Nick Offerman will appear in HBO's The Last of Us in a role that has not yet been announced. The actor is best known for playing Leslie Knope's (Amy Poehler) taciturn libertarian boss Ron Swanson on NBC's political mockumentary sitcom Parks and Recreation. Offerman also stars as Richard McDonald in The Founder, appears on FX's Fargo TV adaptation, and produced the reality competition show Making It with Poehler. Offerman is often associated with a "rugged outdoorsman" persona resulting from his role on Parks & Rec and his published books on various nature-related subjects.
HBO's widely buzzed-about TV adaptation of The Last of Us was announced in March 2020 and is set to air in 2022. Naughty Dog's adventure video game was released in 2013 and numbers among the top-selling games worldwide. In a post-apocalyptic landscape, players in the character of Joel must help guide a young girl named Ellie across America. Meanwhile, a mutant fungus is transforming infected people into rabid antagonists. The TV series was developed by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann with Pedro Pascal as Joel, Game of Thrones' Bella Ramsey as Ellie, and Gabriel Luna as Joel's brother Tommy. Merle Dandridge, Jeffrey Pierce, Anna Torv, and Murray Bartlett are also in the cast. Production started in July 2021 in Calgary, Alberta.
In an interview with The Guardian, Bartlett reveals another, previously unannounced Last of Us cast member: Nick Offerman. Bartlett, who has recently been in the spotlight for his chaotic performance in The White Lotus, spoke about his experience filming the upcoming role of Frank, a survivalist who lives in an isolated area with another character, Bill (Con O'Neill). When asked about his experience filming the show, Bartlett revealed, perhaps accidentally, that many of his scenes take place with the Parks & Rec actor:
We filmed it in Calgary. A lot of my scenes are with Nick Offerman. Playing off him was awesome.
Nothing official has been announced about Offerman's participation in the project, but the fact that Bartlett has multiple scenes with him in the books is a good sign he'll appear. Many have praised his performances in Fargo and the FX limited series Devs. Earlier on in the casting process, some fans discussing the game online suggested Offerman for the lead, although it's unknown whether he was considered for the role. It's possible that he auditioned and was instead cast in another part.
Fans have been quick to spot the stealth announcement and are already speculating about Offerman's possible role on The Last of Us. Since the role of Bill has already been cast, fans have suggested that Offerman has been cast as David, Eugene, or Henry. Others have hypothesized that Offerman is playing the man Frank hunts down after he gets infected, or another character who doesn't appear in the games. Whatever his role, Offerman's man-of-the-woods persona and fondness for chopping wood both in and out of character make him a good fit for a post-apocalyptic resource crisis.
Source: The Guardian