a real fun guy

Meet the ripped actor who plays the Bloater in ‘The Last Of Us,’ everyone’s new favorite Big Boy™

By · Updated on January 26, 2024
It’s cuffing season. | Image Credit: ‘The Last of Us,’ HBO

The most recent episode of The Last Of Us—HBO’s acclaimed apocalyptic survival drama—featured its fair share of breathless action and devastating moments

But the real star of the show was absolutely this brute of a mushroom monster known as a “Bloater.” *cue SZA’s viral “Big Boys” track from SNL*

In “Endure And Survive,” this thicc beast appears as our heroes attempt to escape Kansas City, on the lam from the rebel militia and their ruthless leader Kathleen (played by icon/ally Melanie Lynskey). The pursuit gets derailed, however, when a sink hole opens up, unleashing literal hell in the form of an infected swarm.

Among the horde is the fearsome fungi Bloater, who’s noticeably chunkier than the others, seemingly impervious to bullets, and is far more interested in ripping off heads than spreading the infection.

If you’ve played the popular The Last Of Us video games, the Bloater should be very familiar. Series lore tells us these creatures take years to develop—meaning they likely grow from some of the earliest infected humans—and therefore have formed ultra-thick fungal exoskeletons. Oh, and they have major attitude problems.

Related:

‘The Last of Us’ actor Nick Offerman’s work in this gay photo book has fans falling for him all over again

Before you ask, the book is sold out, but prints are still available for purchase.

But you’re not here for an extensive overview of video game canon are you? You just want to know more about the muscles beneath the mushrooms, right?

Well, meet British actor and stuntman Adam Basil, who donned an 88-pound costume to play the nightmarish Bloater.

In a behind-the-scenes interview with Variety, prosthetics designer Barrie Gower says Basil—who stands 6’6″ tall—had the perfect “build, girth and fitness” for the role. And we have to agree; that is some excellent build, firth, and fitness.

Beneath all the bulk, it sounds like Basil’s got a heart of gold, too. In a different Variety feature, nine-year old actor Kevionn Woodard (who played superhero-obsessed Sam) admits he was really scared by the Bloater on set, but the hulking actor “took his head off and he took his teeth out” to make his young co-star comfortable. Aww.

Considering how large Basil is, you might think you’d be able to pick him out of a crowd, but, ironically, the performer has turned up in a number of projects you’ve definitely seen without even realizing it!

In fact, Basil’s previously worked with the same prosthetics designer on Game Of Thrones, which is how he got recommended for the Last Of Us job. As his Instagram bio notes, he’s also played the anti-hero Venom in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and the Beast in the live-action remake of Beauty And The Beast—both thanks to practical and digital effects work.

Basil’s other credits—both as an actor and stuntman—include: The Northman, No Time To Die, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the latest Fast & Furious film, Cruella, The Old Guard, Doctor Who, Wonder Woman, and Spider-Man: Far From Home.

So, yeah, this guys stays booked.

With its knack for dramatic entrances and the fact that there’s a hunky actor beneath the makeup, the Bloater is just the latest creature to be unofficially claimed as a gay icon. Leave it to Twitter to crush on this fungi with the body of a footballer:

New episodes of The Last Of Us air every Sunday on HBO / stream on HBO Max.

Related:

Turns out that gay erotic magazine in ‘The Last Of Us’ is a faithful recreation from the video game

All those homophobes who pretended to hate the last episode because it wasn’t “faithful” to the games better be thrilled about this!

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