From Ashley Johnson and Laura Bailey to Troy Baker and Jeffrey Pierce, here’s what you should know about all the cameos in Season 1 of HBO’s The Last of Us.
Over the course of its first season, HBO’s The Last of Us has repeatedly gone out of its way to honor the 2013 video game that inspired it. Not only has the critically acclaimed, postapocalyptic series stayed surprisingly faithful to its source material. but it’s also included references to the original Last of Us that only longtime fans of the property could catch. From a child’s drawing on a wall to a specific needle drop in its seventh episode, The Last of Us has snuck in plenty of deep-cut Easter eggs throughout its first season.
The live-action series has also featured a handful of cameo appearances from actors who were involved in the Last of Us video games. Here’s what new fans of the series should know about the cameos in question, including one actor’s major, but easy-to-miss appearance in the Last of Us season 1 finale.
Note: This article features spoilers for The Last of Us season finale.Ashley Johnson as Anna
The Last of Us episode 9 opens with a surprising flashback. The season finale’s opening minutes follow Anna Williams, the mother of Bella Ramsey’s Ellie, as she not only gives birth to her daughter, but also experiences the infected attack that resulted in her death. By the end of the tragic sequence, viewers finally know, among other things, how Ellie was born, how her mother died, and how Ellie’s immunity was (accidentally) created.
The sequence would be noteworthy for just those reasons alone. However, what new fans of The Last of Us might not realize is that Ellie’s mother, Anna, is played by none other than Ashley Johnson. The BAFTA-winning actress portrayed Ellie in both of the original Last of Us video games, as well as the series’ 2014 DLC, Left Behind.
