One of the things that made The Last of Us so great during its nine-episode first season on HBO was that while they couldn’t do everything that the video games did, they made sure it had plenty of hidden connections to the titles. For example, in the game, you could look at pictures and notes and read them to get more stories about the world. Of course, you can’t do that in a TV show, so they used pictures from the game as Easter Eggs. Another big connection was bringing in the voice actors for Joel and Ellie and more and giving them roles in the TV show.
Troy Baker played a key supporting character for one of the episode’s antagonists. Then there was Merle Dandridge, who got to reprise her role of Marlene from the games in live-action. Finally, in the season finale, we got to see the voice of Ellie, Ashley Johnson, deliver a powerful performance as Ellie’s mother, Anna.
During a chat with ComicBook.com during their The Last of Pods show, she talked about what it was like meeting Bella Ramsay, who played the live-action Ellie. She noted it was a surreal experience:
“It’s interesting being sort of attached and a part of a character for so long, and the lines get blurred. When it was talked about this was being turned into a movie or a show… not that we necessarily have any say in who was cast in it, but something didn’t ever feel right until Bella,” Johnson said. “There is something so similar that the both of us have. And, instantly, when I met Bella, there was this feeling of wanting to protect them. The first time I met Bella, I was a little taken aback because it felt like I was meeting the real Ellie, like the character coming out of the game.”
Very high praise and it didn’t stop there. She later admitted that she and Bella have very similar mannerisms and that she “gets it” in terms of playing Ellie.
Many would agree with Ashley on that front, as many feel Ramsay not only did spectacularly as Ellie, but she might have nabbed herself an Emmy nomination for her performance throughout the season. That’s not to say that Ashley doesn’t deserve praise for her cameo. Showrunner Craig Mazin couldn’t help but praise her in the season finale behind-the-scenes look and noted how great it was to have the voice of Ellie have a “full circle” moment and give birth to Bella’s version in The Last of Us TV show.
