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Episode 3 of The Last of Us proved to be a total tear-jerker with the detailed story of Bill and Frank, played by Bill Offerman and Murray Bartlett.
Bill and Frank were a gay couple who found each other in the middle of a pandemic. Frank was initially en route to Boston QZ but stumbled upon Bill along the way. Bill wasn't too welcoming towards Frank at first but soon took him in, let him take a shower, gave him fresh clothes, and fed him a filling meal.
When it was time for Frank to leave, the duo bonded over Bill's grand piano and realized they had begun feeling affectionate towards each other. They fell in love and lived together till they died by suicide together.
The most recent episode also features some intimate scenes. When asked about it by The Hollywood Reporter, Offerman said:
"Those are always the most awkward things to do."
Disclaimer: Heavy spoilers ahead
Nick Offerman thanked Murray Bartlett and Peter Hoar for helping him through intimate scenes in The Last of Us
Episode 3 of The Last of Us, titled Long Long Time, saw some intimate scenes between Bill and Frank.
In a The Hollywood Reporter interview, Offerman was asked how comfortable he was during the s*x scenes, as it was unlikely that viewers would have expected it from the actor who played Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation. To which, Offerman said:
"Those are always the most awkward things to do. It’s portraying something with as much sincerity as possible when you’re in the least intimate setting surrounded by people scrutinizing you. "
He added:
"That’s where the generosity of your scene partner like Murray, who’s very experienced, and our director Peter Hoar, who’s also very experienced, really come into play. And I don’t have a lot of vanity. For obvious reasons, I’m not cast as a calendar model. I worry a lot more just about the storytelling."
Murray Bartlett, who plays Frank, is openly homosexual in real life. Offerman was helped by Bartlett throughout the intimate scenes. Offerman continued:
"So whether I’m playing a confident swaggering, god-like lover or a vulnerable, scared virgin, I just do my best to portray that truthfully, and I don’t consider it that different from anything else. I know that conventionally and societally when clothes come off it’s a possible shock or obscenity, or a cause for concern for people. But I come from the theater where we’re a bunch of long-haired peaceniks, so I don’t think about it too much."
Offerman then went on to comment on how the episode took a grim turn after Frank became bound to a wheelchair. Frank ultimately expressed his desire to die by suicide and Bill joined him.
Offerman noted:
"I found it really frustrating to be someone who’s so confident and can so successfully manipulate the world around him for his comfort and safety and survival and then see this happening to my partner and I can’t do anything about it. I’m helpless in the face of his demise."
He continued:
"That was just powerfully frustrating. It was tapping into the human condition of watching your loved ones grow old, watching them grow feeble. It was also just challenging to push Murray around, especially when he would often have a second cheeseburger [laughs]. Let’s just say I got my steps in."
The Last of Us episode 4 titled Please Hold My Hand, will be released on Sunday, February 5, 2023, at 9 pm Eastern Time on HBO and HBO Max.
