HBO's Last of Us adds Li Jun Li

HBO’s The Last of Us just made a small casting move that tells you a lot about where season 3 is headed. Li Jun Li has joined the show as Miriam, the mother of Lev and Yara. On paper, that sounds like one more supporting role. But in this story, family ties usually mean worldview, faction politics, and trauma — so this is really a clue about how much deeper the show plans to go into the Seraphites and Abby’s orbit. (deadline.com) ### Who is Li Jun Li playing? She’s playing Miriam, a Seraphite and the mother of siblings Lev and Yara. Those two characters are already crucial to Abby’s arc in The Last of Us Part II, because they pull Abby out of pure revenge mode and into something messier and more(deadline.com)o exist only as plot devices. It wants that family and that belief system to feel lived in. (deadline.com) ### Why is Miriam a bigger deal than she sounds? Because the Seraphites are not just background enemies. They are one of Seattle’s major factions, and Lev’s break with that community is one of the most emotionally loaded threads in the game. If Miriam is showing up as a(deadline.com)t world — how the cult works, how family pressure works, and why Lev and Yara’s choices carry so much danger. That is the kind of expansion TV adaptations make when they know a storyline needs more room than the game originally gave it. (screenrant.com) ### So is season 3 basically Abby’s season? That looks very likely. HBO officially renewed season 3 on April 9, 2025, before season 2 even premiered. Then the season 2 ending and follow-up coverage pointed hard toward Abby’s side of the same Seattle timeline. (screenrant.com)sting makes that pretty plain. Miriam, Lev, and Yara are all characters whose importance rises when the story shifts toward Abby. (press.wbd.com) ### What else changed behind the scenes? A pretty big thing — Neil Druckmann stepped back from creative involvement in the HBO series in July 2025, leaving Craig Mazin as the sole showrunner heading into season 3. That does not mean the show is sudden(press.wbd.com)een the games and the adaptation. Season 3 will be the first stretch shaped without that same level of direct involvement from him. (deadline.com) ### When is season 3 actually happening? There is still no announced premiere date. But trade coverage around Li Jun Li’s casting said the new season is expected to begin shooting in summer 2026. That points to a likely 2027 release, though that part is still inference, not an official date. So the immediate news is casting, not scheduling. (variety.com) ### Why cast Li Jun Li now? Because HBO is building outward from Abby’s corner of the map. Li Jun Li also arrives with momentum — several outlets framed her as a breakout from Sinners — and prestige TV loves using that heat at exactly this stage of a production. B(variety.com)a real social world, not just a stop on Abby’s route through Seattle. (deadline.com) ### What should fans take from this? Basically, season 3 looks less like “more Ellie fallout” and more like a perspective flip. Li Jun Li’s casting is a signal flare for that change. The show is not just continuing the plot — it is widening the moral frame around Abby, (deadline.com)re like the story turning inside out. (deadline.com)