‘The Last Of Us’ 2025 Emmy Submissions Revealed With Pedro Pascal Staying In Lead Actor Category

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of the Season 2 finale Sunday, HBO’s acclaimed drama The Last Of Us has finalized its list of 33 submissions for the 2025 Emmy Awards. They include Outstanding Drama Series10 acting and 3 writing/directing entries, with at least a third of the overall submissions tied to the praised Episode 202 “Through the Valley.”

Ending weeks of speculation, Pedro Pascal will remain in the Lead Actor In a Drama Series race for his role as Joel. Pascal had an option to switch categories after his character was killed off in the second episode, Through the Valley.” (He was subsequently seen in another episode in flashbacks). He has chosen to remain in the Lead Actor category, which landed him an Emmy nomination for Season 1. That was the route also taken by Succession star Brian Cox whose character also was killed off early in the series’ final season. It resulted in another Emmy nomination for Cox in the Lead Actor In a Drama Series category alongside Pascal for The Last Of Us.

There was never a question about The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey‘s submission as Lead Actress In a Drama Series. A 2023 Lead Actress nominee for her role as Ellie, she is considered one of the frontrunners in the field this year as Ellie came into her own in Season 2.

Season 2 additions Isabela Merced (as Dina) and Young tooth (Jesse), along with returning cast member Gabriel Luna (Tommy) will be vying for nominations in the Supporting Actor/Actress In a Drama Series categories.

Once again, the Guest Actor and Guest Actress In a Drama Series fields will be stacked with strong The Last Of Us contenders, with Kaitlyn Dever (as Abby, submitting Episode 202 “Through the Valley”), Catherine O’Hara (Gail, 201 “Future Days), Jeffrey Wright (Isaac, 204 “Day One”), Tony Dalton (Javier, 206 “The Price”), and Joe Pantoliano (Eugene, 206 “The Price”).

In 2023, The Last Of Us landed seven combined Guest Actor/Actress nominations, winning both categories via Nick Offerman and Reid Scott.

Mark mylodEmmy winner for directing the Succession episode that killed off Cox’s Logan Roy, is seeking a nomination for helming Episode 202 “Through the Valley,” which culminated in Joel’s shocking death.

The Last of Us co-creator/executive producer/co-showrunner Crain Mazin is up for writing “Through the Valley,” while fellow co-creator/executive producer/co-showrunner Neil Druckmann is being submitted for directing Episode 206 “The Price.”

In 2023, the first season of The Last of Us landed 24 Emmy nominations, second only to the final season of HBO’s Succession, winning eight trophies. In addition to acting, the post-apocalyptic drama also had a strong showing in the crafts categories, something it is looking to repeat this year.

The series is submitted in a slew of categories it was also nominated for Season 1: Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series; Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour Or More)for 204 “Day One”; Outstanding Contemporary Costumefor 202 “Through the Valley”; Outstanding Picture Editing for a Drama Seriesfor 202 “Through the Valley”; Outstanding Contemporary Hairstylingfor 202 “Through the Valley”; Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)for 204 “Day One”; Outstanding Prosthetic Makeupfor 205 “Feel Her Love”; Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)for 201 “Future Days”; Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)for 202 “Through the Valley”; Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) for 202 “Through the Valley”; and Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie.

The Last Of Us also will be seeking nominations for Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (One Hour), for 206 “The Price”; Outstanding Music Supervisionfor 206 “The Price”; Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Drama Programmingfor 201 “Future Days”; as well as for five different Stunt Performances in Episodes 201 “Future Days”, 202 “Through the Valley”, 204 “Day One” and 205 “Feel Her Love.”