title: Major League Soccer

text: MLS has a set of pool goalkeepers who are signed to a contract with the league and are loaned to teams during emergencies in which they are missing a goalkeeper due to injuries or suspensions. The pool goalkeeper trains with an MLS club or an affiliated team when not assigned to a team; some pool goalkeepers, including Tim Melia, have gone on to be signed to permanent contract with their assigned teams. In the past, when rosters were smaller, there were multiple goalkeepers signed to the pool, however, in recent years only one or two keepers are signed as team rosters are much larger.


title: Major League Soccer

text: MLS has also introduced various initiatives and rules intended to improve quality of players while still maintaining the salary cap. Rules concerning Designated Players and allocation money allow for additional wage spending that is exempt from the salary cap. These initiatives have brought about an increase in on-field competition.


title: Major League Soccer

text: The designated player (DP) rule allows teams to sign a limited number of players whose salary exceeds the maximum cap; in 2017, each DP player only counted as $480,625 (the maximum non-DP salary) against the cap. Instituted in 2007, England's David Beckham was the first signing under the DP rule. The DP rule has led to large income inequality in MLS with top DPs earning as much as 180 times more than a player earning the league minimum. In the 2013 season, 21% of the league's wage spending went to just five players; this stretched to 29% on the top 6 players in the 2014 season.


title: Major League Soccer

text: The league's "Core Players" initiative allows teams to re-sign players using retention funds that do not count against the salary cap. Retention funds were implemented in 2013 as a mechanism for MLS to retain key players; among the first high-profile players re-signed using retention funds were U.S. national team regulars Graham Zusi and Matt Besler. MLS teams can also obtain allocation money, which is money that the team can use on player salaries that does not count against the cap, and teams can earn allocation money in several ways, such as from the transfer fees earned by selling players to teams in other leagues. MLS teams can also use Targeted Allocation Money (often referred to as TAM), an initiative announced in 2015. Teams can use TAM funds to attract high-profile players by "buying down" contracts of players to below the Designated Player level. High-profile players for which TAM funds were used include Hector Villalba, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Giorgio Chiellini.


title: Major League Soccer

text: MLS has introduced various initiatives and rules intended to develop young players. Rules concerning Generation Adidas players and home grown players provide incentives for clubs to develop and retain young players.


title: Major League Soccer

text: MLS has required all of its teams to operate youth development programs since 2008. MLS roster rules allow teams to sign an unlimited number of players straight from their academies and bypassing the draft process. There is also supplementary salary budget made by MLS only for homegrown players that are registered using senior roster slots called homegrown player funds. One of the most prominent and lucrative examples of success in "home-grown" development was Jozy Altidore, who rose to prominence as a teenager in MLS before his record transfer fee $10 million move to Villarreal in Spain in 2008. The various MLS teams' development academies play matches in a U.S. Soccer developmental league against youth academies from other leagues such as the North American Soccer League (NASL), which had been a Division II league prior to 2018, and USL Pro, originally a Division III league but now the Division II USL Championship.


title: Major League Soccer

text: The league operates a Generation Adidas program, which is a joint venture between MLS and U.S. Soccer that encourages young American players to enter MLS. The Generation Adidas program has been in place since 1997, and has introduced players such as Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and Michael Bradley into MLS. Players under the Home Grown Player rule are signed to Generation Adidas contracts, all players on Generation Adidas contracts are "off budget players" and their salaries do not count against the cap.


title: Major League Soccer

text: MLS formerly operated a reserve league that gave playing time to players who were not starters for their MLS teams. The Reserve League was formed in 2005, and operated through 2014 (with the exception of the 2009 & 2010 seasons). MLS began integrating its Reserve League with the league then known as USL Pro in 2013, and after the 2014 season folded the Reserve League, with MLS now requiring all teams to either affiliate with a USL team or field their own reserve side in that league.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Following the folding of the Development Academy, MLS announced its own development league in 2020. It includes all of the MLS team academies as well as 95 clubs across the country; many of which were a part of the Development Academy.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Since 1999, the league has overseen the construction of twelve stadiums specifically designed for soccer. The development of soccer-specific stadiums owned by the teams has generated a better gameday experience for the fans. The soccer-specific stadiums have yielded positive financial results as teams were no longer required to pay to rent out facilities and gained control over revenue streams such as concessions, parking, naming rights, and the ability to host non-MLS events. Several teams have doubled their season tickets following the team's move into a soccer-specific stadium. The establishment of soccer-specific stadiums is considered the key to the league and the ability of teams to turn a profit. In 2006, Tim Leiweke, then CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, described the proliferation of soccer-specific stadiums as the turning point for MLS.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Columbus Crew owner Lamar Hunt started this trend in 1999 by constructing Columbus Crew Stadium, now known as Historic Crew Stadium, as MLS's first soccer-specific stadium. The Los Angeles Galaxy followed four years later with the opening of the Home Depot Center, now Dignity Health Sports Park, in 2003. FC Dallas opened Pizza Hut Park, now Toyota Stadium, in 2005, and the Chicago Fire began playing their home games in Toyota Park, now SeatGeek Stadium, in 2006. The 2007 season brought the opening of Dick's Sporting Goods Park for the Colorado Rapids and BMO Field for Toronto FC.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Near the end of the 2008 season, Rio Tinto Stadium (now known as America First Field) became the home of Real Salt Lake, which meant that for the first time in MLS history a majority of MLS's teams (8 out of 14) played in soccer-specific stadiums. Red Bull Arena, the new home of the New York Red Bulls opened for the start of the 2010 season, and the Philadelphia Union opened PPL Park, now Subaru Park, in June 2010, midway through their inaugural season.


title: Major League Soccer

text: The following season, in 2011, the Portland Timbers made their MLS debut in a newly renovated Jeld-Wen Field, now renamed Providence Park, which was originally a multi-purpose venue but turned into a soccer-specific facility. Also in 2011, Sporting Kansas City moved to new Livestrong Sporting Park, now Children's Mercy Park. The Houston Dynamo relocated to their new home at BBVA Compass Stadium, now PNC Stadium, in 2012. In the same year, the Montreal Impact joined the league in an expanded Stade Saputo, which reopened in June 2012, when renovations pushed the seating capacity to over 20,000. The Impact has used Olympic Stadium for early season matches and for games that require a larger capacity. The San Jose Earthquakes, who had played at Buck Shaw Stadium from 2008 until 2014, opened their new Avaya Stadium (now PayPal Park) before the 2015 season. Orlando City SC intended to begin constructing its soccer-specific stadium, now known as Exploria Stadium, in 2014 to be completed in 2015. Delays caused by changes to the stadium plans pushed back the new venue's opening, first to late 2016 and finally to the start of the 2017 season. Orlando City played at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, now Camping World Stadium, while awaiting the construction of their new venue through the 2016 season. Exploria Stadium hosted its first MLS match on March 5, 2017, against New York City FC as Orlando City Stadium.


title: Major League Soccer

text: The development of additional MLS stadiums has continued to progress. D.C. United had played their home games at former NFL and Major League Baseball venue RFK Stadium. In 2013, D.C. United announced the signing of a public-private partnership term sheet to build a new soccer stadium in Washington, D.C., and a final deal was reached in late 2014. In late February 2017, D.C. United finally broke ground on their new stadium, Audi Field. After 21 years of playing at RFK Stadium, DC United played their first game at Audi field in July 2018.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Two teams have announced their desire to build a soccer-specific stadium, although these teams have not finalized the stadium site and received all necessary government approvals. New York City FC play home games at Yankee Stadium, a Major League Baseball venue, although they intend to move into a soccer-specific stadium in the future. The New England Revolution play home games at a National Football League venue, Gillette Stadium, but are currently in discussion with the City of Boston regarding a potential soccer-specific stadium in South Boston.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Several remaining clubs play in stadiums not originally built for MLS and have not announced plans to move. The Seattle Sounders FC play at Lumen Field, a dual-purpose facility used for both American football and soccer. The Vancouver Whitecaps FC joined the league with Portland in 2011 and temporarily held matches at Empire Field before moving into the refurbished BC Place in October 2011, a retractable-roof stadium that hosts Canadian football as well as soccer.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Of the three teams that made their MLS debuts in 2017 and 2018, one opened a soccer-specific stadium in 2019, a second is playing in a shared football stadium, and the last opened a soccer-specific stadium for its inaugural 2018 season. Minnesota United FC, which debuted in 2017, built Allianz Field in St. Paul which hosted its inaugural game against New York City FC on April 13, 2019. Until that time, the team played in Minneapolis at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium), home to University of Minnesota football. Atlanta United FC began play in 2017 at a college football facility, Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium, before moving into its permanent home at the retractable-roof Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which it shares with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons; the two teams share a common owner and the stadium is equipped with screens to cordon off the upper tiers for most matches. Los Angeles FC, which began play in 2018, opened Banc of California Stadium on the former site of the Los Angeles Sports Arena in April of its inaugural season.


title: Major League Soccer

text: FC Cincinnati made its MLS debut in 2019 at Nippert Stadium, the football home of the University of Cincinnati. The stadium had been home to FCC's USL Championship predecessor for all of its three seasons of play. The club moved within Cincinnati to the new TQL Stadium in 2021. Inter Miami began play in 2020 at Inter Miami CF Stadium, now known as DRV PNK Stadium, at the former site of Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale before opening Miami Freedom Park in the future. Nashville SC has announced it will play the 2020 and 2021 seasons at an NFL facility, the Tennessee Titans' Nissan Stadium, before opening the Nashville Fairgrounds Stadium in 2022. Austin FC opened Q2 Stadium for its first season in 2021.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Major League Soccer began to demonstrate positive signs of long-term profitability as early as 2004 with the single-entity ownership structure, salary cap, and the media and marketing umbrella Soccer United Marketing (SUM) all contributing towards MLS's financial security. As soccer-specific stadiums are built, ownership expands, and television coverage increases, MLS has seen its revenues increase while controlling costs.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Television coverage and revenue have increased since the league's early years. In 2006, MLS reached an 8-year TV deal with ESPN spanning the 2007–2014 seasons, and marked the first time that MLS earned rights fees, reported to be worth $7–8 million annually. In September 2012 the league extended its distribution agreement with London-based Media rights agency MP & Silva until 2014 in a deal worth $10 million annually. Total league TV revenues are over $40 million annually. In 2011, MLS earned $150 million when it sold a 25% stake in SUM.


