Issa Rae, ‘Last of Us' Cast Set for SXSW Speakers Line-Up

Issa Rae, Conan O'Brien and the cast of the HBO series The Last of Us have been added to the speaker line-up at the 2025 SXSW conference.

Also set for panels, keynotes and conversations are After Midnight host Taylor Tomlinson, Kevin Bacon and Joe Manganiello, along with showrunners Eric Ledgin (St. Denis Medical) and Nahnatchka Khan (Laid).

The recent additions join a previously announced group of speakers that include John Fogerty, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, and IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna.

Among the other planned programming, Rae's keynote will look at the multihyphenate's work from Insecure to Barbie, as well as her production outfit Hoorae, which is behind SXSW doc Seen and Heard. The Last of Us creatives Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann will be offering a glimpse at the second season of the acclaimed HBO series, along with cast members Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced and Young Mazino. Bacon will partake in a career retrospective, looking back at his works from Footloose to the upcoming Amazon series The Bondsman.

The SXSW festival and conference runs March 7 to 15 in Austin. At the festival, premieres include Blake Lively movie Another Simple Favor, Seth Rogen series The Studio and Ben Affleck's sequel The Accountant 2.