The Internet Has Gone Too Far By Turning The ‘Big Daddy’ Bloater From ‘The Last Of Us’ Into A ‘Sex Icon’

I’ve seen enough illustrations of Sonic pregnant with Shrek’s baby to become immune to the internet’s most depraved fantasies. Or so I thought. The bloater from last Sunday’s episode of The Last of Us has become something of a “sex icon,” according to the actor underneath the makeup, Adam Basil.

“[The bloater has] captured a lot of people’s imaginations,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “Someone asked me if I’d come to their wedding. I’ve had people sending me love messages. He really brought out something in people that I don’t think even they knew they had. He’s the big daddy mushroom, I think there’s been a [meme].”

Basil (who is jacked and handsome when not covered in mushrooms) has even had people sliding into his Instagram DMs. Not to kink shame anyone, but we, as a society, can do better than thirsting for a fungal monster.

Basil has provided physical performances for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Game of Thrones, and Phantom Thread (as the welsh rarebit), and he was in awe of his bloater makeover. “They’re so realistic. They dress me in goo and blood,” he said. “The Bloater has hair sticking up and he’s got fragmented teeth. Everything about him is very believable close up. When you first walk on set, people will look around and they take a double look.” Basil provided a behind-the-scenes look on his Instagram.

Me after a day in the sun.