Hollywood actor John Goodman is joining the cast of HBO’s The Last of Us for its third season alongside video game stars Laura Bailey and Ian Alexander.
Goodman will play Joey, one half of a duo known as the “Heroes of the Highway” in the post-apocalyptic drama, which is based on Sony’s popular PlayStation video game franchise.
Ian Alexander will portray Paco, Joey’s partner in the duo. Alexander is already familiar to fans of the franchise, having voiced and portrayed Lev in The Last of Us Part II video game.
Alexander is also known for his role as Buck Vu in the television series The OA.
Laura Bailey, another major name from the video game franchise, will play Elizabeth, one of the leaders of the Seraphites, a religious group featured in The Last of Us Part II.
Bailey originally provided the voice and performance for Abby in The Last of Us Part II. Her other credits include voicing characters in The Legend of Vox Machina and playing Mary Jane Watson in the 2023 video game Spider-Man 2.
The casting marks an interesting reunion between the video game performers and the live-action adaptation, giving fans another opportunity to see familiar voices and performers from the games take on new roles in the HBO series.
Other newly announced Season 3 cast members include Clea DuVall, Patrick Wilson, Jason Ritter, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Michelle Mao and Kyriana Kratter.
Returning stars include Kaitlyn Dever, Bella Ramsey, Isabella Merced, Gabriel Luna and Jeffrey Wright, while Ariela Barer, Tati Gabrielle and Spencer Lord have been promoted to series regulars.
The Last of Us follows survivors navigating a devastated United States after a widespread infection transforms much of the population into zombie-like creatures. The series was created by Craig Mazin and The Last of Us game creator Neil Druckmann.
Season 3 is expected to return to HBO in 2027 and could potentially serve as the show’s final season.
Druckmann was previously announced to be stepping away from the television series ahead of the third season, leaving Mazin as the sole showrunner. Mazin will also continue writing and executive producing the show.
The addition of Goodman, Bailey and Alexander adds another layer of connection between the television adaptation and the original games as the HBO series continues expanding the story and its cast.
