Who plays David in The Last of Us HBO show? The long-awaited adaptation is about to reach its climax, but who portrays David in the TV show?
The Last of Us – one of the most acclaimed titles of the 2010s and a generation-defining game – is being given the prestige, big-budget television treatment on HBO.
Developed by the game’s creator and Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann, alongside Chernobyl maestro Craig Mazin, it’s been one of the most anticipated TV events of 2023, bringing the “best video game story ever told” to the screen.
The original game follows Joel and Ellie on a life-or-death, cross-country trip across an America ravaged by a brutal virus, where they meet David – so, who plays him in The Last of Us HBO show?
Who plays David in The Last of Us?
David is being played by Scott Shepherd in HBO’s The Last of Us.
While it was officially unconfirmed for a while who would be playing David, many assumed that it would be Shepherd, as in the trailers for the show, a group of men are briefly seen armed with guns in a snowy locale. This matches up with Joel and Ellie’s encounter with David and his hunters in the game, and in another brief shot, we see Shepherd striking a cleaver down beside Ellie’s face, which seemed to confirm his role.
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TLOU HBO vs GameTroy Baker (James?) is part of Scott Shepherd's gangSupposedly David pic.twitter.com/IA341paL0e
— Look for the Light (@TheLastofUsNews) December 4, 2022
And now we know for certain after seeing the trailer for Episode 8 that Shepherd is playing David, as he says to Ellie, “You won’t survive long out there. There’s room for you in our group if you want.”
The trailer shows all the known David scenes, which we won’t spoil for those who haven’t played the game, but get ready to feel very shaken.
Scott Shepherd is known for his previous roles on Bridge of Spies, The Young Pope, and Radium Girls, and from the looks of the trailer, he’s about to be very good (or rather, very bad) as David.
The trailer also shows a familiar face: Troy Baker as James, which is obviously a departure from the role he originally played in the video game.
The Last of Us Episode 8 will premiere on HBO on March 5. You can find out more about the show here, and check out the rest of our coverage here.