Josh Peck made a surprise appearance on The Last of Us and fans are shook!

“That was so fun,” the episode’s director, Kate Herron, told Entertainment Weekly of how the cameo came to be. “We had people read [for the part], obviously. Josh’s read came in, and Josh is fantastic. We were like, ‘We need to get Josh.’ But also the idea of it just being Josh … I love the idea we get to Drew Barrymore him in Scream. People just wouldn’t see it coming.”

Who Did Josh Peck Play in ‘The Last of Us’?

Josh played a FEDRA (Federal Disaster Response Agency) soldier named Janowitz in episode four of The Last of Us season 2.

What Happened in Josh Peck’s Scene in ‘The Last of Us’?

Josh delivers a callous, expletive-filled monologue in a flashback scene that took place in a Seattle quarantine zone in 2018 – five years after the Cordyceps brain infection outbreak and FEDRA’s takeover of the government.

During his monologue, Janowitz is sitting in a truck with other soldiers and laughing as he talks about catching a survivor in the quarantine zone – who he refers to by the derogatory term “voter,” as FEDRA took away citizens’ rights to vote – handing out religious pamphlets.

“You guys know me. I’m f–king easy on voters,” he says. “So I got three voters against the wall. I caught them red-handed disseminating pamphlets … So, I call for backup. Guess who shows up?” he asks, and the other soldiers all reply, “Greenberg!”

“And he’s all like, ‘What are you f–king calling for? What, you can’t handle three voters? … I say, ‘I caught them out here disseminating.’ And he goes, ‘What?! You f–king perverts are here jerking off and splooging on my streets?’”

Within a minute or two of telling the story, another military member, Isaac Dixon (Jeffrey Wright), who later goes on to become the leader of the anti-FEDRA group called the WLF, betrays them by dropping grenades into the truck, killing them all and abruptly ending Josh’s brief stint on the show.

Fans React to Josh Peck’s Cameo in ‘The Last of Us’

Fans flooded social media with their reactions to Josh’s surprise appearance on the show.

One X user asked, “Is… Is that Josh Peck?” and another added, “I legit said ‘Hug me brothaaa!’ as soon as I saw him too,” referring to Josh’s classic catchphrase on Drake and Josh.

“That was a great cold open!” a third person said.

Others joked that they called his imminent death as soon as they saw him.

“I was 95% sure he would die,” one fan said, and another person wrote, “Bruh I saw his face and immedietly [sic] went ohhh he’s gonna die in a messed up way.”

Josh Peck Spoke Out About His Role in ‘The Last of Us’

On Sunday night, May 4, Josh posted several behind-the-scenes photos to Instagram as he reminisced about his time on set.

“Man, this was a tough secret to keep,” he captioned the photos. “It was an honor to play a small part in one of my favorite shows, with one of my favorite actors ever.”