‘The Last of Us’ star Nick Offerman hits out at homophobia during Spirit Awards speech
Actor Nick Offerman, known for his role in The Last of Us, has condemned the “homophobic hate” he has encountered from viewers regarding his character in the hit programme.
During the Independent Spirit Awards ceremony on February 24th, Offerman secured the accolade for ‘Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series’ for his portrayal of Bill. In the series, Bill who emerges as a survivor of a fungal brain infection with his partner, Frank.
During his speech, Offerman thanked HBO for “having the guts to participate in this storytelling tradition.”
He said that shows like The Last of Us were “stories with guts, that when homophobic hate comes my way and says, ‘Why did you have to make it a gay story?’, we say, ‘Because you ask questions like that – it’s not a gay story, it’s a love story, you asshole.'”
Offerman then proceeded to thank the team who worked on the project, including Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, along with his wife, his “puzzle coach” Megan Mullally.
The actor competed for the award alongside Murray Bartlett, who portrayed Frank, and Bella Ramsey, who was nominated for best lead for their role as Ellie.
The ceremony also saw The Holdovers and Beef emerge as major winners, while new show Jury Duty took home the award for Best Ensemble Cast In A New Scripted Series.
Jeffrey Wright took home the accolade for ‘Best Lead Performance’ for his portrayal in American Fiction. During his triumphant speech, the actor shared: “The reason that our film was independent at the start was because nobody wanted to finance it—except for Ram Bergman and Rian Johnson.”
Wright concluded, “If that doesn’t tell you what independent filmmaking is, nothing will.”
See the full list of winners from the award ceremony here.
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