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
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.