title: Major League Soccer

text: In early 2005, MLS signed a 10-year, $150 million sponsorship deal with Adidas for its jerseys and other equipment. In 2007, MLS teams started selling ad space on the front of jerseys to go along with the league-wide sponsorship partners who had already been advertising on the back of club jerseys, following the practice of international sport, specifically soccer. MLS established a floor of $500,000 per shirt sponsorship, with the league receiving a flat fee of $200,000 per deal. As of July 2014, sixteen teams had signed sponsorship deals to have company logos placed on the front of their jerseys (and another team is directly owned by its shirt sponsor), and the league average from jersey sponsors was about $2.4 million. All MLS teams have had jersey sponsors since February 2016. Sleeve sponsorship was introduced to MLS in the 2020 season, with the teams able to sell a section on the right arm where the league logo patch is normally positioned.


title: Major League Soccer

text: The Los Angeles Galaxy made a profit in 2003 in their first season at The Home Depot Center, and FC Dallas turned a profit after moving into Pizza Hut Park in 2005. For each season between 2006 and 2009, two to three MLS clubs (generally clubs with a soccer-specific stadium) were reported as profitable by the league.


title: Major League Soccer

text: By 2012 the league had shown a marked improvement in its financial health. In November 2013, "Forbes" published a report that revealed that ten of the league's nineteen teams earned an operating profit in 2012, while two broke even and seven had a loss. Forbes estimated that the league's collective annual revenues were $494 million, and that the league's collective annual profit was $34 million. Forbes valued the league's franchises to be worth $103 million on average, almost three times as much as the $37 million average valuation in 2008. The Seattle Sounders FC franchise was named the most valuable at $175 million, a 483% gain over the $30 million league entrance fee it paid in 2009.


title: Major League Soccer

text: The trend in increased team values has continued with MLS teams seeing a strong 52% increase in franchise values from 2012 to 2014. In August 2015 "Forbes" updated its MLS franchise values with the most profitable team measuring $245 million and the least $105 million. The average value jumped from $103 to $157 million.


title: Major League Soccer

text: As of 2018 "Forbes" estimates Atlanta United FC are the most valuable MLS team, worth $330 million, while the Colorado Rapids are the lowest value, at $155 million. These valuations do not include the value of stadiums or training facilities owned by the respective clubs.


title: Major League Soccer

text: MLS teams typically use commercial flights to transport players and staff between matches, with only four charter flights allowed under league rules.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Since 2005, the playoff extra time structure follows IFAB standards: two full 15-minute periods, followed by a penalty shootout if necessary.


title: Major League Soccer

text: U.S. Soccer hired the first full-time professional referees in league history in 2007 as part of the league's "Game First" initiatives.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Major League Soccer has been implementing fines and suspensions since the 2011 season for simulation (diving) through its Disciplinary Committee, which reviews plays after the match. The first player fined under the new rule was Charlie Davies, fined $1,000 for intentionally deceiving match officials.


title: Major League Soccer

text: The current MLS logo debuted in 2014, ahead of the league's 20th season, replacing an earlier logo that featured a stylized boot and ball. The current logo is a simple crest with a diagonal stripe, the MLS wordmark, and three stars that represent "community, club, and country". The logo was designed to be remixed in different color schemes that match teams when used on merchandise and jerseys.


title: Major League Soccer

text: The first MLS anthem was unveiled in 2007 and was composed by Audiobrain. The current league anthem debuted in 2020 and was composed by film score composer Hans Zimmer. It will be used during league broadcasts and as a prelude to kickoff at stadiums.


title: Major League Soccer

text: In the early years of MLS, teams were typically given official nicknames in the style of other U.S. sports leagues (e.g., Columbus Crew, Los Angeles Galaxy, New England Revolution). Several club names in MLS originated with previous professional soccer clubs, such as the 1970s-era NASL team names San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps.


title: Major League Soccer

text: D.C. United and Miami Fusion FC were the only two MLS teams to adopt European naming conventions during the 1990s. In recent years, European-style names have become increasingly common in MLS, with expansion teams such as Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC, New York City FC, Atlanta United FC, Minnesota United FC, and FC Cincinnati, along with rebrandings such as FC Dallas (formerly the Dallas Burn), Sporting Kansas City (formerly the Kansas City Wizards) and CF Montréal (formerly the Montreal Impact).


title: Major League Soccer

text: Austrian beverage company Red Bull GmbH owns and sponsors the New York Red Bulls as well as other sports teams outside the U.S.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Starting in 2023, all MLS and Leagues Cup matches, as well as certain matches from MLS Next Pro and MLS Next, will be streamed worldwide on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV. This ends the current regional sports network-based system. While the contract offers for some matches on linear television, reports indicate that ESPN and Univision have been hesitant because they are unable to stream matches on their own platforms or supply their own commentators. After both ESPN and Univision left negotiations, from 2023, Fox Sports will join Apple as MLS' broadcast partners in the U.S., with Bell Media's TSN and RDS doing so in Canada.


title: Major League Soccer

text: From 2015 to 2022, MLS matches were broadcast nationally by ESPN networks and Fox Sports in English, and Univision networks in Spanish under an eight-year contract. Each broadcaster had a window for national regular season matches, with UniMás airing a game on Friday nights in Spanish and additional matches on Univision Deportes Network, and ESPN and Fox Sports 1 airing games on Sunday evenings in English. ESPN, FS1, and Univision shared coverage of the playoffs, while ABC and Fox alternated broadcasting the MLS Cup final in English. In total, at least 125 matches were aired per-season across all three networks. The three contracts have an average estimated value of $90 million per season—five times larger than the average $18 million value of the previous contracts with ESPN, Univision, and NBC Sports.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Matches not televised nationally were broadcast regionally, often by regional sports networks like Bally Sports, NBC Sports Regional Networks, Spectrum Sports and Root Sports, and sometimes by terrestrial stations like KTXA, WGN and KMYU. Regionally televised matches were available outside their local markets on ESPN+, which replaced MLS Live from 2018 until 2022.


title: Major League Soccer

text: From 2012 to 2014, MLS matches were broadcast by NBC Sports, with 40 matches per year—primarily on NBCSN, and select matches broadcast on the NBC network. The move from Fox Soccer to the more widely distributed NBCSN caused viewership numbers to double for the 2012 season.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Soccer United Marketing partnered with Google and Bedrocket Media Ventures in 2012 to launch "KickTV", a premium YouTube channel with original soccer programming. KickTV was sold to Copa90 in 2015 to form its American branch. In 2020, Soccer United Marketing signed a multi-year agreement with Bleacher Report to produce content and highlights for MLS and the U.S. national teams through the 2022 season.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Currently, English-language national MLS broadcast rights in Canada are held by the TSN networks through a five-year deal first renewed in 2017. The networks primarily broadcast matches involving the league's Canadian franchises, in combination with separate "regional" rights deals giving TSN exclusive rights to all Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC matches. A limited number of matches are also carried by CTV.


title: Major League Soccer

text: TVA Sports holds exclusive French-language rights to MLS in Canada as of the 2017 season. As part of a separate "regional" rights deal, it also holds exclusive rights to all CF Montréal games.


title: Major League Soccer

text: In 2018, online streaming service DAZN obtained Major League Soccer's digital out-of-market service MLS Live—with live and on-demand streaming of matches featuring U.S. teams (matches with Canadian teams are only available after a 48-hour delay to protect the league's main rightsholders TSN and TVA Sports).


title: Major League Soccer

text: MLS also entered into a four-year contract with Sky Sports to broadcast two MLS matches per week in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 2015 to 2019. As part of the agreement, Sky Sports broadcast at least two MLS regular-season matches each week, as well as the MLS All-Star Game, every MLS Cup Playoff game, and the MLS Cup final. The matches appeared across Sky's family of networks. It also carried weekly MLS highlights across various platforms, including Sky Sports News and SkySports.com. Sky Sports also broadcast at least one match from MLS's "Decision Day" – the final day of the MLS regular season. Many of the matches on Decision Day every year are expected to determine the final spots for the MLS Cup Playoffs.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Major League Soccer is a playable league in both the "FIFA" and the "Football Manager" series. The league made its video game debut in 1999 with FIFA 2000. In 2000, Konami released "ESPN MLS GameNight", and two years later, they released its sequel, "ESPN MLS ExtraTime 2002". The league made its first appearance in the management series "Football Manager 2005" in 2004.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Statistics below are for all-time leaders. Statistics are for regular season only. Bold indicates active MLS players.


title: Major League Soccer

text: Statistics below are for all-time leaders who are still playing. Statistics are for regular season only.


title: Major League Soccer

text: At the conclusion of each season, the league presents several awards for outstanding achievements, mostly to players, but also to coaches, referees, and teams. The finalists in each category are determined by voting from MLS players, team employees, and the media.


title: Linda Cardellini

text: Linda Edna Cardellini (born June 25, 1975) is an American actress. In television, she is known for her leading roles in the teen drama "Freaks and Geeks" (1999–2000), the medical drama "ER" (2003–09), the drama thriller "Bloodline" (2015–17), and the tragicomedy "Dead to Me" (2019–2022), the latter of which earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She also guest starred in the period drama "Mad Men" (2013–15), for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Her voice work includes the animated series "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated" (2010–13), "Regular Show" (2012–15), "Gravity Falls" (2012–16), and "Sanjay and Craig" (2013–16).


