Right on the heels of the announcement that Kaitlyn Dever will play Abby in The Last of Us Season 2, HBO has revealed another cast for the highly anticipated sequel.
Young Mazzino will play the role of Jesse, who, as those who played the second part of The Last of Us know, is a resident of Jackson and a friend of Ellie. As HBO describes, he is “a pillar of his community who puts everyone’s needs before his own, sometimes at great cost.”
“Young is one of those rare actors who is instantly undeniable the moment you see him,” executive producers/co-creators/writers/directors Craig Mazin and Neil Druckman said in a joint statement. “We are so lucky to have him, and we can’t wait for the audience to see Young shine on our show.
Mazzino’s biggest role to date was a featured role in the critically acclaimed Netflix comedy-drama Beef, in which he played the younger brother of Steven Yeun’s character. The show is up for a number of big awards at next week’s Primetime Emmys, including a nomination for Mazzino himself in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in the Movie, Limited or Anthology Series category.
It’s the latest development as The Last of Us continues to complete its Season 2 cast. However, perhaps no casting announcement has been quite as anticipated as Abby’s, and everyone from the game’s voice actress Laura Bailey to the show’s stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay were quick to show support for Dever.
We don’t know much about The Last of Us Season 2 yet, aside from the fact that it’s scheduled to debut sometime in 2025. Season 1 was, of course, a huge success, scoring multiple wins at Creative Arts over the weekend the past. Emmys and more at the Primetime Emmys.
It was also one of IGN’s favorite shows of 2023 – as was Beef – and we gave it a 9/10 in our Season 1 review.
Alex Stedman is a senior news editor at IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.