Josh Peck Says His The Last of Us Cameo Was a ‘Tough Secret to Keep’

Josh Peck’s secret is out!

The Drake & Josh alum, 38, surprised viewers with a cameo appearance in the Sunday, May 4 episode of The Last of Us. Peck played Janowicz, a FEDRA (Federal Disaster Response Agency) soldier who tells a crude joke before meeting an untimely demise during a flashback scene.

Despite his character only surviving for around four minutes of screen time, the Nickelodeon star was just delighted to play a small role on one of his “favorite shows.” On May 4, he shared a carousel of behind-the-scenes photos to Instagram, including one with Jeffrey Wright, who is reprising his video game role of Isaac Dixon on the HBO series.

“Man, this was a tough secret to keep,” Peck captioned his post. “It was an honor to play a small part in one of my favorite shows, with one of my favorite actors ever. Thanks so much to @hbo @thelastofus and @clmazin for having me. @streamonmax.”

From the look of his comment section, Peck kept his secret well. Several of his famous friends, as well as celebrity fans of the show, commented to share how excited they were to see the actor on The Last of Us. Reality star Kristen Doute wrote, “👏🏽👏🏽🫶🏽🙌🏽 yeahhhh bb,” while Melissa Coulier added, “👏👏👏.”

Meanwhile, Peck’s wife, Paige O’Brien commented simply, “❤️🥹.”

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The first photo in the carousel features Peck and Wright, 59, standing side-by-side in their FEDRA uniforms, while the others are devoted to additional photos with his fellow doomed onscreen comrades — as well as The Gilded Age star Ben Ahlers, who plays Burton, the one soldier Dixon spares before locking the rest of the crew inside a tank with live hand grenades.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the episode’s director Kate Herron shared how excited everyone involved in the show was to “Drew Barrymore” Peck.

“That was so fun,” Herron told the outlet. “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.”

While his character didn’t last long, Peck’s Janowicz and the rest of the soldiers left in tank played a key role in setting up just how ruthless Dixon’s character can be, which will no doubt lead to more trauma for the show’s key character Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as the season progresses.

New episodes of The Last of Us season 2 air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.