title: Linda Cardellini

text: In film, Cardellini is best known for her portrayal of Velma Dinkley in "Scooby-Doo" (2002) and its sequel "" (2004), and her supporting roles in "Legally Blonde" (2001), "Brokeback Mountain" (2005), "Grandma’s Boy" (2006), "Kill the Irishman" (2011), "" (2015), "The Founder" (2016), "Green Book", "A Simple Favor" (both 2018), and "" (2019). She also starred in the drama "Return" (2011), earning an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead nomination, the comedies "Daddy's Home" (2015) and "Daddy's Home 2" (2017), the horror film "The Curse of La Llorona" (2019), and the Disney+ television series "Hawkeye".


title: Linda Cardellini

text: Cardellini was born in Redwood City, California, the daughter of Lorraine Cardellini (née Hernan), a homemaker, and Wayne David Cardellini, a businessman. She is the youngest of four children. Cardellini is of Italian, Irish, German, and Scottish descent. She was raised Catholic. She made her first public appearance at age 10, when she sang in a school play. Subsequently, she acted in several school productions and started attending drama lessons. She graduated from nearby Mountain View's Catholic St. Francis High School in 1993, then moved to Los Angeles to seek roles in television and film.


title: Linda Cardellini

text: She attended Loyola Marymount University's College of Communication and Fine Arts, graduating in 1997 with a degree in theatre arts. In 2007, she was recognized as a "Distinguished Alumna" by the university.


title: Linda Cardellini

text: Cardellini received her first big break role in 1996 as Sarah on ABC's Saturday morning live-action children's series, "Bone Chillers". Following this, she made guest appearances on prime-time programs including "Step by Step", "Clueless", "3rd Rock from the Sun", and she played Lauren on "Boy Meets World", a girl that came between the show's star couple. Cardellini starred in the first season of the AMC series "The Lot" in 1999, and spent the summer in Europe as part of a touring production of "Lancelot", a fourteenth-century Dutch tragedy.


title: Linda Cardellini

text: Cardellini had her first major success when she landed one of the starring roles in the NBC series "Freaks and Geeks", which debuted during the 1999–2000 season. As Lindsay Weir, an honor student in the midst of an identity crisis, Cardellini earned positive response that subsequently catapulted her to fame. Cardellini starred in the live-action adaptation of "Scooby-Doo" in 2002, in which she played the cartoon character Velma Dinkley. She later reprised the role of Velma in 2004's "". She joined the cast of the hospital drama "ER" in 2003 as Samantha Taggart, a free-spirited nurse. Cardellini acted for six seasons on "ER", until the series finale, "And in the End...", and with the cast won the TV Land ensemble "Icon Award" in 2009.


title: Linda Cardellini

text: Her other film work includes roles in "Dead Man on Campus", "Strangeland", "Good Burger", "Legally Blonde", "Brokeback Mountain" (for which she was nominated for the ensemble Gotham and Screen Actors Guild awards), and a starring role in the Happy Madison film "Grandma's Boy" as Samantha. She was the voice of Ursula in the role-playing video game "Gladius" and played the voice of Bliss Goode on the ABC animated series "The Goode Family". In 2007, Cardellini was chosen to play lovelorn Clara in the CBS miniseries "Comanche Moon", a prequel to 1989's "Lonesome Dove".


title: Linda Cardellini

text: In 2010 and 2011, Cardellini returned to the stage with the Dr. God comedy group in Los Angeles and San Francisco, appeared in "Kill the Irishman" and "Super", and starred in the independent film "Return". She appeared with cast members and producers of "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared" at the Paley Center for Media PaleyFest on March 12, 2011. From June 15, 2012, to February 15, 2016, she was the voice of Wendy on the Disney Channel show "Gravity Falls".


title: Linda Cardellini

text: Cardellini voice acts periodically on the podcast and live show "The Thrilling Adventure Hour", on the "Sparks Nevada: Marshal on Mars" segments. In 2013, she was chosen to play Sylvia Rosen, a love interest of Don Draper on "Mad Men". For her performance on "Mad Men", she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. In 2015, she played Hawkeye's wife Laura Barton in "," a role she reprised in the 2019 sequel "", which was briefly the highest-grossing film of all time. Starting in 2015, she joined Kyle Chandler on a new Netflix drama series "Bloodline", from the creators of "Damages". The show was cancelled in 2016, and ended after its third season. That same year, she also had a starring role as Sara Whitaker in the comedy film "Daddy's Home". In 2017, she reprised her role in the sequel film "Daddy's Home 2".


title: Linda Cardellini

text: In August 2018, Cardellini was cast to co-star with Christina Applegate in Netflix's dark comedy series "Dead to Me". It premiered on May 3, 2019. For her performance, she received critical acclaim and a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. That same year, she co-starred with Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali in the film "Green Book", which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.


title: Linda Cardellini

text: In 2019, she starred in the horror film "The Curse of La Llorona". In 2020, Cardellini appeared in the biographical drama film "Capone" as Mae Capone, the wife of the title character.


title: Linda Cardellini

text: In 2021, she reprised her role of Laura Barton in the Marvel Studios show "Hawkeye", which premiered on Disney+ in November 2021.


