The third episode of The Last of Us TV show was a complete success. Much of the good reviews the episode received came from actors Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman’s portrayals of Frank and Bill, respectively. However, Bill could have been different, since the production preferred to use a gay actor, but Nick Offerman changed their minds.
Thanks to The Last of Us game and show, we know that Bill and Frank are a gay couple. It is well known that to play a character it is not necessary for the actor or actress to share their sexual orientation, just as they do not share their behavior, way of being or ideas.
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The Last of Us wanted to encourage representation of the LGBT community
However, screenwriter and executive producer Craig Mazin confessed that for The Last of Us they planned to cast actors who identified with these characters in favor of inclusion and for the LGBT community to feel represented and have visibility. There are examples in which the opposite happens (be it with gender, skin color, etc.) and in any case it generates controversy.
“It’s a new concept. (…) When you audition, you do your best to cast actors who are representative of the characters they’re playing in one important way or another,” Mazin said.
In the latest edition of the official podcast of the HBO series, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin mentioned that they were “very motivated” to cast gay actors, in order for the show to be inclusive in the sense that the actors are similar to their characters at least in their orientation. Probably for this very reason, Bella Ramsey was chosen to play Ellie, as we remember that the actress identifies as non-binary.
In case you missed it: Bill and Frank actors in The Last of Us imagine that a spin-off of the characters’ story would be great.
Bill Offerman and Mazin changed the mind of the production of The Last of Us
As you may recall, actor Con O’Neill (who, judging by Mazin’s comments, is not straight) was originally cast as Frank. However, due to scheduling problems O’Neill had to be replaced due to scheduling problems and then Nick Offerman was considered, a heterosexual actor who ultimately ended up taking the role.
As it did? Well, Mazin says that Offerman rightly mentioned that he could interpret the character and that the key was simply doing the interpretation correctly.
“But for Nick and I, straight men, it was important to say, ‘Look, we can do this work, we can tell stories with these characters. The key is to do your homework and you have to talk to people who have stepped into the shoes of these characters. and, more importantly, you have to give them space to tell you when you did it right and when you did it wrong, and you have to listen,'” Mazin said.
Mazin reports that not only was Bartlett a married middle-aged gay man, but so were Peter Hoar (project manager), Timothy Good (editor), and Cecil O’Connor (producer manager). Thus, in the end it was more about projecting an elderly love and not so much his homosexual condition, although it is clear that the team was also useful to support Offerman with the interpretation of the homosexual character.
What do you think of this case from The Last of Us TV show? Tell us in the comments.
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