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That time ‘The Last of Us’ star Gabriel Luna played Taylor Kitsch’s gay lover on ‘True Detective’
Back in 2015, Luna was hanging out shirtless in another HBO drama.
HBO’s blockbuster apocalyptic series The Last of Us continues to rile up viewers week after week.
The survival drama centers on Pedro Pascal’s character Joel’s journey getting teen girl Ellie (nonbinary star Bella Ramsey) safely across the post-apocalyptic United States. Ellie may be the key to formulating a vaccine against the fungal infection that upended civilization 20 years ago and turned those infected into flesh-eating zombies.
Related: Meet the ripped actor who plays the Bloater in ‘The Last Of Us,’ everyone’s new favorite Big Boy
While this week’s episode, “Kin,” received some unexpected buzz for a production gaffe that saw members of the show’s crew in one of the shots, it also focused on Joel’s brother Tommy, played by hunky actor Gabriel Luna.
Viewers met Luna’s character during the show’s premiere episode, but he hadn’t been seen since. This week we got an emotional reunion between Luna and Pascal as their characters met up in the peaceful and thriving quarantine community of Jackson, Wyoming.
Luna, 40, is easy on the eyes and may look familiar from his previous work as Ghost Rider on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the lead in El Rey Network’s Matador series, and as Rev-9, the advanced Terminator model sent from the future to ensure humanity’s annihilation in the 2019 film Terminator: Dark Fate.
But it’s a queer role from Luna’s filmography that we want to reflect on today.
Back in 2015, HBO premiered the second season of its anthology series True Detective. After a successful inaugural season with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, the network came back with a new storyline and a cast for season two that included Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Vince Vaughn, and Taylor Kitsch.
Kitsch plays a closeted California Highway Patrol officer who gets wrapped up in a complicated murder investigation that threatens to expose widespread corruption involving some high profile members of the local community.
It isn’t until the show’s third episode until we find out Kitsch’s character had a sexual relationship with a member of his unit while working for a private security firm in the Middle East. The co-worker in question is Miguel Glib, played by Luna.
After an initial tense run-in, the two enjoy a drunken night of passion as Kitsch’s character awakens in his underwear to find a shirtless Luna in the next room. If only all late-night hookups turned out this good!
Although many would be eager to rise and shine and go for round 2, Kitsch’s character is clearly battling the shame demons.
Watch the awkward underwear-clad morning after clip below:
Unfortunately, the duo’s romance is short-lived as Kitsch’s character’s internalized homophobia and other sinister dealings get in the way for any happy ending for these rekindled lovers.
If you are interested in seeing how the full story turned out, all three seasons True Detective are available to stream on HBO Max. Season 4 of the series, True Detective: Night Country, is set to premiere later this year with Jodie Foster and Kali Reis.
And for the record, Luna doesn’t play on our team in real life as he’s happily married to Romanian actress Smaranda Ciceu since 2011. Sad for us, but yay for them.
Time will tell if Luna turns up in future episodes of The Last of Us, so enjoy some of the hottest shots from his grid here:
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