HBO’s The Last of Us has officially cast Henry and Sam, the brothers who star in one of the original game’s most famous storylines.
IGN can exclusively reveal that Henry will be played by Lamar Johnson, while his younger brother, Sam, will be portrayed by Keivonn Woodard.
In addition to Henry and Sam, Graham Greene and Elaine Miles will guest star as Marlon and Florence, two new characters being added to the series for the first time.
Spoiler Warning: Potential small spoilers for HBO Max’s The Last of Us follow.
The official release describes the brothers this way:
Lamar Johnson as Henry and Keivonn Woodard as Sam, brothers in Kansas City hiding from a revolutionary movement seeking vengeance.
Fans of the original game will recall that Joel and Ellie meet Henry and Sam in Pittsburgh, where they work together to evade human hunters and infected alike while bonding over philosophical discussions about religion. Henry was played by Brandon Scott in the original game while Sam was played by Nadji Jeter.
In the HBO adaptation, Joel and Ellie apparently encounter Henry and Sam in Kansas City instead of Pittsburgh while the hunters are more clearly defined. Little else has been revealed about the plot, though Pedro Pascal, who plays Joel, is confident it can live up to the legacy of the original game.
The new characters, Marlon and Florence are described as “a married couple surviving alone in the wilderness of post-apocalyptic Wyoming.”
Pascal was previously revealed to be playing Joel while Bella Ramsey takes on the role of Ellie. Pascal has said he purposely hasn’t finished the original game so that he can avoid imitating Troy Baker’s performance as Joel.
Gabriel Luna will play Joel’s brother, Tommy – while Tommy’s original actor will also a brand new role. Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, who featured in the original game, will also have so-far-unannounced roles.
The Last of Us has been steadily revealing more of its characters and plot ahead of its expected 2023 release. In the meantime, Naughty Dog is preparing to release a remake of The Last of Us for PlayStation 5. It’ll be out September 2.
Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.