Nick Offerman was surprised at The Last of Us episode’s “Game of Thrones-level” success
By Daniel Roman
HBO’s zombie drama The Last of Us made enormous waves when it released earlier this year, eclipsing even the network’s lauded Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon in ratings. Adapting the beloved video game by Naughty Dog was no small task, but clearly HBO was up to it.
One of the surprise hits of the series was its third episode, “Long, Long Time,” which featured Nick Offerman as the post-apocalyptic prepper Bill and Murray Bartlett as his lover Frank. The episode watches almost like a short film, with the majority of its 73-minute runtime depicting Bill and Frank’s love story developing over the course of decades. And while it was a marked departure from Bill and Frank’s story in the video game, it added a level of depth to the characters that people really appreciated.
Nick Offerman was “quite taken aback” by The Last of Us Episode 3’s success
Offerman opened up about his reaction to the overwhelmingly positive response to the episode during a recent interview with The Guardian, saying that he was “quite taken aback at the Game of Thrones-level tsunami of approbation.” Offerman’s wife, fellow actor and comedian Megan Mullally, had “said she was going to start calling me ‘Episode Three Offerman.’”
Offerman recalled that filming the episode was “like making a Sundance movie. It was treated by the entire production [crew] like the exquisite hit that it became.” He was initially hooked by the script, saying he “knew it was going to be trouble.”
"There was nothing to do but to ask Megan to read it. Because my options were either to say: ‘Honey, I just read a very good script that’s going to screw up the calendar for a month’, or say, ‘Will you please read this and let me know what you think?’ She read it and said: ‘Sorry buddy, you’re going to Calgary to shoot this show.’"
The overwhelming response to “Long, Long Time” has undoubtedly been a good thing for Offerman’s career, which was already impressive after his run as fan-favorite woodsman Ron Swanson on Parks & Recreation. He’s keeping a pretty level head about it all. “I’m not choosing from a raft of scripts and saying: ‘Should I play this Marvel hero? Should I be the next Bond?’ Or should I do this character role?’”
Not having Marvel banging down his door doesn’t bother Offerman; both he and Mullally try to “go with our gut” when it comes to selecting what roles to take. “We also have a No-Assholes policy, wherever we can manage it.”
And in those few moments when doubts creep in, Offerman says he tries to “stop and think and look at the bigger picture. I mean, I thought my life had peaked when I became Mr Megan Mullally, I had a wood shop and I was getting guest-star jobs on ER and The West Wing. So I just keep listening to my gut. The worst-case scenario? I’ll have some time off and get to build another canoe.”
Steven Spielberg liked The Last of Us so much he sent a letter to the showrunner
Among the high-profile fans of “Long, Long Time”? Steven Spielberg, director of Jaws, the Indiana Jones films, Schindler’s List, and a bunch of other movies that have had a big role in shaping modern cinema. According to “Long, Long Time” director Peter Hoar, Spielberg liked the episode so much he sent a letter of congratulations to showrunner Craig Mazin:
"Well, I didn’t get it directly, but an actual Spielberg letter came to Craig Mazin, the writer of my episode on The Last of Us — the writer of all the episodes. He shared it with myself, Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett and [cinematographer] Eben Bolter. Basically, a whole group of middle-aged men started squealing because their idol had realized who they were. I think he probably knew who everyone else was, but he didn’t know who I was. And now he’s probably forgotten."
The Last of Us season 1 is streaming now on Max. Season 2 is currently on hold due to the WGA writers’ strike. We don’t expect Offerman to return for the second season, but Bill and Frank’s shadow will continue to loom large.
Next. Pedro Pascal still hasn’t watched The Last of Us finale. dark
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