Beef was one of Netflix’s top shows in 2023 and was a breakout role for Montgomery County, MD native Young Mazino. Since then, he has signed on to join the cast of hit HBO series The Last of Us, playing Jesse– “an important member of his community whose selflessness sometimes comes at a cost.”
His break role was in the Netflix series Beef. Beef is about a near-accident in a parking lot that turns two strangers into enemies. The argument, or “beef”, quickly develops to escalating acts of revenge as Amy (Ali Wong) and Danny (Steven Yeun) learn about each other’s identities and families and become more and more involved in each other’s lives. The role of Danny’s younger brother, Paul, is played by Mazino.
Mazino is a Silver Spring native who graduated from Sherwood High School in 2009. While at Sherwood he excelled in track & field. He has previously been in shows like Prodigal Son, Blue Bloods and New Amsterdam, but Beef marked Mazino’s most popular role to date. Now, he will join the cast of the popular HBO series The Last Of Us.
The Last of Us is based on the video game franchise, and focuses on the relationship between Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey). The first season, based on the 2013 game, is set in 2023, twenty years into a pandemic caused by a mass fungal infection, which causes its hosts to transform into zombie-like creatures and collapses society. Joel, a smuggler, is tasked with escorting the immune teenager Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States. Mazino’s role of Jesse is the ex of main character Ellie’s romantic interest in the season. Season 2 of The Last of Us is scheduled to air in 2025.
In an interview with PEOPLE magazine, Mazino mentioned growing up in Maryland and developing an interest in music and acting at a very young age. “Growing up as a kid I played the violin and I was performing just seemingly endlessly in concerts and recitals,” he told PEOPLE. “Since elementary school, I was always participating in the school plays,” he said, recalling of his early experience acting, “that feeling was electric, just getting to be outside of myself.”
