The third episode of The Last of Us continues to give something to talk about. In this installment, the creators of the series decided to leave Joel and Ellie in the background to focus on Bill and Frank. The chapter was not only acclaimed for its theme, emotion and realization, but especially for the work of its protagonists: Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett.
However, the casting story could have been very different. At least when it comes to the role of Bill, since Nick Offerman confessed that he was about to turn it down. Had it happened, and in view of the final result that we saw last Sunday, today it is impossible to think who else could have captured the essence of the curmudgeon, but in love, survivor.
In an interview in Jimmy Kimmel Live, the actor commented that he was willing to pass up the opportunity to participate in The Last of Us. But not for lack of interest, but because his schedule was too crowded to join the HBO and HBO Max series. However, the providential intervention of his wife, the actress and comedian Megan Mullally, was crucial for him to join the cast led by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
The Last of Us is the premiere of the year and you can only see it on HBO Max
“When Craig Mazin sent me the script, I didn’t have room on my calendar to say yes to this job. But my amazing goddess of a wife read it and said, You’re going to Calgary, man, have fun. You have to do this,” explained Nick Offerman.
In addition, the actor remarked that when he read the plot of the third episode of The Last of Us, he knew that it would cause a tsunami of emotions in the audience. In this sense, he highlighted the work of Craig Mazin when it comes to creating deep and high-impact stories. “That guy seems to know what he’s doing,” Offerman remarked glowingly.
Due to an old addiction to video games, Nick Offerman did not play The Last of Us
Ever since The Last of Us came to HBO and HBO Max, it has become recurring that its actors and actresses are asked if they played the video games on which it is based. In the case of Nick Offerman, he acknowledged that he never tried Naughty Dog’s PlayStation titles, but for a curious reason: an old addiction to Banjo-Kazooie.
This peculiar confession was also made during his appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show. “25 years ago I played my last video game. I’m very forgiving and I wasted a couple of weeks with a game called Banjo-Kazooie. Two weeks went by and I was like: Oh my gosh, this slow dopamine drip is so delicious. Then it was over, and I said: Yes, I won, and immediately I thought: What have I done with my life? So I decided that I would never do that again; and I was lucky, because the games have become so good, like The Last of Us, that I think today I would be in a basement and not even go to audition for shows like that, ”she assured.
Beyond their inexperience with video games, Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett’s contribution to The Last of Us has left its mark. Not only because Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin were encouraged to explore the story of Bill and Frank from a different perspective than the original video game, but because it is already considered one of the best episodes of a series in TV history. And as if watching last Sunday wasn’t enough, there’s a version of the third episode that’s two hours long, but it’s probably never going to be released.
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