The Last of Us Confirms a Matrix Star Will Appear as Surprising Game Character

Actor Joe Pantoliano, who audiences might know from his roles in The Matrix, Memento, and more, has been confirmed to be part of the cast for The Last of Us Season 2. According to Variety, he will be playing Eugene, a character who is only referenced in the video game The Last of Us Part II. The outlet notes that showrunner Craig Mazin expressed interest in expanding Eugene’s role for the TV adaptation, drawing a comparison to what he did with Bill and Frank in the first season. The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann was immediately onboard with the idea.

“I get excited when I see these opportunities,” Druckmann said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t know Eugene that well!’ The story we told [in the game] was somewhat superficial. The way this character comes in really gets to the heart of Joel and Ellie and their relationship.”

The Last of Us Season 2 is scheduled to premiere on HBO on Sunday, April 13th. The marketing campaign for the acclaimed show’s return is in full effect, as last month saw the release of a new trailer that highlighted how the creative team is planning to bring some of the game’s most iconic moments to life. It has been confirmed that The Last of Us Season 2 will consist of seven episodes.

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Ahead of Season 2’s debut, HBO has teased their plans for the series moving forward. The network expects The Last of Us to end after four seasons; it’s believed that Season 2 will not adapt the entirety of the second game. Druckmann has indicated it’s not a guarantee that The Last of Us Part III will happen, which suggests any subsequent seasons of the TV show will be drawing from Part II.

Based on Mazin’s track record, the prospect of him expanding upon a minor Last of Us Part II character (one gamers didn’t even get to see) is exciting. The aforementioned Bill and Frank episode, “Long, Long Time” was arguably the most acclaimed of Season 1, with Nick Offerman winning an Emmy for his performance (he beat his co-star Murray Bartlett in the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series category). It’ll be fascinating to see what Mazin is able to accomplish with Eugene and if it delivers similar results. In the game, players only learn little bits about the character’s life through a conversation between Ellie and Dina, so the showrunners are working with a relatively clean slate to take the story in a fresh direction. Knowing that Eugene’s role is somehow connected to the Joel/Ellie dynamic at the center of The Last of Us is intriguing, as it has the potential to add to the drama in a meaningful way.

Using the TV show as a playground to explore different threads of the Last of Us story is a great use of the medium. If the series was just a beat-for-beat recreation of the games, it would have been underwhelming and a wasted opportunity. This is another illustration of how Druckmann and Mazin are taking advantage of the TV format to craft an engaging narrative for newcomers and longtime fans alike. And Pantoliano should prove to be a seamless fit in the show’s cast. Over the course of his career, he’s played everything from villains to law enforcement officials, so he should have no trouble inhabiting whatever personality Eugene has.