In The Last of Us, Joel and Ellie are two characters thrown collectively for a job, one that may save the world from its present post-apocalyptic state, however is not one thing they see as extra than simply that, a job.
What begins as a mission slowly develops right into a shifting friendship and deep bond between the pair, and actors Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey skilled one thing comparable once they signed onto HBO’s adaptation.
The actors informed Newsweek and different publications what it was prefer to be a part of the drama, which premieres on Sunday, January 15. They spoke alongside their co-stars Gabriel Luna, Merle Dandridge, authentic recreation creator Neil Druckmann, and showrunner Craig Mazin.
Why Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey Never Met Before ‘The Last of Us’ Filming
Liane Hentscher/HBO
Pascal and Ramsey defined that they by no means met earlier than cameras started rolling and due to this, their friendship grew as they went by means of manufacturing, very similar to how Joel and Ellie’s father-daughter bond developed throughout their journey in Naughty Dog’s iconic recreation.
Ramsey, who makes use of they/them pronouns, stated that they “didn’t get a chance to meet or bond, or do anything” previous to filming, specifically due to the restrictions through the COVID pandemic.
“We were very much just thrown in,” Ramsey stated. “And that chemistry was there immediately and then grew and developed as Joel and Ellie’s did, and as their relationship developed so did ours.
“I feel that was a very nice parallel and possibly it was intentional, on behalf of the creators of the present Neil and Craig, to not give us time to fulfill and bond and I feel it really works very well.”
They added: “We initially had this connection in that we had been each about to embark on this year-long taking pictures course of collectively and even longer than that, when it comes to the impression of the present and all of this press stuff now, so we needed to get alongside and fortunately we did, and it actually wasn’t exhausting.”
Pascal mirrored Ramsey’s comments, saying: “It was very parallel [to the games] when it comes to attending to know one another by stepping on the set on the identical time and getting in entrance of the digicam, and beginning to inform the story.
“Our shyness with one another, our adherence to invented expectations of one another, and just ultimately stepping forward with generosity, and since I got the daddy vibes in place from the get go, I guess I just had to take it from there.
“We did get to know one another increasingly, we favored one another instantly however we knew one another by the top and that was actually an enchanting expertise.”
On Recreating ‘The Last of Us’ Game
The Last of Us is ready in 2023, 20 years after an outbreak of a mutant Cordyceps fungus that led to the downfall of mankind. The fungus infects human hosts and transforms them into aggressive creatures, and the contaminated are available in numerous types, together with Clickers and Bloaters.
These creatures have all however taken over the planet, with survivors remaining in quarantine zones run by the navy. But not all of humanity is proud of this association, and a few have joined the rise up group often known as The Fireflies led by Marlene (Dandridge), together with Joel’s brother Tommy (Luna).
The Last of Us is usually hailed as one of many biggest video games ever to be made, it received Game of the Year in 2013 at a number of awards reveals and has been remastered for each the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 following its launch on the PS3.
HBO’s adaptation has the tough process of honoring the unique while additionally bringing one thing new, and it does the previous by recreating scenes which can be shot-for-shot the identical as the sport, and even makes use of dialogue that avid gamers will acknowledge.
Ramsey stated it “was scary and exciting in equal measure” to try to recreate sure moments from The Last of Us recreation onscreen, including: “Especially these iconic scenes, it was very scary and exciting.
“We simply cared a lot concerning the supply materials and cared that it will really feel acquainted and that we’d do it justice, and that individuals would relate to it in the identical manner that they associated to the sport,” Ramsey defined.
Pascal added: “[Recreating] key moments that fans love of the game, that are part of this adaptation, was very scary and exciting for us.
“I feel that amongst the challenges of a extremely, actually bodily year-long manufacturing there wasn’t something scarier than dealing with these key moments, I might say.”
One particular iconic moment is “Outbreak Day,” September 26, 2013 in the game which was changed to 2003 in the show. It is the day that the Cordyceps infection outbreak began and it is when Joel, Tommy and Joel’s daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) had to try and get to safety fast.
This is recreated in the show’s premiere episode, and Luna described how thrilling it was to bring these scenes to life onscreen.
“It’s fairly the expertise whenever you’re enjoying it, you are shortly thrown proper into the writing, proper into the hazard,” Luna said. “I bear in mind once I was first launched to that second, which might have been when the sport initially got here out again in 2013, I went over to a good friend’s and he had a PlayStation […] I did not go any additional than possibly 30, 40 minutes however that alone was already the hook, it had me.
“I found it to be extremely innovative in the gaming field, to be able to be selective about how I perceive and how I experienced what was happening around me all through the eyes of Sarah.”
“To get there on the day, to experience ‘we got to get out of dodge, we got to do it very quickly,’ it was an incredible moment,” Luna stated of filming Outbreak Day. “It was like a last action hero moment, to do a call back to my buddy Arnold [Schwarzenegger], but it was truly a stunning experience.
“I imply you step proper into the sport, the set, the element, the whole lot was there, [there was] no appearing required.”
Adapting ‘The Last of Us’ Game for TV
Druckmann, who is the creator of The Last of Us game, acts as co-creator, writer and an executive producer on the HBO show, and he worked closely with Mazin to bring the story to life.
He told Newsweek: “The most necessary resolution from my aspect of issues has been to search out the correct associate and I couldn’t have discovered somebody higher than Craig, and I’m not simply saying that as a result of he is sitting proper right here I’m saying it due to what that course of seemed like.
“Our first conversation [was] dissecting the game story into its individual elements and really deciding what is important, what isn’t, and what are the goals that we’re heading to?”
What Druckman appreciated most, he stated, was the way in which Mazin was unafraid to maintain issues from the sport that labored but in addition urged modifications that may additional add to Joel and Ellie’s story.
“Craig [had] the confidence to say ‘some stuff works wonderfully in the game and there’s no reason to change it, like I don’t even need to put my stamp on it that just works, why mess with it?'” Druckmann went on.
“Other things that we had in a conversation was, ‘okay, this works really well in this interactive medium but it’s not going to work well over here in a more passive thing so let’s focus on the drama instead of the action.’ Let’s really allow ourselves to sometimes go on these tangents away from Joel and Ellie, to focus on these other relationships, these other characters, show what they’re struggling with and, in return, what we get is a greater understanding of who they are and how they affect Joel and Ellie, which enriches their journey ultimately.
“That was a extremely enjoyable strategy of attempting to determine what stays and what modifications, after which, when it does change, like ‘okay, what does it appear like and the way can we iterate on it to get to make the very best model of this story on this medium?'”
The Last of Us premieres on Sunday, January 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will likely be obtainable to stream HBO Max.