HBO’s highly anticipated series The Last of Us has premiered to rave reviews. The series is “everything a great adaptation should be,” according to Collider's own Ross Bonaime, and we are sure fans are in for a delight! The series casts Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie along with a slew of familiar characters as well as some new additions. It is expected to become one of the major IPs for the studio. In a recent chat with Deadline at the LA premiere for the series, Nick Offerman spoke about his casting and shared his experience of making the series.Offerman will be seen as Bill, one of Joel’s aides who owes him a favor — without giving away much he’ll be very instrumental in Joel and Ellie’s journey. Speaking of working in the video game adaptation he joked, “The last video games I played were in about 1998. So, I am completely ignorant to the game.” He further added, “I’ve known [series creator and writer] Craig Mazin for a while and he needed somebody who could dig a hole, and shoot out in the rain all day, so he thought of me, thankfully.” So we may see Offerman doing some stunts himself. The actor is in awe of the production of the series, he said, “I mean, you know, this is the kind of prestige series that’s just… everywhere I looked while we were shooting this, I just kept calling my wife, saying, ‘they built this whole thing..’ like it was just… they did such an incredible job.” Sharing his excitement he added, “The fact that he sent the script to me and I got to do it with Murray Bartlett was pretty astonishing.”
The Last of Us follows Joel, a hardened survivor who works as a smuggler after a Cordyceps infection has decimated the world. He is tasked to take Ellie, a teenager who is immune to the disease, across the post-apocalyptic US in hopes of finding a cure. Together they weather seasons, zombie-like creatures called Clickers, and various factions of survivors through a long journey that pushes them to the limit.The series is created and co-written by Mazin and Neil Druckmann. Along with Offerman, Pascal, and Ramsey, the series stars Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Joel's younger brother, Anna Torv as Tess, Joel's smuggling partner, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, the head of the Fireflies, Bartlett as Frank, Bill’s partner, Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen, the leader of a revolutionary movement, Rutina Wesley as Maria, Tommy’s wife and the leader of a settlement in Jackson among many others.The Last of Us premieres on January 15. You can check out Offerman’s comments below: