The Last of Us Reportedly Looking to Cast Catherine O'Hara for Season 2

Famed actress Catherine O'Hara is reportedly being eyed to join the cast of The Last of Us for Season 2. In just a few short weeks, HBO has confirmed that filming on the next wave of episodes for The Last of Us will begin. As production has continued to draw near, new cast members such as Kaitlyn Dever (Abby), Young Mazino (Jesse), and Isabela Merced (Dina) have all been announced to be joining the acclaimed show. Now, O'Hara seems to be in talks to also play a part in Season 2, although she seemingly won't be playing a character that has appeared in the video games. 

According to reporter Daniel Richtman, O'Hara is in talks to join The Last of Us as the character Gail, who will seemingly appear in three episodes of the series. O'Hara, who is most well-known for her work in Schitt's Creek and Home Alone, hasn't officially signed on just yet, which means that this role could end up going to someone else. Assuming that she does end up appearing in Season 2, though, she would join the likes of Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, Storm Reid, Jeffrey Pierce, and Melanie Lynskey as cast members who only starred in a limited number of episodes. 

As mentioned, the role of Gail that O'Hara might play is one that isn't from The Last of Us Part II video game. With this in mind, it's hard to know if O'Hara's character would be an ally of Joel and Ellie or if she would instead portray an antagonist. It's worth noting that introducing new characters to the world of The Last of Us is something that showrunners Craig Mazin in Neil Druckmann also did in Season 1. To hear that this is likely to transpire again in Season 2 isn't much of a surprise, but this is one of our first potential confirmations of such happening.

For the time being, it's not known when exactly The Last of Us Season 2 will premiere. Filming for the second season is expected to last most of 2024, which has led to HBO already verifying that the show won't return until 2025. A more well-defined window within the coming year has yet to be detailed, but we should learn more about Season 2's arrival in the months ahead.