The Last of Us adaptation has been blowing fans’ minds on a weekly basis. What they love about it is that for the most part, the series really stuck with its source material and paid homage to the game. Another is by casting one of the game’s lead voice actors in episode four, “Please to my Hand.”
Jeffrey Pierce is best known as the voice of Tommy in the Naughty Dog franchise, and the actor was so phenomenal in the role that he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the British Academy Video Games Awards in 2020 for The Last of Us II.
Pierce has been an onscreen actor since 1997, and has appeared in a number of well-recognized franchises such as The West Wing, Criminal Minds, and Castle. Though he is not playing the role he so famously voiced in the game in live-action, it is fitting to have him involved. This may have come about due to the game’s co-creator Neil Druckmann being an executive producer on the show and, having worked with Pierce on the game, likely pulled him in.
We are introduced to Pierce in episode four, where he plays one of Kathleen’s henchmen, Perry. In the episode, Joel and Ellie make their way through Kansas city where they are ambushed by bandits, after killing them and running away they are then pursued by Kathleen and her bandits who believe that they may know a man named Henry whom she is searching for. Perry is Kathleen’s right-hand man, and in the episode discovers that the infected have started to enter the city. He is ordered to stay quiet until Henry has been found.
It’s great to see the game’s actors getting some screen time in the show, a show that only exists because the game – and their performance in it – was so enthralling. Recently, one of the voice actors, Annie Wersching, who was the voice and motion capture actress for Tess, recently passed away from cancer shocking friends and fans who had had no idea. To honor her memory the third episode of The Last of Us was dedicated to her.