Peter Sarsgaard joins The Last of Us season 3 — and even video game fans can’t guess his role

HBO is beefing up The Last of Us for Season 3, and the latest addition is a good one: Peter Sarsgaard has signed on to play a major new character. If you made it through that brutal Season 2 endgame — yes, including Joel's death and a pile of other gut-punch twists — you already know the show is not easing up. Season 3 is pushing deeper into the mess, with some new faces and bigger roles for the factions we met last year.

So, who is Sarsgaard playing?

Sarsgaard is stepping in as Amon, a character created specifically for the series. He is one of the leaders of the Seraphites, the religious faction that believes the Cordyceps outbreak is divine payback for humanity's sins. The Seraphites showed up in Season 2; in Season 3, expect them to move from background menace to front-and-center problem. And because Amon does not exist in the games, whatever he is about to do might even catch game fans off guard.

If the name rings a bell, Sarsgaard has made a career out of playing quietly intense guys with authority issues. Recently: The Batman and The Bride!. On TV, he has picked up Emmy nominations for Dopesick and Presumed Innocent.

Where Season 3 is headed

Beyond the Seraphites leveling up, the next season leans heavily into Abby's story — Kaitlyn Dever is back as Abby — as everyone keeps crawling through the fallout of those Season 2 choices. Whether this is the show's home stretch is still a question mark; HBO has not said if Season 3 is the end.

About that pause in filming

The show is not canceled, and it is not even really delayed. Production hit a planned pause in the middle of shooting because of scheduling headaches in Vancouver, where the series primarily films. Vancouver is one of the host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which means a ton of prep and limited access to locations and logistics. The team opted to step away and temporarily leave the city, then fire back up in about a month when things calm down. HBO has not dated the season yet, but current expectations point to a 2027 premiere.

• Peter Sarsgaard joins The Last of Us Season 3 as Amon, a new character and a Seraphite leader.
• The Seraphites, introduced in Season 2, take on a much bigger role next season.
• Season 3 will focus strongly on Abby (Kaitlyn Dever).
• Production paused mid-shoot due to Vancouver's World Cup prep; filming is set to resume in roughly a month.
• No official release date yet; the season is currently expected in 2027.
• It is still unclear if Season 3 is the final chapter.

Curious where you land on this one: Sarsgaard as a Seraphite boss — inspired pick, or chaos incoming?