Catherine O'Hara, star of HBO's The Last of Us, has passed away at the age of 71 on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, according to a report from Deadline.
At the time of publishing, few details about O'Hara's death have been reported, but Deadline confirmed with her representation that O'Hara passed away in Los Angeles after a "brief illness."
With such shocking and awful news, it's challenging to fully put into words what O'Hara means to me and the fans of the shows and movies she's worked on. From Beetlejuice to Home Alone to Schitt's Creek to The Studio and many, many more, O'Hara has always been one of the funniest and best actors we've had the pleasure to watch over the years.
O'Hara recently starred in The Last of Us season 2 as Gail, a therapist of sorts for Joel, Ellie, and the rest of the community in Jackson, Wyoming. While she wasn't in every episode of the second season, O'Hara was clearly one of the standout performers of the season and a scene-stealer.
Most of O'Hara's storyline during the season revolved around helping Joel, played by Pedro Pascal, admit what happened in the past that caused so much friction between Joel and Ellie (Bella Ramsey). Joel, who has trouble coming to terms with just what he's done, pays his therapist with small bags of marijuana. On top of all that, there's a lot of friction between O'Hara and Joel because Joel, as we find out later, killed Gail's husband, Eugene, played by Joe Pantoliano.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, O'Hara talked about the challenges of taking on such a serious role and filming those serious therapy scenes.
"It was intense. It takes a lot of [film] coverage. Craig was just very clear. He really knows what he's doing and what he wants to have happen. So you go there to someone's show and you have to give yourself to them. I'm the interloper. So I just put myself in his hands and he guided me, and just gave me gentle but clear notes all day long with a sense of humor. Pedro, of course, was really fun to spend the day with and then very intense by the end where he's defending his life for some reason. It was kind of scary because you want to do a good job joining someone's great show like that. I wanted to rise to the occasion."
Pedro Pascal, who shared all those scenes with O'Hara in the second season, posted a tribute to O'Hara on Instagram shortly after the news broke.
Pascal wrote: "Oh, genius to be near you. Eternally grateful. There is less light in my world, this lucky world that had you, will keep you, always. Always The one and ONLY #CatherineOHara"
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