HBO’s live-action The Last of Us show is shooting its second season now. Casting news for the its take on The Last of Us Part II has been gradually rolling out, with No One Can Save You’s Kaitlyn Dever joining the series as co-protagonist Abby, and Madame Web’s Isabela Merced and Beef’s Young Mazino starring as Ellie’s friends Dina and Jesse, respectively. Now, we’ve got four more casting announcements to fill out Abby’s friend group from the Seattle settlement—specifically, Owen, Mel, Nora, and Manny.
The announcement first came from Max’s social media accounts, with a Variety story confirming the roles. Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick) will play Abby’s promiscuous roommate and best friend Manny, Tati Gabrielle (You) will star as Washington Liberation Front medic Nora, and Ariela Barer and Spencer Lord round out the Seattle crew as Mel and Owen, the other corners in Abby’s love triangle. This does still leave a few of Abby’s friends, including Jordan, Nick, and Leah, without known actors. But now that casting has started focusing on Abby’s friends instead of Ellie’s, those announcements are likely on the way—unless those characters are cut from the show entirely.
Anyone who’s played The Last of Us Part II knows that these folks are Ellie’s targets in a revenge tour that takes her from her home in Jackson, Wyoming, to the warzone that is post-apocalyptic Seattle. It’s unclear right now just which parts of this story we’ll see in season two, as showrunner Craig Mazin has said the events of Part II will likely span multiple seasons. I’m still waiting for confirmation as to who is going to play Lev (I would love for Ian Alexander to reprise their role), but considering how Part II’s story is structured, I could see him not showing up until a third season if season two ends where I suspect it will. So that news might still be a year or so away.
The first season of The Last of Us has been winning its fair share of awards, including Pedro Pascal winning for his role as Joel at the SAG Awards.