The Last of Us HBO Series Reportedly Adds Parks & Rec Star Nick Offerman to Cast

The already impressive cast of HBO's The Last of Us TV series continues to get bigger. The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal leads the series alongside Game of Thrones standout Bella Ramsey and Agents of SHIELD fan-favorite Gabriel Luna. It now appears as though another beloved TV star is joining the ranks. Nick Offerman, best known for his turn as grumpy department head Ron Swanson in NBC's Parks & Recreation. 

There hasn't been any announcement regarding Offerman's potential casting in The Last of Us, but one of the show's cast members let it slip during a recent interview. Murray Bartlett, who just recently starring in HBO's The White Lotus, spoke with The Guardian about his experience playing Frank in The Last of Us. He mentioned that he shared many of his scenes with Offerman.

"We filmed it in Calgary. A lot of my scenes are with Nick Offerman," Bartlett said. "Playing off him was awesome."

There's no telling who Offerman could be playing in The Last of Us, nor how sizable his role could actually be. The writers and producers of the TV series are going to be staying fairly true to the events of Naughty Dog's original Last of Us game, but they will be making a few changes to better adapt the story of television. There will be characters created specifically for the show that weren't in the game, so there's nothing that says Offerman will be taking on a role that players of the games remember.

If there's any concern about The Last of Us not living up to the high quality of the games, HBO is certainly pouring everything possible into the series to cast out any doubts. Star Bella Ramsey says the series is the biggest project she's ever been a part of us, which says a lot considering she appeared in several episodes of Game of Thrones.

"It [The Last of Us] does definitely feel like the biggest thing I have done and I have to not think about that too much as it freaks me out a little bit," Ramsey told the BBC earlier this year. "When I got over here I had two weeks' quarantine alone with my thoughts and I had to not think about the scale of it." 

"Game of Thrones was the first thing I ever did and that was HBO. The same exec Carolyn Strauss on that is also producing this, so it feels like it's come full circle – it's really nice," the actress added

Are you looking forward to The Last of Us on HBO? Let us know in the comments!