HBO’s The Last of Us marked The Last of Us Day on Saturday with three new season 3 cast members, and two of them are already part of the games. John Goodman, Laura Bailey and Ian Alexander are joining the series, Deadline and Variety reported.
Who they’re playing
Goodman plays Joey and Alexander plays Paco, a friendly duo who call themselves the “Heroes of the Highway.” Bailey plays Elizabeth, one of the leaders of the Seraphites, the religious sect from The Last of Us Part II.
Players will know two of those names. Bailey voiced Abby in The Last of Us Part II, and Alexander voiced Lev. On the show, those roles belong to Kaitlyn Dever and Kyriana Kratter. The series has cast actors from the games before: Merle Dandridge reprised her role as Marlene, Jeffrey Wright plays Isaac, and Ashley Johnson, the voice of Ellie, played Ellie’s mother.
Goodman is an Emmy winner known lately for The Conners, and Variety notes he also plays President Compson in Digger with Tom Cruise, which opens October 2. Bailey’s credits include The Legend of Vox Machina and Mary Jane in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Alexander played Buck Vu on The OA.
Season 3 so far
The three join a season 3 cast that keeps growing. Previously announced additions include Li Jun Li as Miriam, a Seraphite; Peter Sarsgaard as Amon, a Seraphite leader created for the show; Jason Ritter as Hanley, a WLF soldier; Patrick Wilson as Jerry, Abby’s father; plus Michelle Mao and Clea DuVall. Jorge Lendeborg Jr. takes over the role of Manny from Danny Ramirez, who left because of scheduling.
Kaitlyn Dever, Bella Ramsey, Isabella Merced, Gabriel Luna and Jeffrey Wright are back, and Ariela Barer, Tati Gabrielle and Spencer Lord have been promoted to series regulars, according to Variety.
Craig Mazin is running season 3 on his own after co-creator Neil Druckmann stepped away from the show, and the new season premieres in 2027. HBO hasn’t said whether it will be the last. HBO chief Casey Bloys told Deadline he believes Mazin has planned it as the final season, but he stopped short of confirming it.
More TLOU Day news through Monday
Naughty Dog is stretching the celebration out. In a post on X quoted by Push Square, the studio said its TLOU Day festivities run through Monday, September 28: “Expect a partnership announcement, a very cool collaboration, digital surprises, and more.” It’s also hosting its No Return charity stream on Twitch.
Push Square also reports that the PS5 Welcome Hub has added an animated The Last of Us wallpaper for the occasion.
