Get to know The Last of Us cast salaries per episode, their net worth, ages, relationships and more interesting facts about them.
The Last of Us (TV series)
The Last of Us is an HBO post-apocalyptic drama series created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. Based on Naughty Dog’s 2013 video game, the series takes place in 2023, twenty years after a global pandemic caused by a mass fungal infection that forces its hosts to transform into zombie-like creatures and collapses society.
The show follows Joel (Pedro Pascal), a smuggler tasked with transporting the adolescent Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across a post-apocalyptic America. Nico Parker portrays Joel’s daughter Sarah, Gabriel Luna portrays Joel’s younger brother Tommy, Merle Dandridge portrays resistance leader Marlene, and Anna Torv portrays Joel’s smuggler partner Tess.
The Last of Us was shot in Alberta from July 2021 to June 2022. It’s the first HBO show based on a video game, and it’s a collaboration between Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Naughty Dog, the Mighty Mint, and Word Games. Druckmann, who wrote and co-directed the original game, helped Mazin with scriptwriting for the first season’s nine episodes. Gustavo Santaolalla, who also composed for the game, and David Fleming collaborated on the score.
The Last of Us premiered on January 15, 2023, with weekly episodes following. Critics praised the performances, writing, production design, and score, and several called it the best live-action adaptation of a video game.
The series premiere was watched by 4.7 million viewers on the first day across linear channels and HBO Max—the second-highest for HBO since 2010—and over 22 million within twelve days. The series was renewed for a second season in January 2023.
The Last of Us Cast
Main
Pedro Pascal plays Joel, a hardened middle-aged survivor tormented by his past trauma. Joel is tasked with getting a young girl named Ellie out of a quarantine zone and across the country.
Unlike in the games, where Joel had to demonstrate near-superhuman abilities in order for the player to progress, he is more vulnerable in the series—he is deaf in one ear due to a gunshot, and his knees ache when he stands.
Pascal became available for a new series following the release of The Mandalorian’s second season, attracting several offers from large networks, among which he chose The Last of Us, partly to work with co-creator Craig Mazin. Mazin and co-creator Neil Druckmann had been thinking about Pascal for a while.
Within 24 hours, he accepted the role, and the Mandalorian producers granted Pascal permission to work on the series. He reportedly earns $600,000 per episode, making him one of America’s highest-paid television stars. Pascal was cast because of his ability to portray a tough, tortured, and vulnerable character who suppresses his emotions until absolutely necessary.
Pascal, a non-gamer, watched his nephew play the first game because he lacked the skill to play it himself; he found Joel to be “so impressive” but was concerned about imitating the games too closely, instead choosing to “create a healthy distance” and leave the characterization to the showrunners.
Pascal based Joel’s voice on his own experiences growing up in San Antonio, Texas, and toned it down from the game’s Southern accent. Joel is played by Troy Baker in the video games.
Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey, is a 14-year-old girl who exhibits much defiance and anger but has a private need for kinship and belonging.
She is immune to Cordyceps infection and could hold the key to developing a vaccine. She is a lesbian, in keeping with the games.
Ellie was considered by 105 actors; the producers wanted a performer who could portray a resourceful, quirky, and potentially violent character. They spoke with David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the showrunners of Game of Thrones, who assured them of Ramsey’s talent after watching her audition tape.
Ramsey was cast in the role less than a month after auditioning. She found out about her casting while working on another project. She described the show as “the biggest thing [she has] ever done,” and was relieved to learn Pascal would be performing alongside her throughout the experience.
Ramsey was aware of the game prior to her audition, but was advised not to play it in order to avoid reproducing the original performance; instead, she watched some gameplay on YouTube to “get a sense of it”; she had not played it after filming the series.
Ramsey desired for her performance to be reminiscent of the games without being a carbon copy of them. Ramsey, who is English, had to learn an American accent and cut off over 15 inches of hair for the role. Ashley Johnson plays Ellie in the video games.
The Last of Us Cast Salary per episode
Bella Ramsey Salary
Main actress Bella Ramsey, who plays Ellie in The Last of Us, reportedly earns $750k per episode. Ramsey is an English actor who is known for her breakthrough role as young noblewoman Lyanna Mormont in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones.
Pedro Pascal Salary per episode
Pedro Pascal, who plays Joel, reportedly earns $650k per episode. Pascal is a Chilean and American actor who after nearly two decades of taking small roles in film and television, Pascal rose to prominence for portraying Oberyn Martell during the fourth season of the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones and Javier Peña in the Netflix crime series Narcos.
Gabriel Luna Salary per episode
Gabriel Luna, who plays Tommy Miller, reportedly earns $50,000 per episode of The Last of Us. Luna is an American actor and producer who is known for his roles as Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider on the ABC action superhero series Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony Bravo on the El Rey Network drama series Matador, Paco Contreras on the ABC crime drama series Wicked City, Rev-9 in the Terminator film Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), and Tommy in the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us.
Merle Dandridge Salary per episode
Actress Merle Dandridge, who plays Marlene, reportedly earns $30k per episode for the show. Dandridge is an American actress and singer who is best known for performing in Broadway musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Spamalot, Rent, and Once on This Island, as well as her video game roles as Alyx Vance in Half-Life 2 and Marlene in the The Last of Us franchise.
Anna Torv Salary per episode
The Last Of Us actress Anna Torv, who plays Tess, is reportedly paid $23k per episode. Torv is an Australian actress who is known for her roles as Olivia Dunham on the Fox science fiction series Fringe, Wendy Carr in the Netflix crime thriller series Mindhunter, and Tess in the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us.
Nico Parker Salary per episode
Actress Nico Parker, who plays Sarah, reportedly earns $26,000 per episode for the show. Parker is a British actress who made her film debut as Milly Farrier in the Walt Disney Pictures film Dumbo, directed by Tim Burton. She is the daughter of film director and screenwriter Ol Parker and actress Thandiwe Newton.
Murray Bartlett Salary per episode
Murray Bartlett, who plays Frank, reportedly earns $20k per episode of The Last Of Us. Bartlett (born 20 March 1971) is an Australian actor who is best known for his roles as Dom Basaluzzo in the HBO comedy-drama series Looking (2014–2015), Mouse Tolliver in the Netflix revival of Tales of the City (2019), Armond in the first season of the HBO dark comedy series The White Lotus (2021), Vinnie Green in the Apple TV+ series Physical (2022), Nick De Noia in the Hulu miniseries Welcome to Chippendales (2022), and Frank in the episode “Long, Long Time” of the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us (2023).
Nick Offerman Salary per episode
Nick Offerman, who plays Bill, reportedly earns $18k per episode for the show. Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and carpenter who is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, for which he received the Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy and was twice nominated for the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Storm Reid Salary per episode
Storm Reid, who plays Riley Abel, reportedly earns $12k per episode of The Last of Us. Reid is an American actress who after playing a small role in the television film A Cross to Bear, Reid made her acting debut with an appearance in the period drama film 12 Years a Slave.
