It’s not uncommon to see Austin appear on screen. But while the Texas capital has greeted the cameras for everything from “Walker” to “Queer Eye,” HBO’s newest hit drama has used a bit of TV magic to recreate the city.
Based on the video game of the same name, The Last of Us premiered on January 15. The show stars Pedro Pascal as Joel, a traumatized survivor of a zombie apocalypse caused by fungi. Austin native Gabriel Luna plays his brother Tommy, while Game of Thrones star Bella Ramsey plays Ellie, a young girl who may be society’s last hope.
Before moving the story to a post-apocalyptic Boston, the opening scenes of the series take place in Austin.
Was The Last of Us filmed in Austin?
If you’ve been looking at houses and thinking, “Hey, I don’t recognize this part of town,” you’re not alone—you may just have never been to Canada.
The Last of Us filmed its first season in Alberta, Canada, and CTV News called it the biggest Canadian TV show ever. Filming took place in Calgary and other cities; According to Entertainment Weekly, Fort McLeod replaced Austin during the climactic car escape scene.
While Austin is a popular filming location, this isn’t the first time another city has replaced it. The Fox series 9-1-1: Lone Star, about the lifeguards in Austin, was primarily filmed in Los Angeles.
From the archives:Austin-born ‘Terminator’ Gabriel Luna has a moment
Does Austin’s version from The Last of Us look accurate?
Uh, not exactly, but you can tell the showrunners put in some effort to make their version of Austin ring a little believable.
Spoilers below.
Early scenes of The Last of Us (after a prologue set in the distant past) show Joel’s life with his daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) in September 2003, before the zombie pandemic. The screen tells viewers that this is supposed to be Austin, even though the downtown architecture tells us that’s not exactly true. The suburban area where Joel and Sarah live is rather nondescript; if you didn’t know that this is Canada, you might believe that this is Texas.
Some helpful visual cues for setting up the scene: a portrait of then-President George W. Bush in Sarah’s class; accurate (for the time) CapMetro city bus painted green, blue and white; and Austin Police Department vehicles. We spotted a red newspaper box that looked awfully like the classic American statesman Austin box.
More:As for tacos, is it Austin or San Antonio? Pedro Pascal chose a side for SXSW.
The TV host also mentions the Austin Police Department, and probably the most accurate specific detail: Joel answers a call from Tommy, who is in the Travis County Jail on 10th Street, which is the correct street in real life.
Otherwise, the geography of the show is more imaginary. In the daring escape sequence in the first episode, Joel’s family comes to an intersection with signs pointing to Austin to the west and San Marcos to the east. It’s not like that at all. The home of Texas State University is located just west of Austin.
The same scene shows road signs for Interstate 183 (which is actually US 183 which runs through Austin) and something that looks like FM 58 or RM 58 (it was hard to tell when we watched, but either way FM 58 starts in the east). Texas city of Lufkin). The character mentions taking “71” and if they’re talking about Texas 71, of course you could do it in Austin.
Chief said this show wasn’t filmed in Austin? This version of downtown Austin still has many small old buildings.
More:Jonathan Majors is among this year’s Texas Film Awards winners; that’s how to go
Will there be more scenes with Austin in The Last of Us?
We’re not showrunners, so anything is possible. However, if the TV adaptation follows the video game’s source material, most of the story’s action will take place in other cities. However, the TV show loves memories.
