Hollywood actor Nick Offerman joins ‘The Last of Us’ series
Actor replaces previously cast Con O’Neill due to a scheduling conflict
HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ series — an adaptation of the video game of the same name — has brought on multi-hyphenate Nick Offerman to play Bill in a recasting, reports Variety.
Con O’Neill had previously been announced for the guest starring role, but according to a source with knowledge of the situation, he was forced to bow out of the show due to a scheduling conflict.
Offerman (‘Parks and Recreation’, ‘Fargo’, ‘The Lego Movie’) will appear as Bill alongside Murray Bartlett as Frank, two post-pandemic survivalists living alone in their own isolated town.
Based on the award-winning PlayStation video game by Naughty Dog, the HBO series takes place 20 years after modern civilisation has been destroyed by a deadly fungus. Joel (Pedro Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey) out of an oppressive quarantine zone to a secret facility desperately looking for a cure. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the US and depend on each other for survival.
The cast also touts ‘TLOU’ voice actress Anna Torv, Merle Dandrige, Nico Parker, Gabriel Luna, Jeffrey Pierce and Murray Bartlett.
‘Chernobyl’ creator Craig Mazin will write and executive produce “The Last of Us,” along with Neil Druckmann, a writer and creative director for the video game.
The project is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television. PlayStation Productions, Word Games and Naughty Dog.
No release date has been set for the series at this time.