The Last of Us Season 2’s Casting Is Repeating Season 1's Best Trick
Look at this photograph.
The Last of Us is certainly taking its time. Season 1 fleshed out the already cinematic video game by introducing new villains and giving minor side characters heartwrenching tales of their own. A Season 2 renewal was quick to follow, and fans soon learned that showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin would take multiple seasons to adapt the second game, The Last of Us Part II.
Even more breathing room means even more story, and Variety recently reported on casting announcements that revealed a slew of new and expanded characters. We can’t speculate on how the former will play into the story, but Alanna Ubach is playing a character named Hanrahan, Ben Ahlers is playing Burton, and Hettienne Park is playing Elise Park. Meanwhile, Robert John Burke is playing Seth, who gamers know as the bartender in the Jackson community.
Joe Pantoliano will play Eugene in The Last of Us Part II.
Two other characters also come from the game, but not in the way you think. Character actor Joe Pantoliano, probably best known as Cypher in The Matrix, will play Eugene, a former Firefly and late citizen of Jackson who succumbed to a stroke before the events of The Last of Us Part II. Ellie and her girlfriend Dina take shelter in an abandoned outpost Eugene left behind.
Eugene is only seen via photograph in game, but Variety suggests the role “will be expanded on the show, similar to the Emmy-winning Bill and Frank stand-alone episode from Season 1.” That episode was seen as a standout moment that also featured the late inhabitants of a space before Ellie took shelter there, so wanting to repeat that pattern makes sense. As long as Eugene’s story is more than an echo of Bill and Frank’s, it could make for a compelling hour of television.
Eugene is only seen in the game through a photo, but he’ll have an expanded role in the series.
Meanwhile, Noah Lamanna is playing Kat, who dated Ellie before the game’s events, and even gave Ellie a tattoo over her fungus-zombie bite mark. Like Eugene, Kat (Cat in the game) only appears via photograph, so a casting announcement is inherent proof that the role will be greatly expanded.
Maybe Kat will appear via flashback, or maybe they’ll play a new role in the present day. Either way, the best part of Season 1 was how The Last Of Us expanded on the game’s story, so it makes sense that Season 2 would take every opportunity to focus on what the game only hinted at. The series has multiple seasons to work with, so it should use them to tell the best possible version of the story.
