Bella Ramsey (‘The Last of Us’): ‘I apologize, but not really, for making people cry so much’

SPOILERS WARNING!

*This interview contains spoilers for Chapter 7 of “The Last of Us”.

Chapter 7 of ‘The Last of Us’ titled ‘What We Left Behind’ is very special to Ellie. The HBO Max series stops along the way to show how Bella Ramsey’s character was bitten by an infected, triggering the entire storyline we’ve seen so far. But this chapter digs much deeper. Directed by Liza Johnson (“The Sex Life of College Girls”), this episode gives Ellie a chance to explore the world before the apocalypse: “The world of the series stopped in 2003, and I was born in 2003! It was weird to see what the world was like then, the references and all that stuff.” Ramsey tells us about it in a meeting with journalists.

Ellie has the opportunity to be a normal teenager (or as normal as two decades of chaos will allow) with her best friend Riley, played by Storm Reid, who returns after weeks of disappearance to take Ellie to an abandoned mall and live “best night of your life”. Storm Reid really wanted her episode to air because of her amazing experience on set: “I am thrilled to be a part of this universe. To be a part of such a well-executed, so beautiful and so brilliant series has been an honor and something I will always be grateful for. I can’t wait to see what people have to say about this particular episode about how I felt while making it.. It was a lot of fun and every day was a challenge, but it was a great experience. I hope it was broadcast on the screen”.

On this night of rides, photo booths and ‘Mortal Kombat II’ games, the two girls will begin to let themselves be carried away by an attraction for each other that transcends friendship. Storm Reid describes that relationship between Ellie and Riley as “an ode to young people having feelings in the prime of adolescence. You forget that I’m in a post apocalyptic world. There are several times when flirting intentions are more obvious. I love that the team, Craig (Mazin), our wonderful director, and everyone involved in the episode didn’t want it to feel like we were romanticizing the relationship or desire or love that two young people feel. It’s an organic friendship that leads them to explore things, little crushes. I felt on set that they were doing a very nice job, following the path of friendship to falling in love and joking moments, but then reliving those moments when they’re kids again. I think it’s very nice”. Both Ramsey and Reid are very close to that turkey age, something that came in handy to build the feelings we see on screen: “I think the important thing was understanding Ellie and Riley’s emotions behind their interactions, what Ellie wants from Riley, what Riley wants from Ellie, they like each other… That tug of war that takes place throughout the entire episode. This came from trying to understand ourselves, what our characters are like, what we feel and the expression of those feelings and how one relates to the other. It just came naturally from there.” Bella Ramsey explains, and her co-star adds her goals with the chapter: “Trying to become her, not forgetting what Storm would feel in her situation, trying to focus on the circumstances of the character and meet her where she is without judging her”.

This is the second episode of ‘The Last of Us’ that puts all the emphasis on a non-heteronormative relationship after the wonderful third episode, which focused on Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett). Bella Ramsey points out that while she sees parallels between the two chapters, the third was meant to portray a love story with a beginning and an end, while Ellie and Riley “it focuses on the growth and potential of an interrupted story. I think it shows the harsh reality of the world these characters live in.”. What you don’t want to fall into are the comparisons to Chapter 3: “Episode 3 was so cute, it blew me away. I try not to compare them because I think it’s important not to judge them head to head because they are different stories. Bill and Frank are two older men, Ellie and Riley are two young women, it’s so different. I can’t wait for people to see it. I know it’s a story that means a lot to fans of the video game who got to see themselves represented in the game and now they will see themselves represented on screen. I’m very excited about this ..

‘Left Behind’ was a chapter of the first video game released independently and that was very important for the industry because it made Ellie the first LGTBQ+ protagonist of a game known as triple A, i.e. coming from such a large studio like Naughty Dog and endorsed by a giant like PlayStation. Although it caused quite a stir (not surprisingly), the important thing is that it allowed a group rarely represented on the screen to not only be part of such a followed story, but to have the main role. Bella Ramsey highlights how important it is to keep breaking barriers: “I think ‘The Last of Us’ is above all a story about love and all the different forms of love there are.: Ellie to Joel, Joel to Tess, Bill and Frank, Ellie and Riley… I think it explores the huge range of feelings and emotions that love has. As for the representation it is the same. I think it’s important that all kinds of love is represented, whether it’s two straight characters or two gay characters. It’s the same love and I think it’s important that people can see themselves represented. Just because we’re in the apocalypse doesn’t mean these kinds of people don’t exist”. Storm Reid adds: “I think representation is important and essential, especially for someone like me, a young woman who is also a woman of color. Being able to show humanity and empathy for people, whether or not you have the same experience as them, is important because their situation, history and circumstances matter to them.. To be able to represent something like this in a series is a privilege and an honor.”.

The fact that the series focuses so much on the human aspect of the characters is, for Bella Ramsey, the key to its success: “These are real people who have real feelings. I think the brutality of the world they live in emphasizes that humanity and makes it even more emotional and compelling. I think that’s why, and I apologize, but not really, for making people cry so much”. Storm Reid adds another aspect: the catharsis we seek after our own pandemic. “I think another reason is the feeling that you can see yourself reflected, even if it’s scary. The world has just experienced a pandemic and we didn’t know what was going to happen. Obviously ‘The Last of Us’ has gone much further than it was for us, thank goodness, but still has this feeling that maybe the world will end like this one day. I hope not, though! But I think that’s why people have been so curious. We’ve all lived through the pandemic, having to stay home and quarantine to be safe. I think that’s another reason people love her so much.”.

Ellie and Riley are unable to enjoy this first love because they are both bitten by an infected person who was sleeping in one of the shops in the mall. After the shock, Riley offers Ellie to continue fighting until the last minute. “Losing your mind together.” Just like in the video game, we don’t get to see what happens when that fateful moment comes when the Cordyceps takes over Riley, but not Ellie. Storm Reid admits they came to raise the possibility of recording it, but ultimately didn’t: “I think we talked about what it was going to be like, even though we didn’t shoot it or explore it. I think the crew could have gone a lot of different paths with Ellie and Riley. But what we shot was super beautiful, very poetic and beautiful. “. Bella Ramsey believes this open ending could be much more interesting than showing what happened: “I think sometimes it’s more shocking what it entails, like a dark and violent ending, but without showing it. Sometimes your imagination becomes worse or more dramatic than anything we could have shown or filmed.. I think the way it’s done is cute. And it ends with the question of whether Ellie should kill Riley. Is that what happened? I think I like that question left slightly open and the impact that has. I think it’s more impactful to see how the situation affects Ellie throughout the season than to show what happened.”.

feel the weight

This story has flown over the series since the first chapters. Ellie mentions Riley pretty much at the beginning. Bella Ramsey explains that the production schedule didn’t allow her to tape this episode before her trip with Joel (Pedro Pascal), but it helped her to let the feelings of having to go through such trauma have an impact. major in the last few chapters: “Filming was admittedly a mess, but a slightly organized mess. They like to think they are organized. We recorded the chapter in January 2022, just over a year ago. We shot episodes 1, 2, 3, 4 and this one at random. This episode takes place towards the end of the story timeline, but we did it towards the middle of the filming process. I knew the history and that helped me a lot. He had seen the game and read what was going on. But it was very helpful because it meant I had context in my head. In front of the last chapters it helped me to feel more the weight of what had happened”.

Ellie’s story continues Monday, March 6 on HBO Max with the premiere of Chapter 8 of ‘The Last of Us’.