title: Linda Cardellini

text: Cardellini dated her "Freaks and Geeks" co-star Jason Segel for five years following the show's cancellation in 2000. In October 2011, she and her boyfriend Steven Rodriguez announced her pregnancy. She gave birth to their daughter in February 2012. She and Rodriguez became engaged in June 2013.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Michael Fassbender (born 2 April 1977) is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Born in Heidelberg and raised in Killarney, Fassbender made his feature film debut as a Spartan warrior in the fantasy war epic "300" (2006). His earlier roles included various stage productions, as well as starring roles on television such as in the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers" (2001) and the Sky One fantasy drama "Hex" (2004–05). He first came to prominence for his role as IRA volunteer Bobby Sands in "Hunger" (2008), for which he won a British Independent Film Award. Subsequent roles include the independent film "Fish Tank" (2009), as a Royal Marines lieutenant in "Inglourious Basterds" (2009), as Edward Rochester in the 2011 film adaptation of "Jane Eyre", as Carl Jung in "A Dangerous Method" (2011), as the sentient android, David 8, in Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" (2012) and its sequel, "" (2017), and in the musical comedy drama "Frank" (2014) as an eccentric musician loosely inspired by Frank Sidebottom.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender debuted as the Marvel Comics supervillain Magneto in "" (2011), and went on to share the role with Ian McKellen in "" (2014) before reprising it again in "" (2016) and "Dark Phoenix" (2019). Also in 2011, his performance as a sex addict in "Shame" earned him the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards. His role as slave owner Edwin Epps in "12 Years a Slave" (2013) was similarly praised, earning him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In the same year, Fassbender appeared in another Ridley Scott film, "The Counselor". He portrayed the title role in the Danny Boyle-directed biopic "Steve Jobs" (2015), and played Macbeth in Justin Kurzel's adaptation of William Shakespeare's play. For the former, he received Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG nominations. He also produced and starred in the Western "Slow West" (2015). In 2020, he was listed at number nine on "The Irish Times" list of Ireland's greatest film actors.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender began competing in auto racing in 2017 with the Ferrari Challenge. He currently races in the European Le Mans Series, driving for Proton Competition.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender was born in Heidelberg on 2 April 1977, the son of Northern Irish mother Adele (from Larne) and German father Josef Fassbender. He has an older sister named Catherine, who is a neuropsychologist at the MIND Institute in Sacramento, California. According to lore on his mother's side of family, his mother is the great-grandniece of Michael Collins, an Irish leader during the War of Independence. When Fassbender was two years old, his parents moved with him to Killarney in Ireland to operate the West End House, a restaurant where his father also worked as a chef. His parents chose Killarney because they wanted their children to grow up in the countryside, in contrast to the industrial backdrop of their previous German residence.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender was raised Catholic and served as an altar boy at the church his family attended. He and his sister spent summer holidays in Germany. He attended Fossa National School near Killarney and St. Brendan's College in Killarney itself. He decided that he wanted to be an actor at age 17 when he was cast in a play. At 19, he left home to study at the Drama Centre London. In 1999, he dropped out of the Drama Centre and toured with the Oxford Stage Company to perform the play "Three Sisters". Before finding steady work as an actor, he worked as a bartender, postman, manual labourer, market researcher for Royal Mail, and Dell employee.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender's first screen role was that of Burton "Pat" Christenson in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's award-winning television miniseries "Band of Brothers" (2001). He played the character of Azazeal in both series of "Hex" on Sky One and starred as the main character in the music video for the song "Blind Pilots" by the British band The Cooper Temple Clause. In the video, he plays the part of a man out with friends on a stag night who slowly transforms into a goat due to wearing a cowbell necklace.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender played Jonathan Harker in a ten-part radio serialisation of "Dracula" produced by BBC Northern Ireland and broadcast in the "Book at Bedtime" series between 24 November and 5 December 2003. He was also seen in early 2004 in a Guinness television commercial, "The Quarrel", playing a man who swims across the ocean from Ireland to apologise personally to his brother in New York; this commercial won a gold medal at the 2005 FAB Awards.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: During the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Fassbender played Michael Collins, his great-great-granduncle, in "Allegiance", a play by Mary Kenny based on the meeting between Collins and Winston Churchill. In addition, Fassbender produced, directed, and starred in a stage version of Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs", along with his production company.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: He appeared in "Angel" (UK title: "The Real Life of Angel Deverell"), about the rise and fall of an eccentric young British writer (played by Romola Garai) in the early 20th century. Fassbender plays her love interest, an average painter named Esmé. The drama—the first English-language effort by French director François Ozon and based on the novel by Elizabeth Taylor—premiered on 17 February 2007 at the Berlin International Film Festival and on 14 March 2007 in Paris. He then made a brief appearance in Dean Cavanagh and Irvine Welsh's "Wedding Belles" as Barney, speaking with a Scottish accent.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: In 2006, Fassbender played Stelios, a young Spartan warrior, in "300", a fantasy action film directed by Zack Snyder. The film was a commercial success. In preparation for his role as Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoner Bobby Sands in Steve McQueen's 2008 film "Hunger", Fassbender adopted a diet that restricted him to 600 calories a day, weighing as Sands. Regarded as his breakthrough, his performance earned him the British Independent Film Award. One year after his success at the Cannes Film Festival with "Hunger", he appeared in two films. The first was Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds", in which he played the British officer Lieutenant Archie Hicox. The other film was "Fish Tank" directed by Andrea Arnold. Both films were critically acclaimed and Fassbender's work in them also well received.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: In 2010, Fassbender appeared as Burke in "Jonah Hex", a Western film. In an interview at San Diego Comic-Con International, a comic book convention, Fassbender commented of the role: "I kind of developed this character and really pushed it – I'll see how far I pushed it ... I had this idea about the character, he’s kind of psychotic, he gets his kicks in perverted ways. I didn’t want to make it very obvious or like something you've seen before." Hex received predominantly negative reviews. Responding to criticism of "Jonah Hex" in 2011, Fassbender commented: "Pretty awful, was it? I haven't seen it myself." He portrayed Quintus Dias in Neil Marshall's bloody Roman war-thriller-drama film "Centurion", and was cast as Richard Wirth in the Joel Schumacher film "Blood Creek" alongside Dominic Purcell. The story centres on a West Virginia man who comes to terms with his moral qualms and helps his brother wipe out a family that had been protecting a Nazi occultist and who had kept his brother captive for him to feed off for years.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender portrayed Edward Rochester in the 2011 film "Jane Eyre", featuring Mia Wasikowska in the title role, with Cary Fukunaga directing.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender portrayed Magneto in the superhero blockbuster "", the prequel to "X-Men". Set in 1962, it focuses on the friendship between Charles Xavier (played by James McAvoy) and Magneto and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. The film was released on 3 June 2011 to general acclaim and financial success and promoted Fassbender to being more of a popular movie star. In 2011, Fassbender starred in "A Dangerous Method" by director David Cronenberg, playing Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist Carl Jung. The film premiered at the 2011 Venice Film Festival.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: He also starred in "Shame", as a man in his thirties struggling with his sexual addiction. "Shame" reunited him with director Steve McQueen and premiered at the 2011 Venice Film Festival, where Fassbender won a Volpi Cup Best Actor Award for his portrayal of Brandon. Fassbender was a serious contender for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, but he was not nominated, and according to various sources his full-frontal nudity and depiction of sexual encounters inspired voters "to fantasize, and not actually vote." Fassbender achieved critical acclaim for his portrayal in "Shame" and received nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Starring in the film raised Fassbender's profile leading to roles in larger films.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: In 2012, he appeared as an MI6 agent in "Haywire", an action-thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh, and in Ridley Scott's science fiction film "Prometheus". Reviews praised both the film's visual aesthetic design and the acting, most notably Fassbender's performance as the android David 8. Fassbender played the title role in Ridley Scott's "The Counselor", a 2013 film based on the Cormac McCarthy script. In 2013, he starred in "12 Years a Slave", his third collaboration with Steve McQueen. Fassbender's portrayal of Edwin Epps earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Fassbender reprised the role of Magneto in "" (released 23 May 2014), the sequel to "". Fassbender stars in the title role in "Frank" (released late summer 2014), a comedy loosely inspired by Frank Sidebottom, a comic persona created by English comedian Chris Sievey.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender co-starred in "Slow West", a western starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Ben Mendelsohn, in 2015. He played Silas, an enigmatic traveller. Fassbender played late Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs in the Danny Boyle-directed film "Steve Jobs", which began filming in January 2015, in San Francisco, U.S., and premiered in September of that year. The film is an adaptation of Walter Isaacson's book "Steve Jobs". The screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin. Fassbender became attached after Christian Bale dropped out of the project. His performance saw him nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender took on the Shakespearean role of "Macbeth" in a film directed by Justin Kurzel, where he teamed up with Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth and David Thewlis as King Duncan. Filming for the production began in January 2014 and the film premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: In 2016, Fassbender once again played Magneto in the film "". He next starred in "The Light Between Oceans", based on the novel written by M. L. Stedman, and directed by Derek Cianfrance; the film began filming in New Zealand in late September 2014, and was released on 2 September 2016. Also in 2016, Fassbender starred in the thriller "Trespass Against Us", with fellow Irishman Brendan Gleeson. His final film of the year was the adaptation of video game "Assassin's Creed", which he co-produced through his DMC Film banner. It was released on 21 December 2016. "Macbeth" helmer Justin Kurzel directed, and co-star Marion Cotillard had a leading role, working with Fassbender again. In May 2017, Fassbender reprised his role as the android David, and played another character, in the sequel to "Prometheus", "". In 2015, Fassbender was cast as Harry Hole (becoming the first actor ever to portray the character) in "The Snowman", an adaptation of Jo Nesbø's novel, directed by Tomas Alfredson and co-starring Rebecca Ferguson and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Filming began in January 2016 and the film was released in October 2017.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender reprised his role as Magneto in the 2019 film "Dark Phoenix", which garnered unfavorable reviews and had a commercially unsuccessful theatrical run.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender currently has two films in post-production. He will star alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and David Hasselhoff in full-length sequel of 2015 short film "Kung Fury 2". He will also star in "Next Goal Wins", directed by Taika Waititi, based upon the documentary of the same name for Fox Searchlight Pictures.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Together with screenwriter Ronan Bennett, Fassbender has formed a production company, Finn McCool Films. Fassbender and Bennett are currently developing a film about the Irish mythological hero Cú Chulainn.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: In March 2022, it was revealed that Fassbender was executive-producing a dystopian drama for Netflix, titled "The Kitchen". The drama is being written by Daniel Kaluuya and Joe Murtagh.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender has expressed an interest in motorsport since his youth, stating in 2020, "Even before I started acting, I had a big dream to go racing." A fan of Formula One and Scuderia Ferrari, he was a member of the team's Corso Pilota training course in 2016.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: He began racing in the Ferrari Challenge's Coppa Shell class in May 2017, finishing 15th in his debut at Mugello Circuit. He also raced in the Challenge's North American division, finishing sixth at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. In 2018, he ran the full Ferrari Challenge North America schedule, winning the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and finishing fifth in the standings.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender moved to Porsche in 2019, competing in the German Porsche Racing Experience and being the subject of a YouTube series by Porsche, called "Road to Le Mans". The following year, he joined Proton Competition for the full 2020 European Le Mans Series, sharing a 2017 Porsche 911 RSR with Richard Lietz and Felipe Fernandez Laser. Later in the year Fassbender raced a guest car in the Porsche Supercup at Circuit de Catalunya and was involved in a startline crash putting him out of the race within seconds.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: In 2021, Fassbender continued to race with Proton Competition in the European Le Mans Series. Fassbender and his co-drivers scored fourth-place finishes at the Red Bull Ring and at Spa-Francorchamps, before achieving his best-ever finish and his first podium at the last race at Portimão, finishing second behind the No. 80 Iron Lynx, eventual LMGTE champion. The team finished fourth in the LMGTE teams championship, with 61 points.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: In 2010, Fassbender's ex-girlfriend Sunawin Andrews filed a restraining order against him in Los Angeles County Superior Court. She alleged that he "threw [her] over a chair, breaking [her] nose" in 2009 and that he had also dragged her alongside his car, injuring her ankle and knee, as well as causing her to burst an ovarian cyst.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender is known for preferring to keep his personal life private. He moved into an apartment in the Hackney area of London in 1996, and lived in the same apartment until he moved to Portugal in 2017.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbender is fluent in German and Irish, though he stated that he needed to brush up on his spoken German before filming "Inglourious Basterds" because "it was a bit rusty". He has expressed interest in performing in a German-language film or play.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: Fassbinder grew up as a Catholic altar-boy, but now has described himself as a lapsed Catholic, though he says that he still goes to church to light candles. He is a supporter of Liverpool FC.


title: Michael Fassbender

text: In June 2012, Fassbender told "GQ" magazine that he was dating American actress Nicole Beharie, with whom he had worked on the 2011 film "Shame". In December 2014, he began dating Swedish actress Alicia Vikander, with whom he had worked on the 2016 film "The Light Between Oceans". They married in a private ceremony in Ibiza on 14 October 2017. They later moved to Portugal, where they reside in Lisbon. They have a son, born in 2021.


title: The Last of Us

text: The Last of Us is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States. "The Last of Us" is played from a third-person perspective. Players use firearms and improvised weapons and can use stealth to defend against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures infected by a mutated fungus in the genus "Cordyceps". In the online multiplayer mode, up to eight players engage in cooperative and competitive gameplay.


title: The Last of Us

text: Development of "The Last of Us" began in 2009, soon after the release of Naughty Dog's previous game, "". For the first time in the company's history, Naughty Dog split into two teams; while one team developed "", the other half developed "The Last of Us". The relationship between Joel and Ellie became the focus, with all other elements developed around it. Actors Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson portrayed Joel and Ellie, respectively, through voice and motion capture, and assisted creative director Neil Druckmann with the development of the characters and story. The original score was composed and performed by Gustavo Santaolalla.


title: The Last of Us

text: Following its announcement in December 2011, "The Last of Us" was widely anticipated. It was released for the PlayStation 3 in June 2013. It received critical acclaim, with praise for its narrative, gameplay, visuals, sound design, score, characterization, and depiction of female characters. "The Last of Us" became one of the best-selling video games, selling over 1.3 million units in its first week and 17 million by April 2018. The game won year-end accolades, including multiple Game of the Year awards, from several gaming publications, critics, and game award ceremonies. It has been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made.


title: The Last of Us

text: Naughty Dog released several downloadable content additions; "" adds a single-player campaign following Ellie and her best friend, Riley. A remastered version, "The Last of Us Remastered", was released for the PlayStation 4 in July 2014, and a remake, "The Last of Us Part I", was released in September 2022 for PlayStation 5, and is in development for Windows. The game's success spawned a media franchise, including in 2013, a live show in 2014, a sequel in 2020, a television adaptation by HBO in 2023, and upcoming tabletop games by CMON and Themeborne.


