The Last of Us: actress Merle Dandridge reprising role from video game

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

So this is pretty cool! Deadline reports that actress Merle Dandridge will reprise her role from the original 2014 The Last of US Playstation video game in the upcoming HBO live-action series as "Marlene, the head of the Fireflies, a resistance movement struggling for freedom against an oppressive military regime." 

Honestly, this is pretty awesome, as Dandridge did a great job voice acting in the game, and I can't imagine she won't also kill it in the HBO series. It's also worth noting that – despite the fact that there's tons of mocap involved in the gaming industry which makes a lot of video game characters end up resembling their actors – it's actually pretty rare for them to reprise their roles in other media (in fact, Ed Boon voicing Scorpion in the OG Mortal Kombat films is the only example that currently come to mind at the moment, and even that's kind of a stretch).

Meanwhile, no official release date for The Last of Us series – also starring Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie – but we'll keep you posted!

Here's the official synopsis:

The series takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival

So what do you guys think? Fans of the games? If so, looking forward to the series? Either way, sound off below!