The Last of Us: Who is Bill? Nick Offerman’s character explained

Who is Bill in The Last of Us? Ahead of Episode 3 dropping, here’s a rundown on Nick Offerman’s character and his story in the game.

We’re two episodes into HBO’s video game adaptation, and it’s managed to exceed all of our expectations. Episode 1 shattered any notion of the infamous curse, and Episode 2 brought the game’s horrors clicking to life.

The show primarily follows Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey). They may bicker and argue, but they’re forced to depend on each other as they travel across the US in hopes of finding a cure to the Cordyceps fungal pandemic.

Episode 3 is due to premiere this weekend, and it’ll be a departure in more ways than one, focusing on the story of two other characters – so, who is Nick Offerman’s Bill?

Bill in The Last of Us TV show

Bill is played by Nick Offerman in The Last of Us TV show. The actor is best known for his performance as Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation.

In the preview for Episode 3, we can assume some things: Bill is a survivalist who hid from FEDRA at the start of the outbreak, leaving him alone in his town.

The trailer shows him perusing CCTV footage, until somebody stumbles into a hole outside his barbed wire fence: Frank.

“Here’s the thing, Frank – if I feed you, then every bum that you talk to about it is gonna show up here looking for a free lunch, and this is not an Arby’s,” he tells him.

Speaking to Deadline, Offerman said: “I mean, you know, this is the kind of prestige series that’s just… everywhere I looked while we were shooting this, I just kept calling my wife, saying, ‘They built this whole thing..’ like it was just… they did such an incredible job.

“The fact that he sent the script to me and I got to do it with Murray Bartlett was pretty astonishing.”

Check out some images from Episode 3 below:

In an interview with The New Yorker, co-showrunner Neil Druckmann said: “As awesome as [Episode 3] is, there are going to be fans who are upset by it.

“To me, the story we tell is authentic to the world. It’s authentic to the themes that we’re talking about.”

Craig Mazin said their relationship represented the show’s focus on “outward love and inward love – the people who want to make everybody better, and the people who want to protect particular people at any cost.”

Spoilers for The Last of Us game to follow (which may spoil the show too)…

Bill in The Last of Us game

In The Last of Us game, Joel and Ellie arrive at Bill’s home looking for some help with a car. Frank has already left by this point, and they later find his body hanging in a house where they take refuge.

While it’s hinted that they were romantic partners prior to their bust-up, Bill avoids addressing his homosexuality.

In a letter to Bill before he died, Frank wrote: “Well, Bill, I doubt you’d ever find this note cause you were too scared to ever make it to this part of town. But if for some reason you did, I want you to know I hated your guts. I grew tired of this shitty town and your set-in-your-ways attitude. I wanted more from life than this and you could never get that.

“And that stupid battery you kept moaning about – I got it. But I guess you were right. Trying to leave this town will kill me. Still better than spending another day with you. Good Luck, Frank.”

Bill also tells Ellie in the game: “Once upon a time, I had somebody that I cared about. It was a partner. Somebody I had to look after. And in this world, that sort of shit’s good for one thing: gettin’ you killed.”

The Last of Us Episode 3 will be available to watch on January 29 in the US and January 30 in the UK. You can check out the rest of our coverage here.