Since The Last Of Us series began, Joel and Ellie have crossed paths with several new and familiar faces on their deadly adventures and the same can be said of episode 9 but who exactly appears in the cast?
In most cases of video game film or TV adaptations, the original cast of the game will often be side-lined in favor of some big-name stars and while HBO’s retelling of The Last Of Us has obviously recast its central characters, many of the original voice actors do still appear in one form or another.
Episode 9 of The Last Of Us is the perfect example of this as its cast features several actors who fans may know from the original games.
The Last Of Us episode 9 release date and plot preview
Episode 9 of The Last Of Us landed on HBO and HBO Max in the US on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
Titled Look For The Light, the episode pick up Joel and Ellie’s story several weeks after narrowly surviving their horrifying brush with David’s cannibalistic cult and sees the pair arrive in Salt Lake City at long last, the final destination in their search for the Fireflies.
From the very first episode, their whole journey and the ordeals they’ve faced along the way have led to this moment as Joel can finally deliver Ellie to the militia group who hope to use her immunity to develop a vaccine against the Cordyceps infection.
However, after forming an unexpected bond over the course of the past eight episodes, both Joel and Ellie must now face some unimaginable choices that could have far-reaching consequences.
The Last Of Us episode 9 cast
As has been the case throughout The Last Of Us, episode 9 sees Joel and Ellie cross paths with several new characters and there are a few familiar names among the cast.
Main cast
Guest stars
- Merle Dandridge as Marlene
- Ashley Johnson as Anna Williams
- Pardeep Singh Sooch as Firefly Soldier
- Andy McDermott as Firefly Soldier
- Primo Allon as Firefly Soldier
- Darren Dolynski as Surgeon
- Laura Bailey as Nurse
- Ana Rice as Nurse
- Kelsey Andries as Infected Woman
- Riley Davis as Young Firefly Soldier
Cast spotlight
Merle Dandridge as Marlene
We begin our cast rundown for episode 9 with a returning character in Marlene, who last appeared way back in episode 1.
Taking on the role is Merle Dandridge who actually played Marlene in the video game, making her the only original cast member to reprise their own role.
Dandridge is a veteran of almost 50 acting roles with some of her most notable appearances coming in Station 19, Truth Be Told, The Flight Attendant, Greenleaf, The Night Shift, Sons Of Anarchy and the video games Half-Life 2, Uncharted 4, and Hitman 3.
Read Related Also: Queen Elizabeth would’ve said Meghan Markle’s coronation absence was ‘probably for the best’: Diana’s ex-butler
Ashley Johnson as Anna Williams
Without doubt the biggest guest star to appear in episode 9 is Ashley Johnson as she voiced Ellie in the original game.
This time around, however, she fittingly portrays Ellie’s mother, Anna, who only featured in the game via a note that players could find in Ellie’s backpack.
Aside from her role in The Last Of Us and its sequel, Ashley Johnson has almost 150 roles to her name with notable appearances in Blindspot, Force Grey, Ben 10, The Legend Of Vox Machina, Teen Titans as well as Recess where she voiced Gretchen and the 90s series Growing Pains where she played Chrissy Seaver.
On top of that, Ashley is a regular contributor to the role-playing series Critical Role, having appeared in more than 300 episodes.
Darren Dolynski as Surgeon
Darren Dolynski is one of the few guest stars in episode 9 who did not have a role in the original video game. However, his appearance as the Surgeon is a vital one as it secretly sets up the story of The Last Of Us season 2.
Dolynski has appeared in a whopping 48 roles in his career with appearances in Stargate: Atlantis, TRON: Legacy, Once Upon A Time, 2014’s Godzilla, The Man In The High Castle, Supernatural, Altered Carbon and 2023’s Kung Fu.
Laura Bailey as Nurse
And finally, we end on another video game cameo role in the form of Laura Bailey who plays a nurse at St Mary’s Hospital.
Laura has had a prolific career as a voice actress and has starred in more than 500 roles but fans of The Last Of Us will know her best for portraying the character of Abby, a key element to the second game, while she also voiced several characters in the first game too.
Away from The Last Of Us, Laura Bailey has lent her voice to an almost endless array of projects from Dragon Ball Z, Resident Evil, Skyrim, Mass Effect 3 and Halo 4 to Bioshock: Infinite, Shadow Of Mordor, Uncharted 4, Naruto, The Legends Of Vox Machina and Critical Role where she appears alongside fellow Last Of Us star Ashley Johnson.
The Last Of Us concluded on HBO and HBO Max in the US on March 12 and for UK viewers able to watch via Sky Atlantic and NOW on March 13.
In other news, Who is Billy Hargrove from Stranger Things? Dacre Montgomery once starred in Power Rangers
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,script’,
‘
fbq(‘init’, ‘677672980820926’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
