The Last of Us quietly retains two surprisingly influential actors from the first game

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Two Clicker actors make a grand return

The Last of Us HBO clicker
(Image credit: HBO)

The Last of Us TV show actually retains two Clicker actors from the games. 

The Last of Us debuted its first episode on HBO this past weekend, and hiding among the credits were two names: Misty Lee as 'Female Clicker,' and Phillip Kovats as 'Male Clicker.' A weird fact is that these two weren't only responsible for Clicker noises in the HBO adaptation, but also in Naughty Dog's 2013 original game.

Lee and Kovats both provided audio noises for the Clicker enemies in the first Last of Us game. Whereas Lee is actually an actor, hired specifically on The Last of Us for her Clicker noises, Kovats was Naughty Dog's audio director during development of The Last of Us, and wasn't actually an actor.

As ex-Naughty Dog developer Derrik Espino explains in the tweet below though, the Clicker noise was originally recorded using Lee's voice, and then perfected using both Kovats and Espino's voices. The entire sound effect was then tweaked to the perfection of game director Neil Druckmann, and the rest was history.

Now, you might've noticed that the Clicker enemies didn't actually feature in the debut episode of The Last of Us. Despite this though, Lee and Kovats still found their way into the episode's credits as Clickers, so when the deadly enemies eventually appear in the HBO adaptation, we know who to thank for their noises. 

Check out our guide on how to watch The Last of Us TV series for where to stream the show around the world, or if you've already seen the opening episode, head over to our guide on The Last of Us episode 1 biggest changes for where the show deviates from the game. 

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.