title: The Last of Us

text: "The Last of Us" is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective. The player traverses post-apocalyptic environments such as towns, buildings, forests, and sewers to advance the story. The player can use firearms, improvised weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and stealth to defend against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures infected by a mutated strain of the "Cordyceps" fungus. For most of the game, the player takes control of Joel, a man tasked with escorting a young girl, Ellie, across the United States. The player also controls Ellie throughout the game's winter segment and briefly controls Joel's daughter Sarah in the opening sequence.


title: The Last of Us

text: In combat, the player can use long-range weapons, such as a rifle, a shotgun, and a bow, and short-range weapons such as a handgun and a short-barreled shotgun. The player is able to scavenge limited-use melee weapons, such as pipes and baseball bats, and throw bottles and bricks to distract, stun, or attack enemies. The player can upgrade weapons at workbenches using collected items. Equipment such as health kits, shivs, and Molotov cocktails can be found or crafted using collected items. Attributes such as the health meter and crafting speed can be upgraded by collecting pills and medicinal plants. Health can be recharged by finding edible items or through the use of health kits.


title: The Last of Us

text: Though the player can attack enemies directly, they can also use stealth to attack undetected or sneak by them. "Listen Mode" allows the player to locate enemies through a heightened sense of hearing and spatial awareness, indicated as outlines visible through walls and objects. In the dynamic cover system, the player can crouch behind obstacles to gain a tactical advantage during combat. The game features periods without combat, often involving conversation between the characters. The player can solve simple puzzles, such as using floating pallets to move Ellie, who is unable to swim, across bodies of water and using ladders or dumpsters to reach higher areas. Story collectibles, such as notes, maps and comics, can be scavenged and viewed in the backpack menu.


title: The Last of Us

text: The game features an artificial intelligence system by which hostile human enemies react to combat. If enemies discover the player, they may take cover or call for assistance, and can take advantage of the player when they are distracted, out of ammunition, or in a fight. Player companions, such as Ellie, can assist in combat by throwing objects at threats to stun them, announcing the location of unseen enemies, or using a knife and pistol to attack enemies.


title: The Last of Us

text: The online multiplayer mode, called Factions, allows up to eight players to engage in competitive gameplay in rearranged versions of multiple single-player settings. The game features three multiplayer game types: Supply Raid and Survivors are both team deathmatches, with the latter excluding the ability to respawn; Interrogation features teams investigating the location of the enemy team's lockbox, and the first to capture said lockbox wins. In every mode, players select a faction—Hunters (a group of hostile survivors) or Fireflies (a revolutionary militia group)—and keep their clan alive by collecting supplies during matches. Each match is equal to one day; by surviving twelve "weeks", players have completed a journey and can re-select their Faction.


title: The Last of Us

text: Players earn "parts" by marking or killing enemies, healing or reviving allies, crafting items, and unlocking the enemy lockbox. Parts can be spent mid-match on weapon upgrades and armor, and are converted to supplies at the end of the match; additional supplies can be scavenged from enemies' bodies. Players also earn points as they play, which can be spent on weapons or skills to create custom loadouts. Players could originally connect the game to their Facebook account, altering clan members' names and faces to match their Facebook friends. Players have the ability to customize their characters with hats, helmets, masks, and emblems. The multiplayer servers for the PlayStation 3 version of the game were shut down on September 3, 2019.


title: The Last of Us

text: In 2013, an outbreak of a mutant "Cordyceps" fungus ravages the United States, transforming its human hosts into aggressive creatures known as the Infected. In the suburbs of Austin, Texas, Joel (Troy Baker) flees the chaos with his brother Tommy (Jeffrey Pierce) and daughter Sarah (Hana Hayes). As they flee, Sarah is shot by a soldier and dies in Joel's arms.


title: The Last of Us

text: Twenty years later, civilization has been decimated by the infection. Survivors live in totalitarian quarantine zones, independent settlements, and nomadic groups, leaving buildings and houses deserted. Joel works as a smuggler with his partner Tess (Annie Wersching) in the quarantine zone in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts. They hunt down Robert (Robin Atkin Downes), a black-market dealer, to recover a stolen weapons cache. Before Tess kills him, Robert reveals that he traded the cache with the Fireflies, a rebel militia opposing the quarantine zone authorities.


title: The Last of Us

text: The leader of the Fireflies, Marlene (Merle Dandridge), promises to double their cache in return for smuggling a teenage girl, Ellie (Ashley Johnson), to Fireflies hiding in the Massachusetts State House outside the quarantine zone. Joel, Tess, and Ellie sneak out in the night, but after an encounter with a government patrol, they discover Ellie is infected. Symptoms normally occur within two days, but Ellie claims she was infected three weeks earlier and that her immunity may lead to a cure. The trio make their way to their destination through hordes of the infected, but find that the Fireflies there have been killed. Tess reveals she has been bitten by an infected and, believing in Ellie's importance, sacrifices herself against pursuing soldiers so Joel and Ellie can escape. Joel decides to find Tommy, a former Firefly, in the hope that he can locate the remaining Fireflies.


title: The Last of Us

text: With the help of Bill (W. Earl Brown), a smuggler and survivalist who owes Joel a favor, they acquire a working vehicle from Bill's neighborhood in Lincoln. Driving into Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Joel and Ellie are ambushed by bandits, and their car is wrecked. They ally with two brothers, Henry (Brandon Scott) and Sam (Nadji Jeter). After they escape the city, Sam is bitten but hides it from the group. As his infection takes hold, Sam attacks Ellie, but Henry shoots him dead before taking his own life. In the fall, Joel and Ellie finally find Tommy in Jackson, Wyoming, where he has assembled a fortified settlement near a hydroelectric dam with his wife Maria (Ashley Scott). Joel decides to leave Ellie with Tommy, but after she confronts him about Sarah, he lets her stay with him. Tommy directs them to a Fireflies enclave at the University of Eastern Colorado. They find the university abandoned, but learn that the Fireflies have moved to a hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. The two are attacked by bandits, and Joel is severely wounded while escaping.


title: The Last of Us

text: During the winter, Ellie and Joel shelter in the mountains. Joel is on the brink of death and relies on Ellie to care for him. Hunting for food, Ellie encounters David (Nolan North) and James (Reuben Langdon), scavengers willing to trade medicine for food. After David reveals that the university bandits were part of his group, Ellie becomes hostile. She manages to lead David's group away from Joel but is captured; David intends to recruit her into his cannibal group. Refusing, she escapes after killing James, but David corners her in a burning restaurant. Meanwhile, Joel recovers from his wounds and sets out to find Ellie. He reaches her just as she kills David with a machete, an act that traumatizes her, and Joel comforts her before they flee.


title: The Last of Us

text: In the spring, Joel and Ellie arrive in Salt Lake City. Ellie is rendered unconscious after almost drowning before they are captured by a Firefly patrol. In the hospital, Marlene tells Joel that Ellie is being prepared for surgery: in hopes of producing a vaccine for the infection, the Fireflies must remove the infected portion of Ellie's brain, which will kill her. Unwilling to let Ellie die, Joel battles his way to the operating room, kills the lead surgeon, and carries the unconscious Ellie to the parking garage. He is confronted by Marlene, whom he shoots and kills to prevent the Fireflies from pursuing them. On the drive out of the city, when Ellie wakes up, Joel claims that the Fireflies had found many other immune people but were unable to create a cure and have stopped trying. On the outskirts of Tommy's settlement, Ellie expresses her survivor guilt. At her insistence, Joel swears his story about the Fireflies is true.


title: The Last of Us

text: Naughty Dog began developing "The Last of Us" in 2009, following the release of "". For the first time in the company's history, Naughty Dog split into two teams; while one team developed "" (2011), the other began work on "The Last of Us". Game director Bruce Straley and creative director Neil Druckmann led the team responsible for developing "The Last of Us".


title: The Last of Us

text: While at university, Druckmann had an idea to merge the gameplay of "Ico" (2001) in a story set during a zombie apocalypse, like that of George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), with a lead character similar to John Hartigan from "Sin City" (1991–2000). The lead character, a police officer, would be tasked with protecting a young girl; however, due to the lead character's heart condition, players would often assume control of the young girl, reversing the roles. Druckmann later developed it when creating the story of "The Last of Us". Druckmann views "The Last of Us" as a coming-of-age story, in which Ellie adapts to survival after spending time with Joel, as well as an exploration of how willing a father is to save his child.


title: The Last of Us

text: A major motif of the game is that "life goes on"; this is presented in a scene in which Joel and Ellie discover a herd of giraffes, which concept artist John Sweeney explained was designed to "reignite [Ellie's] lust for life", after her suffering following her encounter with David. The Infected, a core concept of the game, were inspired by a segment of the BBC nature documentary "Planet Earth" (2006), which featured the "Cordyceps" fungi. Though the fungi mainly infect insects, taking control of their motor functions and forcing them to help cultivate the fungus, the game explores the concept of the fungus evolving and infecting humans, and the direct results of an outbreak of this infection.


title: The Last of Us

text: The relationship between Joel and Ellie was the focus of the game; all other elements were developed around it. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson were cast as Joel and Ellie, respectively, and provided voice and motion capture performances. Baker and Johnson contributed to the development of the characters; for example, Baker convinced Druckmann that Joel would care for Tess due to his loneliness, and Johnson convinced Druckmann that Ellie should be stronger and more defensive. Following comparisons to actor Elliot Page, Ellie's appearance was redesigned to better reflect Johnson's personality and make her younger. The game's other characters also underwent changes. The character Tess was originally intended to be the main antagonist, but the team found it difficult to believe her motives. The sexuality of the character Bill was originally left vague in the script, but later altered to further reflect his homosexuality.


title: The Last of Us

text: "The Last of Us" features an original score composed primarily by Gustavo Santaolalla, along with compositions by Andrew Buresh, Anthony Caruso, and Jonathan Mayer. Known for his minimalist compositions, Santaolalla was contacted early in development. He used various instruments to compose the score, including some that he was unfamiliar with, giving a sense of danger and innocence. This minimalist approach was also taken with the game's sound and art design. The sound of the Infected was one of the first tasks during development; the team experimented with the sound in order to achieve the best work possible. To achieve the sound of the Clicker, they hired voice actress Misty Lee, who provided a sound that audio lead Phillip Kovats described as originating in the "back of the throat". The art department took various pieces of work as inspiration, such as Robert Polidori's photographs following Hurricane Katrina, which were used as a reference point when designing the flooded areas of Pittsburgh. The art department were forced to negotiate for things that they wished to include, due to the strong differing opinions of the team during development. Ultimately, the team settled on a balance between simplicity and detail; while Straley and Druckmann preferred the former, the art team preferred the latter. The game's opening credits were produced by Sony's San Diego Studio.


