Li Jun Li has joined the cast of HBO’s The Last of Us Season 3, marking another major TV booking for the actress following renewed attention around her recent screen work.
Li will play Mirium, a Seraphite and the mother of Lev and Yara. As previously announced, Michelle Mao and Kyriana Kratter will portray Yara and Lev respectively.
Based on Naughty Dog’s award-winning video game franchise, The Last of Us is set 20 years after the collapse of modern civilization. The series follows Joel, played by Pedro Pascal, a hardened survivor tasked with smuggling 14-year-old Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What begins as a simple mission turns into a brutal, emotionally devastating journey across the United States.
Season 2 picked up five years after the events of the first season, with Joel and Ellie drawn into conflict not only with each other, but with a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind. Season 3 is set to adapt the second half of The Last of Us Part II and will shift its focus to Abby, played by Kaitlyn Dever.
The series was co-created by Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann. Mazin, who served as executive producer and co-showrunner alongside Druckmann for Seasons 1 and 2, will serve as the sole showrunner for Season 3.
Li’s casting adds to what has been a strong run for the actress. She received critical acclaim for her role as Grace Chow in Sinners, and will next appear opposite Nicolas Cage in the live-action series Spider-Noir, which is set for release on Prime Video on May 27.
Li has also previously spoken about the significance of portraying characters inspired by pioneering Asian screen figures. Reflecting on receiving an email about a Damien Chazelle project that was initially framed around Anna May Wong, she said: “I remember gasping. I just kept reading it over and over again. And I said, ‘Okay, I need this. This is me. This is mine. I want it.’”
Read more: The Moral Calculus of ‘Sinners’: Actress Li Jun Li on Her Character’s Controversial Choice
She later explained how the role evolved during development, saying: “A part of me, obviously, was a little bit disappointed. But at the same time, I was really relieved because I felt like we can be more creatively free, and at the same time with a little less pressure when it comes to portraying someone so monumental.”
Speaking about crafting a memorable onscreen presence, Li said: “I just wanted her to make an impact. I don’t really have the right words to describe the steps I took to make her that. I think it’s really instinctual.”
On the visual approach to the character, she added: “She’s so resilient because of her background and her struggles, but at the same time, there’s just this carelessness about her that we wanted to achieve in the pink dress that she pretty much spends most of the film in.”
She also said: “I just wanted to make her presence known through her stillness.”
Read more: ‘The Last of Us Part II’ Angers Asians for ‘Racist’ Dialogue
Discussing the discrimination faced by Asian performers historically, Li said: “I think that Lady Fay has gone through a lot of discrimination. I carried that subtext in her role, not necessarily just being pigeonholed her entire life, but certainly the discrimination that she had endured and how much she’s kind of adapted to navigating around it.”
And on what she hopes audiences take away from such performances, Li said: “I really just hope that people will not only know who she is and what she went through, but feel everything that a POC has to go through to make it in this world, this industry.”
