Following yesterday's news that Kaitlyn Dever has joined the cast of The Last of Us as Abby, today brings the exciting development that Beef breakout star Young Mazino will also be joining the second season in a key role.
Mazino joins Dever and stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey to continue the story of Joel and Ellie, two survivors of an apocalyptic pandemic that turns humans into violent, fungus-brained beasts. Variety have reported that Mazino will play Jesse, a key character from Naughty Dog's 2020 game The Last of Us: Part II, who's described as “a pillar of his community who puts everyone else’s needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost.”
According to Variety, series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann had this to say about the exciting casting news:
Young is one of those rare actors who is immediately undeniable the moment you see him [...] We’re so lucky to have him, and we can’t wait for the audience to see Young shine in our show.
Anybody who saw A24's Beef last year can surely attest - Mazino was a highlight in the chaotic story of Steven Yeun and Ali Wong's road-rage induced spiral into madness.
Sadly, we might still be waiting a while for the second season of HBO's record-breaking show - early last year, Ramsey teased that we probably won't see anything until early 2025. The silver lining, however, is that the second season won't be the end of the show, as Mazin and Druckmann have already confirmed the second game is being adapted into "more than one" season.
Whatever the case, Season 2 of The Last of Us is quickly shaping up to be just as epic as the first - we'll keep bringing you the updates as and when we get them.
