Who plays Henry in ‘The Last of Us?’

Warning: Spoilers for The Last of Us to follow.

Episode five of The Last of Us continued the show’s trend of raising the bar for television with every passing episode. From Melanie Lynskey’s chilling turn as antagonist Kathleen and the introduction of bloaters to the HBO Max canon to the episode’s unfathomably devasting climax, “Endure and Survive” was about as dizzying as the show has gotten thus far.

Anchoring this episode’s narrative meat alongside Joel and Ellie was Henry, a reluctant ally to the protagonists and public enemy number one of Kansas City. We find out that Henry painted an enormous target on his back after killing the leader of Kansas City’s revolutionary movement, but he was driven into hiding with his kid brother Sam after the rebels overthrew FEDRA.

But where have we seen the talent behind Henry before?

Who is Lamar Johnson?

Having previously been portrayed by Brandon Scott (Grey’s Anatomy, 13 Reasons Why) in the video game, the live-action Henry is played by Canadian actor and dancer Lamar Johnson.

Johnson is best known for Canadian teen drama series The Next Step. In that show, he takes on the role of West, a self-taught hip-hop dancer and co-head choreographer of the titular dance school’s A-Troupe, the highest ranking group in the whole school.

Johnson also played a prominent role in the Bryan Cranston-led crime drama, Your Honor. Johnson appeared as Kofi, a young man who’s forced by a New Orleans crime family member to falsely take the blame for the death of the family boss’ son.

In film, Johnson portrayed the pyrokinetic mutant Match in the Fox’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix. More recently, he had a starring role in 2022’s Brother, a Canadian drama film based on David Chariandy’s award-winning novel of the same name. Johnson starred opposite Aaron Pierre as two brothers growing up in Ontario’s Scarborough district in the early 1990s. The film was named in the Toronto International Film Festival’s 2022 edition of their “Canada’s Top Ten” list.