The Last of Us has made quite an impact, gaining accolades and immense popularity since its debut on HBO. Widely regarded as one of the best video game adaptations, the show’s success led to the swift approval of a second season.
Although progress has been temporarily halted due to the Writers’ Strike, it is expected to return in 2025. This success owes much to the exceptional Naughty Dog video game series that first captivated audiences in 2013, and now the story is receiving recognition from a legendary figure in Hollywood.
Peter Hoar, the director of episode 3 of The Last of Us, recently shared an intriguing anecdote in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He revealed that acclaimed director Steven Spielberg had praised the show and expressed his admiration through a letter sent to showrunner Craig Mazin.
Mazin wasted no time sharing the letter with the cast and crew, including Hoar. While Hoar withheld from telling Spielberg’s message’s exact content, he expressed immense gratitude for the experience.
The impact of Spielberg’s recognition was evident as Hoar described the reaction among those involved. The letter reached a group including himself, Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, and cinematographer Eben Bolter.
Well, I didn’t get it directly, but [an actual Spielberg letter] came to Craig Mazin, the writer of my episode on The Last of Us — the writer of all the episodes. He shared it with myself, Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett and [cinematographer] Eben Bolter. Basically, a whole group of middle-aged men started squealing because their idol had realized who they were. I think he probably knew who everyone else was, but he didn’t know who I was. And now he’s probably forgotten.
The news of Spielberg acknowledging their work prompted an outpouring of excitement. Hoar humorously recounted how a chorus of middle-aged men couldn’t contain their delight at their idol acknowledging their existence. Despite Spielberg’s possible familiarity with others, Hoar playfully admits that he might only have been on Spielberg’s radar just now.
