At least one cast member from The Last of Us will be reprising her role for HBO’s TV adaptation. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Merle Dandridge will once again play Marlene in the upcoming series.
Dandridge provided the voice and motion capture for Marlene in both The Last of Us and its sequel. Some of her other video game credits include playing Alyx Vance in Half-Life 2 and Evelyn in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Dandridge also appeared on HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant and has shown up in episodes of The Night Shift and Sons of Anarchy.
Marlene was introduced in the first Last of Us as the leader of the Fireflies, the militia group that rebelled against aggressive military action following the outbreak of the cordyceps virus. Prior to the events of the game, she was friends with Ellie’s mom, Anna, and became a surrogate mother figure to Ellie after Anna passed away. Marlene was also the one who introduced Ellie to Joel and eventually tasked him with smuggling her across the country.
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Earlier this year, HBO chose Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey to headline The Last of Us as Joel and Ellie, respectively. Gabriel Luna subsequently joined the cast as Joel’s brother Tommy. Craig Mazin is co-writing the show with Naughty Dog president Neil Druckmann, who also co-directed the video games. The series’ directing team includes the likes of Kantemir Balagov, Jasmila Žbanić, and Ali Abbasi.
HBO still hasn’t announced a premiere date for The Last of Us. However, the series will reportedly begin filming this summer.
Are you happy to hear that Dandridge is coming back to play Marlene on the series? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!
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