Nominations for the 2025 Emmy Awards were announced today, and HBO`s “The Last of Us,” based on the renowned Naughty Dog video game series, garnered a significant number of nods.
“The Last of Us” emerged as one of the most nominated projects of the year, collecting a total of 16 nominations. In comparison, the first season received 24 nominations. Pedro Pascal, who portrays Joel, was nominated for “Best Actor,” despite appearing in only three episodes of the season. Bella Ramsey, who plays Ellie, earned a nomination for “Best Actress.” Other actors recognized by the Academy include Kaitlyn Dever (Abby), Catherine O`Hara (Gail), Jeffrey Wright (Isaac), and Joe Pantoliano (Eugene). The series itself was also nominated for “Best Drama.”
Additional nominations included “Outstanding Production Design,” “Casting,” “Picture Editing,” “Contemporary Makeup,” “Prosthetic Makeup,” “Music Supervision,” “Nonfiction Short” (for its making-of documentary), “Sound Editing,” “Sound Mixing,” and “Special Visual Effects.”
However, “The Last of Us” did not receive nominations for writing or directing. Many also believe that Isabela Merced was unfairly overlooked for her notable role as Dina.
Neil Druckmann, head of Naughty Dog, expressed his gratitude: “On behalf of the entire development team at Naughty Dog, we thank the Academy and heartily congratulate the entire cast and crew of `The Last of Us` Season 2 on their Emmy nominations! To see the story of `The Last of Us Part II` gain recognition and find new life and new fans is a tremendous pleasure for our studio.”
Among other leaders in Emmy nominations this year were Apple`s “Severance” with 27 nominations, followed by HBO`s “The Penguin” (24), and both “The Studio” and “The White Lotus” with 23 nominations each.
“The Last of Us” will return for a third season, which will focus on Abby`s story. The release date for the third season has not yet been announced.
Regarding the game series, a recent update for “The Last of Us Part II Remastered” added a chronological mode. There are also rumors that Naughty Dog is working on “The Last of Us Part III” in addition to the project “Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.”