‘The Last of Us’: Bella Ramsey was obsessed with criticism from some fans for being cast as Ellie

On Monday, January 16, “The Last of Us” finally debuts on HBO Max, the series that transforms Naughty Dog’s video game into real action from Craig Mazin (“Chernobyl”) and Neil Druckmann, creator of the game. Critics welcomed it with open arms, we deemed it “the best possible adaptation” of the PlayStation bestseller. But there are still some details that a sector of fans don’t fully embrace..

We talk about quite insignificant details, like criticizing the fact that Pedro Pascal can’t grow the beard that Joel wears in the game (“laughs, but for some people it was a deal breaker” Craig Mazin commented to THR), or consider that Bella Ramsey won’t be a worthy Ellie because she doesn’t physically resemble the character. In this regard, the ‘Game of Thrones’ actress comments in an interview with the New York Times that it was very difficult for her to be satisfied with her casting: “I recently accepted that I am Ellie and that I can do it, and that I am a good actress. But it will only last a couple of weeks and then I’ll start thinking I’m awful again. this is the process”.

He also explains how he dealt with the negative reviews when news broke that he would be starring in ‘The Last of Us’: “It was the first time I had a negative reaction to anything. Sometimes I found it funny. But when I got to the end after ten minutes of scrolling, I’d put the phone down and realize maybe it was a bad idea.”.

What were they looking for in it?

Neil Druckmann explains why it was clear to them that Ramsey was the perfect Ellie for the series: “We were looking for a specific combination of contradictions: someone who could be fun and wacky, violent and tough.”. The creator of the game assures it “he didn’t see Bella play Ellie, he saw Ellie” already in the casting that sent them. Bella Ramsey says she took the showrunners’ advice not to play games to create her own Ellie, but she did watch a few key bits on YouTube. “to make sure the Ellie I felt inside me, under my skin, was the right one”. Pedro Pascal has already said in another interview that they were very afraid of not meeting people’s expectations.

New clip of The Last of Us with Ellie and Marlene

(Via: The Late Late Show with James Corden)

(Thanks to @katie__kate_ for upload and @losthiqhway for sharing the tweet with me!) pic.twitter.com/7OxjVRhYyK

? About Naughty Dog (@NaughtyDogInfo) January 11, 2023

You can find out what your Ellie is like starting Monday, January 16 with the premiere of the first episode of ‘The Last of Us’. But on these lines you have a scene from the series, which premiered on the James Corden show, in which she has a conversation with Marlene, a character that Merle Dandridge has already played in the video game and is now reincarnated in live action. Marlene is the leader of the Fireflies, a group that seeks to free the quarantine areas from the military regime imposed after the Cordyceps epidemic. In the clip Ellie calls the fireflies “terrorists” and asks Marlene why she won’t let her go. Marlene replies: “Because you have a greater purpose than any of us can imagine”and tells her they will take her out of town.