HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us has added a new character to its cast, but it’s nobody we’ve heard of from the games. Brad Leland, best known for his work on Friday Night Lights, confirmed during an interview on the AListProductions Youtube channel that he’d been shooting for the series in Canada.
If you take a look at the show’s IMDB page, Leland is listed to appear in at least one episode as Mr. Adler, while over on The Last of Us Updates account on Twitter, photos emerged of the crew arriving in Calgary’s Lord Shaughnessy High School, suggesting that the location would double for Sarah Miller’s school, Joel’s daughter.
Out front, a yellow school bus is parked with a Texas number plate. These pictures seemingly validate the theory that Leland will be playing a schoolteacher.
In another photo, a casting call was made for high school students between the ages of 15-19 within the area for a TV Series. The prologue of the original game is set in Texas, and it’s a short sequence that culminates with a tragic death.
While a high school doesn’t feature in this prologue, Joel, Ellie, and Bill navigate one during a section later in the game, featuring a bloater in a gymnasium. It’s likely then that the adaptation will flesh out the world of The Last of Us before in greater detail.
“In this case, I’m doing it with the guy who did it, and so the changes that we’re making are designed to fill things out and expand, not to undo, but rather to enhance” said co-creator Craig Mazin last year.
Last month, the first official image of Joel and Ellie was revealed as part of Naughty Dog’s annual ‘Outbreak Day’ celebration. The image features both Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey at the bottom of a valley, looking out at a downed jet.