title: The Last of Us

text: "The Last of Us" game designer Ricky Cambier cited the video games "Ico" and "Resident Evil 4" as influences on the game design. He said the emotional weight of the relationship needed to be balanced with the tension of the world's issues, stating that they "wanted to take the character building and interaction" of "Ico" and "blend it with the tension and action of "Resident Evil 4"." The team created new engines to satisfy their needs for the game. The artificial intelligence was created to coordinate with players; the addition of Ellie as artificial intelligence was a major contributor to the engine. The lighting engine was also re-created to incorporate soft light, in which the sunlight seeps in through spaces and reflects off surfaces. The gameplay introduced difficulty to the team, as they felt that every mechanic required thorough analysis. The game's user interface design also underwent various iterations throughout development.


title: The Last of Us

text: "The Last of Us" was announced on December 10, 2011, at the Spike Video Game Awards, alongside its debut trailer. The announcement ignited widespread anticipation within the gaming industry, which journalists ascribed to Naughty Dog's reputation. The game missed its original projected release date of May 7, 2013, and was pushed to June 14, 2013 worldwide for further polishing. To promote pre-order sales, Naughty Dog collaborated with several retailers to provide special editions of the game with extra content.


title: The Last of Us

text: Downloadable content (DLC) for the game was released following its launch. The game's Season Pass includes access to all DLC, as well as some additional abilities, and the documentary "Grounded: Making The Last of Us"; the documentary was released online in February 2014. Two DLC packs were included with some of the game's special editions and were available upon release. The "Sights and Sounds Pack" included the soundtrack, a dynamic theme for the PlayStation 3 home screen, and two avatars. The "Survival Pack" featured bonus skins for the player following the completion of the campaign, and in-game money, as well as bonus experience points and early access to customizable items for the game's multiplayer. "Abandoned Territories Map Pack", released on October 15, 2013, added four new multiplayer maps, based on locations in the game's story. "Nightmare Bundle", released on November 5, 2013, added a collection of ten head items, nine of which are available to purchase separately.


title: The Last of Us

text: "" adds a single-player campaign that features two storylines—one set after the prologue of "The Last of Us" and one before the Winter chapter—following Ellie and her friend Riley. It was released on February 14, 2014 as DLC and on May 12, 2015 as a standalone expansion pack. A third bundle was released on May 6, 2014, featuring five separate DLC: "Grounded" added a new difficulty to the main game and "Left Behind"; "Reclaimed Territories Map Pack" added new multiplayer maps; "Professional Survival Skills Bundle" and "Situational Survival Skills Bundle" added eight new multiplayer skills; and "Survivalist Weapon Bundle" added four new weapons. The "Grit and Gear Bundle", which added new headgear items, masks and gestures, was released on August 5, 2014. A "Game of the Year Edition" containing all downloadable content was released in Europe on November 11, 2014.


title: The Last of Us

text: On April 9, 2014, Sony announced "The Last of Us Remastered", a remastered version of the game for the PlayStation 4. It was released in July and August 2014. "Remastered" uses the DualShock 4's touchpad to navigate inventory items, and the light bar signals health, scaling from green to orange and red when taking damage. In addition, audio recordings found in the game world can be heard through the controller's speaker; the original version forced players to remain in a menu while the recordings were played. The game's Photo Mode allows players to capture images of the game by pausing gameplay and adjusting the camera freely. In the menu, players have the ability to watch all cutscenes with audio commentary featuring Druckmann, Baker, and Johnson. "Remastered" features improved graphics and rendering upgrades, including increased draw distance, a higher frame rate, and advanced audio options. It includes the previously released downloadable content, including "Left Behind" and some multiplayer maps. The development team aimed to create a "true" remaster, maintaining the "core experience".


title: The Last of Us

text: "The Last of Us Part I", a remake of "The Last of Us", was released for PlayStation 5 on September 2, 2022; a Windows version is in development. It features revised gameplay and controls, improved performance and lighting effects, and new accessibility options. On PlayStation 5, the game supports 3D audio, as well as the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers of the DualSense controller. Development of "The Last of Us Part I" was led by game director Matthew Gallant and creative director Shaun Escayg. The game was completely rebuilt to take advantage of the updated PlayStation 5 hardware, requiring new art direction, animation, and character models. The technological and graphical enhancements were intended to align with the vision of the original game's development team. Escayg wanted each element to make the player feel grounded and immersed in the game world. Gallant collaborated with a specialized team at Descriptive Video Works to create audio descriptions for cutscenes. The vision for the original game was to emphasize the beauty of the world, as opposed to a visually dark and dystopian image. Reactions to the remake's announcement were mixed, with some journalists and players considering it unnecessary due to the age of the original and the existence of "The Last of Us Remastered", as well as questioning its price point. Upon release, the game received positive reviews, with praise for its graphical enhancements, updated facial animations, improved enemy and character AI, and its added accessibility, audio, and controller options, though the response to its gameplay and level design was mixed.


title: The Last of Us

text: "The Last of Us" received "universal acclaim", according to review aggregator Metacritic, based on 98 reviews. It is the fifth-highest-rated PlayStation 3 game on Metacritic. Reviewers praised the character development, story and subtext, visual and sound design, and depiction of female and LGBT characters. It is considered one of the most significant seventh-generation video games and has been included among the greatest video games of all time. Colin Moriarty of "IGN" called "The Last of Us" "a masterpiece" and "PlayStation 3's best exclusive", and "Edge" considered it "the most riveting, emotionally resonant story-driven epic" of the console generation. Oli Welsh of "Eurogamer" wrote that it is "a beacon of hope" for the survival horror genre; Andy Kelly of "Computer and Video Games" declared it "Naughty Dog's finest moment".


title: The Last of Us

text: Kelly of "Computer and Video Games" found the story memorable, and "IGN"s Moriarty named it one of the game's standout features. "PlayStation Official Magazine"'s David Meikleham wrote that the pacing contributed to the improvement of the story, stating that there is "a real sense of time elapsed and journey traveled along every step of the way", and "Destructoid"s Jim Sterling lauded the game's suspenseful moments. Richard Mitchell of "Joystiq" found that the narrative improved the character relationships.


title: The Last of Us

text: The characters—particularly the relationship between Joel and Ellie—received acclaim. Matt Helgeson of "Game Informer" wrote that the relationship felt identifiable, naming it "poignant" and "well drawn". "Eurogamer"s Welsh wrote that the characters were developed with "real patience and skill", appreciating their emotional value, and "Joystiq" Mitchell found the relationship "genuine" and emotional. "PlayStation Official Magazine"s Meikleham named Joel and Ellie the best characters of any PlayStation 3 game, while "IGN"s Moriarty identified it as a highlight of the game. Kelly of "Computer and Video Games" named the characters "richly painted", feeling invested in their stories. Philip Kollar of "Polygon" felt that Ellie was believable, making it easier to develop a connection to her, and that the relationship between the characters was assisted by the game's optional conversations. The performances also received praise, with "Edge" and "Eurogamer"s Welsh noting that the script improved as a result.


title: The Last of Us

text: Many reviewers found the game's combat a refreshing difference from other games. "Game Informer"s Helgeson appreciated the vulnerability during fights, while Kelly of "Computer and Video Games" enjoyed the variety in approaching the combat. "IGN"s Moriarty felt that the crafting system assisted the combat, and that the latter contributed to the narrative's emotional value, adding that enemies feel "human". "Joystiq"s Mitchell reiterated similar comments, stating that the combat "piles death upon death on Joel's hands". Welsh of "Eurogamer" found the suspenseful and threatening encounters added positively to the gameplay. Tom Mc Shea of "GameSpot" wrote that the artificial intelligence negatively affected the combat, with enemies often ignoring players' companions. "Polygon"s Kollar also felt that the combat was unfair, especially when fighting the Infected, and noted some inconsistencies in the game's artificial intelligence that "shatters the atmosphere" of the characters.


title: The Last of Us

text: The game's visual features were commended by many reviewers. The art design was lauded as "outstanding" by "Computer and Video Games" Kelly, and "jaw-dropping" by "Eurogamer"s Welsh. In contrast, Mc Shea of "GameSpot" identified the visual representation of the post-apocalyptic world was "mundane", having been portrayed various times previously. The game's graphics have been frequently named by critics as the best for a PlayStation 3 game, with Helgeson of "Game Informer" naming them "unmatched in console gaming" and Moriarty of "IGN" stating that they contribute to the realism. "Destructoid"s Sterling wrote that the game was visually impressive but that technical issues, such as some "muddy and basic" textures found early in the game, left a negative impact on the visuals.


title: The Last of Us

text: The world and environments of the game drew acclaim from many reviewers. Kelly of "Computer and Video Games" stated that the environments are "large, detailed, and littered with secrets", adding that "The Last of Us" "masks" its linearity successfully. "Edge" repeated similar remarks, writing that the level design serves the story appropriately. Helgeson of "Game Informer" wrote that the world "effectively and gorgeously [conveys] the loneliness" of the story. "IGN"s Moriarty appreciated the added design elements placed around the game world, such as the hidden notes and letters. The plausibility of the infection was commended by "Scientific American"s Kyle Hill.


title: The Last of Us

text: Reviewers praised the use of sound in "The Last of Us". "Eurogamer"s Welsh felt that the sound design was significantly better than in other games, while "Game Informer"s Helgeson dubbed it "amazing". Mc Shea of GameSpot stated that the audio added to the effect of the gameplay, particularly when hiding from enemies. Kelly of "Computer and Video Games" found that the environmental audio positively impacted gameplay, and that Gustavo Santaolalla's score was "sparse and delicate". Both "Game Informer"s Helgeson and "Destructoid" Sterling called the score "haunting", with the latter finding that it complements the gameplay.


