The Last of Us Casts True Blood Fan-Favorite in Pivotal Role

Fan favorite True Blood star Rutina Wesley has officially been cast in the upcoming HBO series The Last of Us. Wesley had been rumored to have been cast in the series previously after the actor was spotted on the series’ set, but now her casting has been made official. In a new photo shared by Entertainment Weekly, we’re getting our first official look at Wesley as Maria, a character who comes directly from the video games — though for the sake of spoilers Maria is simply described as the leader of a settlement of survivors in Jackson, Wyoming.

Wesley is best known for her role as Tara Thornton in HBO’s True Blood which ran from 2008 to 2014. She’s also known for her role as Nova Bordelon in the Ava DuVernay created series Queen Sugar on OWN. She has also appeared on Arrow, Hannibal, and The Walking Dead, among other credits.

What is The Last of Us about?

According to HBO, based on the critically acclaimed video game of the same name, The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed by a cordyceps infection. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

Craig Mazin, the Emmy-winning creator of HBO’s Chernobyl, produced the series alongside Neil Druckmann, the creator behind the hit video game series. In an interview earlier this year, the writer said The Last of Us is the “greatest” video game story ever told. “It’s an open-and-shut case: this is the greatest story that has ever been told in video games,” Mazin said in an interview with Empire Magazine. “[Joel and Ellie] didn’t shoot anything out of their eyeballs. They were just people. And that, in and of itself, is remarkably rare in games. The fact that they kept it so grounded, and really made you feel – I had never experienced anything like it, and I’ve been playing video games since 1977.”

Joining Pascal (Joel) and Bella Ramsey (Ellie) include Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Anna Torv as Tess, Nico Parker as Sarah, Murray Bartlett as Frank, Nick Offerman as Bill, Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen, Storm Reid as Riley, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, Lamar Johnson as Henry, Keivonn Woodard as Sam, Graham Greene as Marlon, and Elaine Miles as Florence. Original game stars Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, having played the part of Ellie and Joel in both video games, are also set to appear.

The Last of Us is set to arrive across HBO and HBO Max on January 15th. The show’s first season is set to last nine episodes in total with new episodes rolling out on a weekly basis.