Nolan North Says HBO Never Called to Play David in The Last of Us — He Still Wishes He Had the Chance

HBO has been pretty good about bringing The Last of Us game talent into the show, but one big name is still on the sidelines: Nolan North. And yeah, he wishes that wasn't the case.

Nolan North wanted to play David on the show

In a chat with Fall Damage, North said he would have loved to reprise David for the series and was a little bummed he never got the call. He even joked he had the facial hair situation handled.

"My only regret is HBO didn't reach out and ask me to play David in the TV series. I grow a fantastic beard when necessary."

North added that it would've been a particularly cool moment given who shows up alongside David in the series.

"Troy was his sidekick, and I think fans would've lost it for the two of us doing that together."

For anyone catching up: Troy Baker, who played Joel in the game, appears in the HBO version as James, David's right-hand man. Scott Shepherd plays David on the show. North, of course, originally portrayed David in the game, so the idea of him facing off with Baker on TV is the kind of meta casting fans eat up.

Quick refresher on the David/James arc

• David leads a group that resorts to cannibalism. After Joel kills one of his men, David captures Ellie.
• James is David's second-in-command. He helps with the torture and the slaughter.
• They almost break Ellie before an injured Joel claws his way back and saves her.
• That whole nightmare is a major turning point in how Joel and Ellie see each other.

North still loves Naughty Dog's weird magic

Even with the missed opportunity, North had nothing but praise for the studio that built the world in the first place.

"I used to call Naughty Dog, 'Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.' You don't understand how it's made but it's delicious when you get it."

Bonus: Neil Druckmann finally said the quiet part out loud

One more nugget from the universe: more than a decade after The Last of Us' ending kicked off endless arguments, creator Neil Druckmann flat-out clarified the team's intent.

"Our intent was that they could have made a cure."

So, there it is. Debate all you want about whether Joel was right, but per Druckmann, the Fireflies weren't just guessing.