title: The Last of Us

text: The graphic depiction of violence in "The Last of Us" generated substantial commentary from critics. Engadget writer Ben Gilbert found the game's persistent focus on combat was "a necessary evil to lead the game's fragile protagonist duo to safety", as opposed to being used as a method to achieve objectives. "Kotaku"s Kirk Hamilton wrote that the violence was "heavy, consequential and necessary", as opposed to gratuitous. "USgamer"s Anthony John Agnello wrote that the game consistently reinforces the negativity associated with violence, intentionally making players feel uncomfortable while in violent combat. He stated that the deaths within the game were not unnecessary or unjustified, making the story more powerful. Kelly of "Computer and Video Games" stated that, despite the "incredibly brutal" combat, the violence never felt gratuitous. "Eurogamer"s Welsh echoed similar remarks, stating that the violence is not "desensitized or mindless". Matt Helgeson of "Game Informer" observed that the game's violence leads to players questioning the morality of their choices. "Joystiq"s Mitchell wrote that the violence is "designed to be uncomfortable", stating that it contributes to Joel's character. Prior to the release of the game, Keith Stuart of "The Guardian" wrote that the acceptability of the violence would depend on its context within the game.


title: The Last of Us

text: Many critics discussed the game's depiction of female characters. Jason Killingsworth of "Edge" praised its lack of sexualized female characters, writing that it "offers a refreshing antidote to the sexism and regressive gender attitudes of most blockbuster videogames". "Eurogamer"s Ellie Gibson praised Ellie as "sometimes strong, sometimes vulnerable, but never a cliché". She felt that Ellie is initially established as a "damsel in distress", but that this concept is subverted. "GameSpot"s Carolyn Petit praised the female characters as morally conflicted and sympathetic, but wrote that gender in video games should be evaluated "based on their actual merits, not in relation to other games". Chris Suellentrop of "The New York Times" acknowledged that Ellie is a likable and "sometimes powerful" character, but argued that "The Last of Us" is "actually the story of Joel", stating that it's "another video game by men, for men and about men". "The Last of Us" was also praised for its depiction of LGBT characters. Sam Einhorn of GayGamer.net felt that the revelation of Bill's sexuality "added to his character ... without really tokenizing him". American organization GLAAD named Bill one of the "most intriguing new LGBT characters of 2013", calling him "deeply flawed but wholly unique". A kiss between two female characters in "Left Behind" was met with positive reactions.


title: The Last of Us

text: Like the original version, "The Last of Us Remastered" received "universal acclaim" according to Metacritic, based on 69 critics. It is the third-highest-rated PlayStation 4 game on Metacritic, tied with "Persona 5 Royal" and behind "Grand Theft Auto V" and "Red Dead Redemption 2".


title: The Last of Us

text: The game's enhanced graphics received positive reactions. Colin Moriarty of "IGN" felt that the graphical fidelity of "Remastered" was an improvement over "The Last of Us", despite the latter being "the most beautiful game [he'd] seen on any console". GamesRadar's David Houghton echoed this statement, calling the visuals "jaw-dropping". VideoGamer.com reiterated the graphical improvement over the original game, particularly praising the increased draw distance and improved lighting technology. Liam Martin of Digital Spy also felt that the lighting system improves the gameplay and makes the game "feel even more dangerous". "Game Informer"s Tim Turi stated that the game is "even more breathtaking" than "The Last of Us". Matt Swider of "TechRadar" appreciated the minor detail changes and the technical improvements. "The Independent"s Jack Fleming felt that the original game's visual flaws were enhanced in "Remastered" but greatly complimented the updated graphics regardless.


title: The Last of Us

text: Many reviewers considered the technical enhancements, such as the increased frame rate, a welcome advancement from the original game. Turi of "Game Informer" felt that the frame rate "dramatically elevate[s]" the game above the original. Jim Sterling of "The Escapist" complimented the upgraded frame rate, commenting that the original frame rate is a "noticeably inferior experience". "IGN"s Moriarty stated that, though the change was initially "jarring", he appreciated it through further gameplay. Tom Hoggins of the "Daily Telegraph" echoed these statements, feeling as though the increased frame rate heightened the intensity of the gameplay. Philip Kollar of "Polygon" appreciated the game's improved textures and loading times.


title: The Last of Us

text: The addition of Photo Mode was well received. "TechRadar"s Swider named the mode as a standout feature, while "IGN"s Moriarty complimented the availability to capture "gorgeous" images using the feature. The adjustment of the controls received praise, with Moriarty of "IGN" particularly approving of the DualShock 4's triggers. Swider of "TechRadar" felt that the additional controls result in a better functioning game, while Digital Spy's Martin felt that it improves the game's combat, commenting that it "increase[s] this sense of immersion". Reviewers also appreciated the inclusion of the DLC and the audio commentary. These features led "The Escapist"s Sterling to dub "Remastered" as "the definitive version of the game".


title: The Last of Us

text: Prior to its release, "The Last of Us" received numerous awards for its previews at E3. It was review aggregators Metacritic and GameRankings' second-highest rated for the year 2013, behind "Grand Theft Auto V". The game appeared on several year-end lists of the best games of 2013, receiving wins at the 41st Annie Awards, 10th British Academy Video Games Awards, 17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and 14th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, and from outlets such as "The A.V. Club", Canada.com, "The Daily Telegraph", "Destructoid", "The Escapist", "GamesRadar", "GameTrailers", "GameRevolution", "Giant Bomb", "Good Game", "Hardcore Gamer", "IGN", "IGN" Australia, "International Business Times", "Kotaku", "VG247", and "VideoGamer.com". It was also named the Best PlayStation Game by "GameSpot", "GameTrailers", "Hardcore Gamer", and "IGN". Naughty Dog won Studio of the Year and Best Developer from "The Daily Telegraph", "Edge", the Golden Joystick Awards, "Hardcore Gamer", and the 2013 Spike VGX.


title: The Last of Us

text: Baker and Johnson received multiple nominations for their performances; Baker won awards from "Hardcore Gamer" and the 2013 Spike VGX, while Johnson won awards at the British Academy Video Games Awards, DICE Awards, VGX 2013, and from "The Daily Telegraph". The game's story also received awards at the British Academy Video Games Awards, the DICE Awards, the Game Developers Choice Awards, the Golden Joystick Awards, and the Writers Guild of America Awards, and from GameTrailers, Giant Bomb, "Hardcore Gamer", and "IGN". The sound design and music received awards at the DICE Awards, the Inside Gaming Awards, and from "IGN". The game's graphical and artistic design also won awards from "Destructoid", the DICE Awards, the Golden Joystick Awards, and "IGN".


title: The Last of Us

text: "The Last of Us" was awarded Outstanding Innovation in Gaming at the DICE Awards, and Best Third Person Shooter from GameTrailers. The game received Best New IP from "Hardcore Gamer", Best Newcomer at the Golden Joystick Awards, and Best Debut from Giant Bomb. It received Best Overall Sound, Best PlayStation 3 Multiplayer, and Best Action-Adventure Game on PlayStation 3 and overall at "IGN"s Best of 2013 Awards. It also won Best Action-Adventure Game at the British Academy Video Games Awards, and "The Escapist", as well as Best Action Game from "Hardcore Gamer" and Adventure Game of the Year at the DICE Awards. The game was nominated for Best Remaster at The Game Awards 2014, and received an honorable mention for Best Technology at the 15th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards. The game was named among the best games of the 2010s by "The Hollywood Reporter", "Mashable", Metacritic, and "VG247".


title: The Last of Us

text: Within seven days of its release, "The Last of Us" sold over 1.3 million units, becoming the biggest video game launch of 2013 at the time. Three weeks after its release, the game sold over 3.4 million units, and was deemed the biggest launch of an original game since 2011's "L.A. Noire" and the fastest-selling PlayStation 3 game of 2013 at the time. The game became the best-selling digital release on the PlayStation Store for PlayStation 3; this record was later beaten by "Grand Theft Auto V". "The Last of Us" ultimately became the tenth-best-selling game of 2013. In the United Kingdom, the game remained atop the charts for six consecutive weeks, matching records set by multi-platform games. Within 48 hours of its release, "The Last of Us" generated more than the £3 million earned by "Man of Steel" in the same period. The game also topped the charts in the United States, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Spain, and Japan.


title: The Last of Us

text: "The Last of Us" is one of the best-selling PlayStation 3 games, and "Remastered" is among the best-selling PlayStation 4 games. By August 2014, the game had sold eight million copies: seven million on PlayStation 3 and one million on PlayStation 4. By April 2018, the game sold 17 million copies across both consoles. According to Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad, the game had sold over units by October 2019.


title: The Last of Us

text: A four-issue comic book miniseries, "", was published by Dark Horse Comics from April to July 2013. Written by Druckmann and illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks, the comics serve as a prequel to the game, chronicling the journey of a younger Ellie and Riley. On July 28, 2014, the cast of the game performed a live reading of selected scenes in Santa Monica, California, with live music by Santaolalla. The performance was hosted and directed by Druckmann, with graphics by Alex Hobbs. On "The Last of Us" Day in September 2020, CMON announced it was developing "The Last of Us: The Board Game", a tabletop game based on the series intending to focus on exploration, narrative, and survival elements. A different tabletop game, "The Last of Us: Escape the Dark", was announced in November 2022, produced by Naughty Dog and Themeborne. The game will allow up to five players to control Joel, Ellie, Tommy, Tess, Bill, or Marlene and try to reach safety from enemies such as Hunters and Infected while exploring locations from the game, including the sewers, suburbs, and university. It will be funded by a Kickstarter campaign, which begins on November 8.


