess
A few shots in The Last of Us teaser trailer show Anna Torv as Tess. Anna Torv is no stranger to great television, featuring Olivia Dunham in Fringe and Dr. Wendy Carr in Mindhunter. As for Tess, she certainly has the range to pull off the hardened survivor and partner to Joel.
Tess was a beloved character from the first game of The Last of Us and had a great relationship with Joel. The chemistry between both Torv and Pascal could be a lot of fun, and watching them battle the criminal underworld’s ruthlessness together will be quite the show.
6 Bill
Few characters in The Last of Us are more aware and paranoid of the world around them than Bill. The character is entirely memorable from the first game, as he has his town, a population of one. It’s filled with traps, infected, and his post-apocalyptic street smarts.
There are few, if any, people that Bill trusts, and he begrudgingly helps Joel out of his town. He’s a skilled marksman, and great at crafting traps. The trailer shows the role being played by Nick Offerman, who is no stranger to paranoid and odd characters thanks to Parks and Recreation character Ron Swanson.
5 Riley
A brief look at Riley was shown in the trailer, played by the actor Storm Reid. Fans were able to spot the character thanks to the scene it displayed, in which Riley and Ellie ride on a merry-go-round at an abandoned shopping mall. It’s one of the many emotionally charged scenes in the game and shows the developing relationship between Riley and Ellie.
The scene itself features from The Last of Us DLC, Left Behind, in which fans are shown what happens to Ellie before the events of the first game. Storm Reid has quite the acclaim with roles like Gia Bennett from Euphoria, so her acting chops will come in handy for the emotional story of The Last of Us.
4 Marlene
There’s a character in The Last of Us trailer holding her bleeding stomach. It doesn’t take long for fans of the game to look at the character, her clothing, and her face to recognize that it’s Merle Dandridge. This actress played Marlene in the video game version of The Last of Us and returns to play the same character in the HBO series.
Merle Dandridge is the only actress to reprise her role for the live-action show, and it will be interesting to see if she adds new aspects to the character, considering she is bound to have more screen time in the show than she does for the game.
3 Sarah
As one of the more tragic aspects of the game, Sarah is introduced to players on outbreak day, in which they experience Joel, Tommy, and Sarah’s escape from their home to avoid the growing numbers of the infected. Sarah is a young girl, and she is shown in the trailer as played by Nico Parker.
The scenes involving Sarah and Joel are emotionally charged, and despite a brief chapter, they have a great relationship as father and daughter. It will be gut-wrenching, but powerful to see how Pascal and Parker interact as a father and daughter duo.
2 Tommy
As the little brother to Joel, Tommy sure has his differences. He’s far more morally conscious than his older brother, and hopeful for a better future in a world overrun with infected and hunters. Gabriel Luna will bring Tommy to live-action in HBO’s The Last of Us, an actor no stranger to beloved franchises.
Gabriel Luna has played a terminator in Terminator: Dark Fate, and even joined the cast of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to play Robbie Reyes’ Ghost Rider. There’s a lot of baggage in Tommy’s character, and hopefully, his history with Joel is explored further than the game’s time skip.
1 Kathleen
There are plenty of new characters set to be introduced in HBO’s The Last of Us that were not in the games. These characters could serve to further flesh out the story of the games, as Joel and Ellie venture across America in a few seasonal skips, meaning there is a story to be told between the times that audiences see.
One of these characters is called Kathleen. Little is known about Kathleen, other than the fact that she features in more than one episode, and is played by Melanie Lynskey. One of the few details known about this new character is that she is the ruthless leader of a revolutionary movement in Kansas City.
HBO’s The Last of Us airs in 2023.
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