HBO’s The Last of Us has featured expertly cast cameos from the original stars of the Naughty Dog games, from Ashley Johnson (Ellie) to Troy Baker (Joel), Merle Dandridge (Marlene) to Jeffrey Pierce (Tommy).
And the series’ highly emotional finale featured a real treat for fans of The Last of Us Part II: a cameo from Laura Bailey, who played complicated antagonist Abby Anderson in the game’s sequel.
In the final sequence during Joel’s rampage through the Firefly hospital, during which he kills countless Fireflies on his path to rescue Ellie from the surgery that could save humankind (but not Ellie), Joel burst into the operating theatre. As Ellie lies sedated on the operating table, a doctor and two nurses are prepping for the procedure. Joel hardly gives the doctor time to react before shooting him dead, and the two nurses stand trembling as he unhooks Ellie from the machines.
One of these nurses is played by Laura Bailey, who voiced Abby in the game. Abby’s character is one of the more morally complex and deliberately polarising of the games, especially given her actions at the beginning of the game — including her link to his very scene in the hospital.
Credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO
Exactly why this cameo is so fitting, I’ll leave ambiguous for now, as it’s going to be one of the big twists of Season 2.
Whether or not Bailey will also make an appearance in Season 2 remains to be seen — and director Craig Mazin and co-creator Neil Druckmann haven’t ruled out casting her in another role. “I mean, she’s got a mask on, so we can make her anything we want in the next season,” Mazin told a press conference, as reported by EW(Opens in a new tab).
Druckmann also reportedly spoke about Bailey’s first visit to the set, and hinted at its importance. “[Bailey] sent me this very, very funny picture that she took the day that they shot that scene,” he said. “Because again, for those that know who she plays in the in the next story, it’s very much related to that operating room. So maybe when the season’s over, I’ll tweet that picture up for her.”
Season 1 of The Last of Us is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