title: The Last of Us

text: On March 6, 2014, Sony announced that Screen Gems would distribute a film adaptation of "The Last of Us", written by Druckmann and produced by Sam Raimi. By January 2015, Druckmann had written the script's second draft, and performed a read-through with some actors. Very little work occurred following this, as Druckmann stated in April 2016 that the film had entered development hell. In November 2016, Raimi stated that the film was at a standstill after Sony had a disagreement with Druckmann. Druckmann stated in a 2021 interview that the film fell apart as there was too much studio focus on making big action set-pieces, a concept that he felt did not work well for the nature of "The Last of Us" which he felt was better approached as a smaller indie film. Actress Maisie Williams expressed enthusiasm about playing Ellie and was in talks with both Druckmann and Raimi to take the role. In January 2020, images surfaced of an animated short film adaptation of "The Last of Us" by production agency Oddfellows. The 20-minute film was intended to "serve as a strong bridge" between the game and its sequel and would "reinterpret each of the chapters of the game with a unique visual treatment" but was canceled by Sony.


title: The Last of Us

text: In March 2020, a television adaptation of the game was announced in the planning stages at HBO; it was formally greenlit in November 2020. Druckmann and Craig Mazin wrote and executive produced the series, and both directed episodes; Ali Abbasi, Peter Hoar, Liza Johnson, Jeremy Webb, and Jasmila Žbanić also directed episodes, while additional executive producers include Carolyn Strauss and Rose Lam, Naughty Dog president Evan Wells, and PlayStation Productions's Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan. The show is a joint production between Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Naughty Dog, The Mighty Mint, and Word Games; it is the first show produced by PlayStation Productions. Santaolalla will compose the score. The show will star Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, respectively. Gabriel Luna will play Tommy, Merle Dandridge will reprise her role as Marlene, and Anna Torv will play Tess. Druckmann noted that some of the show's scripts borrow dialogue directly from the game, while others deviate more significantly; some of the game's action-heavy tutorial sequences will be changed to focus more on the show's character drama, at the request of HBO. Filming for the series took place in Alberta, Canada, from July 2021 to June 2022, and it will debut on HBO and HBO Max on January 15, 2023.


title: The Last of Us

text: In February 2014, Druckmann said Naughty Dog were considering a sequel but needed to find a story "really worth telling, and that's not repeating itself". In September 2015, Druckmann stated that a small team had begun building prototypes but shifted development to "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End", released in May 2016. Sony announced "The Last of Us Part II" at the PlayStation Experience event on December 3, 2016. The story takes place about five years after the first game; Ellie and Joel return, with players controlling Ellie. Santaolalla returned to compose the music, and Druckmann returned to write the story alongside Halley Gross. Straley did not return as game director. It was released on June 19, 2020, to critical acclaim and was praised for its performances, characters, visual fidelity, and gameplay, though the narrative polarized critics and players.


title: Mariska Hargitay

text: Mariska Magdolna Hargitay (; born January 23, 1964) is an American actress, director and philanthropist. The daughter of bodybuilder and actor Mickey Hargitay and actress Jayne Mansfield, her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award, a People's Choice Award and a Golden Globe Award.


title: Mariska Hargitay

text: Hargitay made her film debut in the 1985 horror comedy film "Ghoulies" and her major television debut in the 1986 adventure drama series "Downtown". She appeared in numerous film and television roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s, before landing the starring role of Olivia Benson on the NBC drama series "" (1999–present), for which she has received widespread acclaim. Outside of acting, she founded the Joyful Heart Foundation, which provides support to people who have been sexually abused.


title: Mariska Hargitay

text: Hargitay was born at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, the daughter of actress and 1950s-era sex symbol Jayne Mansfield. Her father was the Hungarian-born former Mr. Universe, Mickey Hargitay. Her first and middle names are Hungarian and refer to Mary Magdalene (Mariska is a diminutive of Mary). She was raised Catholic and has two older brothers, Miklós and Zoltán, as well as three half-siblings, Jayne Marie Mansfield and Antonio "Tony" Cimber (from her mother's first and third marriages, respectively) and Tina Hargitay (from her father's first marriage). Hargitay's parents divorced in May 1963, but a judge later found their Mexican divorce invalid. They reconciled a few months before Hargitay's birth in January 1964, but soon separated again. In August 1964, Hargitay's mother successfully petitioned the court to rule the Mexican divorce legal. A few weeks later, Mansfield married the director Matt Cimber, who had directed her in a 1964 production of the William Inge play "Bus Stop". By the summer of 1966, however, Mansfield and Cimber had filed for divorce.


title: Mariska Hargitay

text: On June 29, 1967, Mansfield was in an automobile accident on a stretch of U.S. Route 90 between New Orleans and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The accident ripped off the top of the car, instantly killing Mansfield, her boyfriend Sam Brody, and the driver. Asleep in the back of the vehicle, Mariska, then three-and-a-half years old, was left with a zigzag scar on one side of her head. Her brothers, Miklós and Zoltán, escaped with minor injuries. After the death of their mother, the three siblings were raised by their father and his third wife, Ellen Siano. Hargitay dislikes comparisons with her famous mother and, at age 18, said, "My dad was Mr. Universe, so it would be fun for me to be Miss Universe". Hargitay has said that the early loss of her mother left "a hole in my life that won't ever be filled. I will never get over it. I will always be a girl who lost her mom". Hargitay's father died in 2006 from multiple myeloma in Los Angeles, California, at age 80.


title: Mariska Hargitay

text: While a student at her Catholic secondary school, Marymount High School, Hargitay was active in cheerleading, student government, athletics, and the theater program. She enjoyed acting and enrolled at UCLA after graduation from high school in 1982. That same year, Hargitay was crowned Miss Beverly Hills USA. By the time she was a freshman in college, Hargitay had an agent and several small roles to her credit. She attended UCLA School of Theater Film and Television where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She left before completing her degree. Hargitay attended Groundlings Theatre and School in Los Angeles.


title: Mariska Hargitay

text: After Hargitay was crowned Miss Beverly Hills USA, she competed in the Miss California USA pageant the following year and placed fourth runner-up to Julie Hayek, who was later crowned Miss USA. In 1984, Hargitay appeared in Ronnie Milsap's music video for "She Loves My Car", the first country music video to appear on MTV. A year later she had a small role in the horror film "Ghoulies". Hargitay has appeared on numerous other television programs, including: "", "Ellen", "All-American Girl", "Baywatch", "Cracker", "Gabriel's Fire", "In the Heat of the Night", "The Single Guy", "Wiseguy", and "thirtysomething". Her voice is featured on the 2005 video game "". Hargitay also had a minor role in the 1995 film "Leaving Las Vegas". She briefly replaced Gabrielle Fitzpatrick as Dulcea in "", although her scenes were cut from the film when Fitzpatrick recovered from her surgery and returned to the film. In 1988, she had a recurring role as Carly Fixx in the soap opera "Falcon Crest". She portrayed police officer Angela Garcia in the 1992 series "Tequila and Bonetti" and appeared in the two-part finale episode of "Seinfeld," where they had her read for the role of Elaine Benes in "The Pilot". She was considered for the character of Elaine Benes on Seinfeld itself before it began. Two years later, Hargitay portrayed Didi Edelstein, the sexy next-door neighbor, in the 1995 sitcom "Can't Hurry Love", which starred Nancy McKeon. In 1997, Hargitay played detective Nina Echeverria on the drama series "Prince Street", and had a recurring role as inept desk clerk Cynthia Hooper during the fourth season of "ER".Hargitay said in 1986 that she never thought about doing television until a role on the one-hour adventure drama series "Downtown" was offered. In fact, she experienced difficulties in her efforts to begin a career as a Hollywood actor. Hargitay endured frequent comparisons to her mother. Casting for the lead characters of NBC police procedural television drama series "" occurred in the spring of 1999. Dick Wolf, along with officials from NBC and Studios USA, were at the final auditions for the two leads at Rockefeller Center. The last round had been narrowed down to six finalists. For the female lead – Detective Olivia Benson – Samantha Mathis, Reiko Aylesworth, and Hargitay were being considered. For the male lead – Detective Elliot Stabler – the finalists were Tim Matheson, John Slattery, and Christopher Meloni. Meloni and Hargitay had auditioned in the final round together, and after the actors left, there was a moment of dead silence, after which Wolf blurted out, "Oh well. There's no doubt who we should choose – Hargitay and Meloni." The duo, who Wolf believed had the perfect chemistry from the first time he saw them together, were his first choice. Garth Ancier, then head of NBC Entertainment, agreed, and the rest of the panel assembled voiced their assent. Hargitay trained as a rape crisis advocate to prepare for the role of Benson. She has portrayed Benson since 1999. Hargitay won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the role. She received UCLA's TFT Distinguished Alumni Award in 2011 and was honored at the school's June commencement ceremony. During the last months of her pregnancy in 2006, Hargitay took maternity leave from "SVU", and was temporarily replaced by Connie Nielsen, who portrayed Stabler's temporary partner Dani Beck.


title: Mariska Hargitay

text: When the thirteenth season was about to air, initial reports indicated that Hargitay would appear in only the first 13 episodes. However, NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt later clarified that she would be in every episode of the season. As of August 2012, Hargitay was earning approximately $400,000–$500,000 per episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit". In late December 2008, Hargitay suffered a partially collapsed lung after taking a fall during a stunt on the set of "SVU". She underwent surgery in January and returned to work shortly afterward. On March 3, 2009, she was hospitalized after suffering from chest pains related to the injury. She missed one episode on "SVU" tenth season. In May 2009, after the show's , Hargitay and Meloni's contracts expired when they were reportedly making $375,000–$385,000 per episode. During negotiations in April for a new contract, the duo attempted to receive a percentage of the show's profits as other high-profile "Law and Order" actors had done in the past. It was rumored that NBC threatened to replace Hargitay and Meloni if they persisted in their demands. However, two months later it was officially reported that both their contracts had been renewed for two more years. In 2013, Hargitay was awarded with the 2,511th star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her star was placed next to the star of her mother, which is located at 6328 Hollywood Boulevard. At the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Hargitay won the "Video of the Year" Award, shared with Taylor Swift and all of the celebrities that appeared in the music video for Swift's song "Bad Blood".