The Last of Us season 3 cast: Goodman, Bailey and Alexander
The Last of Us season 3 cast adds John Goodman, Laura Bailey and Ian Alexander. Who they play, when it airs in 2027, and where Naughty Dog's next game stands.
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The Last of Us season 3 cast now includes John Goodman, Laura Bailey and Ian Alexander, in casting news for HBO's show that landed on September 26, the day the series has long marked as The Last of Us Day. Goodman and Alexander play a duo called Joey and Paco, and Bailey plays Elizabeth, a leader of the Seraphites. What fans did not get was a new game: two days later, Naughty Dog confirmed two early projects set in the same world, with no titles, and said its next big reveal comes in 2027.
Key takeaways
- John Goodman plays Joey and Ian Alexander plays Paco, a pair who call themselves the "Heroes of the Highway". Laura Bailey plays Elizabeth, one of the Seraphite leaders.
- Bailey and Alexander voiced Abby and Lev in The Last of Us Part II. On the show they play different characters; Kaitlyn Dever is Abby and Kyriana Kratter is Lev.
- Season 3 is scheduled for 2027. HBO has not given a month or a date as of September 29, 2026.
- Naughty Dog says it has two new The Last of Us projects "in very early stages". It has not said they are games, and it named no title, platform or date.
- Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet gets its full reveal in 2027. The studio says it will stay quiet for the rest of 2026.
Who joins The Last of Us season 3 cast
Deadline broke the casting on September 26. Game Informer and other outlets followed with the same roles. Here is who plays whom, in the descriptions Deadline published:
| Actor | Role on the show | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| John Goodman | Joey, one half of the "Heroes of the Highway" | The Conners, The Big Lebowski |
| Ian Alexander | Paco, Joey's partner in that "friendly duo" | The OA; the voice of Lev in Part II |
| Laura Bailey | Elizabeth, one of the leaders of the Seraphites | The Legend of Vox Machina; the voice of Abby in Part II |
Nobody has described Joey and Paco beyond that one line, so what they do on the road is still unknown. Neither they nor a Seraphite leader named Elizabeth appear by those names in The Last of Us Part II, which suggests roles written for the show. That is our reading; HBO has not said so.
The three join cast members HBO announced earlier, which Deadline lists: Peter Sarsgaard as Amon, another Seraphite leader created for the show, Li Jun Li as the Seraphite Miriam, Jason Ritter as the WLF soldier Hanley, Patrick Wilson as Abby's father Jerry, and Jorge Lendeborg as Manny, taking over from Danny Ramirez.
The game characters, explained
If you only know the show, a quick guide to the Part II names in this story:
- Abby is the second lead of The Last of Us Part II, a soldier in the Washington Liberation Front (WLF) militia in Seattle. Kaitlyn Dever plays her on the show; Bailey voiced her in the game.
- The Seraphites, nicknamed "Scars" by their enemies, are a religious group at war with the WLF in Part II. Deadline expects season 3 to follow Abby's side of the story, where they matter most.
- Lev is a young Seraphite who runs from the group. Kyriana Kratter plays him on the show; Alexander voiced him in the game.
So the two game actors are not reprising their characters. They are joining the same corner of the story from a different angle.
When The Last of Us season 3 comes out
Season 3 is scheduled to premiere in 2027, Deadline reports, and there is no month yet. Craig Mazin runs this season alone: co-creator Neil Druckmann stepped away from the show in July 2025 to focus on Naughty Dog and its next game, though he stays credited as an executive producer.
Will it be the last season? Not officially. HBO chief Casey Bloys told Deadline he would not confirm it, but that he believes Mazin "has planned it as the final season".
Where Naughty Dog's next game stands
Naughty Dog held its own celebration on September 28, with a charity stream for AbleGamers and a round of merchandise, avatars and discounts, including a Clicker armor set for the Ghost of Yōtei Most Wanted mode on October 1. The news came after the stream, in a closing letter from Druckmann:
- More The Last of Us. The studio has "a couple of very exciting new projects in very early stages" that "will expand the canon of The Last of Us beyond Part I and Part II". Druckmann calls them projects and stories, never games, so the format is open.
- Intergalactic in 2027. Naughty Dog will be "quiet for the rest of this year" and will fully reveal Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet in 2027. Druckmann calls it "Naughty Dog's most ambitious game yet". No release date.
Confirmed, and not
| Claim | Status |
|---|---|
| Goodman, Bailey and Alexander in season 3, in the roles above | Confirmed; first reported by Deadline |
| Season 3 premieres in 2027 | Confirmed; no month |
| Season 3 is the final season | Not confirmed; HBO's chief believes it is planned that way |
| Two new The Last of Us projects in development | Confirmed by Naughty Dog, very early |
| Those projects are games, or a Part III | Unconfirmed; Naughty Dog has not said |
| Intergalactic full reveal in 2027 | Confirmed by Naughty Dog; no release date |
Bottom line
The Last of Us season 3 cast leans on the games' own talent: Bailey and Alexander go from voicing Abby and Lev to playing new faces in the same Seraphite story, with Goodman along for the road. Expect it in 2027. On the game side, Naughty Dog has confirmed only that more The Last of Us is coming, in a form it has not named, and that the next thing you will actually see is Intergalactic, in 2027. Anything more specific you read before then is speculation. For more PlayStation news, see our video games coverage.
FAQ
Who does Laura Bailey play in The Last of Us season 3?
She plays Elizabeth, one of the leaders of the Seraphites, the religious group from Part II. In the game, Bailey voiced Abby, who is played on the show by Kaitlyn Dever.
Who does John Goodman play in The Last of Us?
John Goodman plays Joey. With Ian Alexander's Paco, he forms a "friendly duo" who call themselves the "Heroes of the Highway", according to HBO's description. Nothing else about the pair has been announced.
When is The Last of Us season 3 coming out?
HBO has scheduled season 3 for 2027 and has not given a month or date as of September 29, 2026.
Is Naughty Dog making The Last of Us Part 3?
Naughty Dog has not announced one. On September 28 it confirmed two new The Last of Us projects in very early stages that extend the story past Part II, without saying whether either one is a game.