The Last of Us TV show finds its Tess in Anna Torv

The Last of Us TV show just cast a key character, with Fringe and Mindhunter star Anna Torv set to portray Tess, a friend and accomplice of protagonist Joel.

You'll recognize Torv from her starring role in J.J. Abrams' sci-fi series Fringe, which ran from 2008 to 2013. Torv played series protagonist Olivia Dunham, an FBI agent assigned to investigate mysterious, supernatural events linked to experimental occurrences. Torv is also known for playing Wendy Carr (pictured above) in Netflix's Mindhunter, which wrapped its two-season run in 2019.

Deadline reports that Torv's Tess will be a recurring character, meaning she'll play a major role in more than one episode. In The Last of Us game, Tess is a stoic, hardened smuggler who aids Joel in escorting Ellie to the Fireflies early in the game. She plays a significant - key, even - role in Joel and Ellie's journey, but she gets relatively little screen time compared to the leads. In this case, Tess's description as a recurring character suggests HBO could be giving her a bigger role for the series; co-creator Craig Mazin has said The Last of Us TV show will "fill things out and expand" on the game, so it's certainly possible.

Joining Torv in The Last of Us TV show and headlining the cast are fellow Game of Thrones alumni Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, respectively. Elsewhere on the cast, we've got Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Joel's younger brother; Merle Dandridge reprising her role from the game as The Fireflies leader Marlene; Nico Parker as Joel's daughter, Sarah; Con O'Neill will play trepidatious Joel ally Bill; and Murray Bartlett is set to play Frank, Bill's partner.

Production on The Last of Us TV show began early this month, which we learned when a set photo surfaced showing Pascal, Luna, and Parker filming what appears to be the beginning of the game. Here's another set photo giving a pretty clear idea of what one of the scenes will look like on the small screen.

HBO has yet to set a release date for The Last of Us TV show, but director Kantemir Balagov recently dropped a hint that it'll premiere sometime in 2022. Until then, check out this brilliant, but admittedly heart-wrenching The Last of Us fan film.

Also be sure to check out our picks for the best TV shows of 2020, just in case you missed any of them.

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.