The Last of Us episode 8: Who plays David and James in the HBO series?

The Last of Us episode 8 saw two characters with savagery and brutality written all over them. Their names were David and James. These two belonged to a group that consumed human flesh for survival. Thankfully, both of them were killed in the end.

Played by American actor Scott Shepherd, David was the leader of the cannibalistic cult he ran. He revealed that he was previously a maths teacher and became a father after the deadly fungus took over.

James, on the other hand, was portrayed by Troy Baker. James was a henchman/member of David's human-flesh-eating group. But the interesting part about Troy Baker is that he portrayed Joel in The Last of Us video game.

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The Last of Us episode 8: Meet Scott Shepherd and Troy Baker, the actors who played David and James

1) Scott Shepherd as David

Initially, it looked like David was an angel in disguise, but his true intentions were later revealed. His cult killed and ate human beings for survival. In episode 6, Joel killed a member of David's group to protect Ellie. By doing so, he had a target on his back. In episode 8, David tried to convince Ellie to join the cult but got bested by her in the end.

David is played by American film, theater, and television actor Scott Shepherd. He has appeared in shows and films like Side Effects, Bridge of Spies, Jason Bourne, and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. He has also shown up on the series The Young Pope.

Shepherd is currently filming for Martin Scorsese's 2023 film, Killers of the Flower Moon.

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2) Troy Baker as James

James was a member of David's cannibalistic cult. He was constantly seen with David and his group and acted like a henchman most of the time. He was a senior member and had sensed Ellie and Joel's threat at the very start of the episode. James was killed by Ellie when he and David attempted to murder her.

Troy Baker is an American voice actor and musician best known for his video game character roles. His most notable roles are:

• Joel Miller in The Last of Us franchise
• Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite
• Samuel "Sam" Drake in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
• Rhys in Tales from the Borderlands
• Snow Villiers in Final Fantasy XIII
• Kanji Tatsumi in Persona 4
• Higgs Monaghan in Death Stranding
• Talion in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Baker holds the record for the most acting nominations at the BAFTA Games Awards. He has been nominated five times between 2013 and 2021.

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What is The Last of Us about?

The Last of Us stars Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Joel's responsibility is to protect the girl, who might be the key to rescuing the planet.

The official synopsis of the show reads:

"Based on the critically acclaimed video game The Last of Us, developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation platforms, the story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed.

"Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival."

The show was created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.

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