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The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic series, based on the video game franchise of the same name. There are plenty of interesting facts about The Last of Us. The show has received worldwide critical and commercial acclaim for its faithfulness to the game, the plot, and the atmosphere.
Starring Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal, the series is set in a future where a fungal infection has turned humans into zombie-like creatures, and an immune child, Ellie (Ramsey), has to travel across the ravaged countryside with the help of a smuggler, Joel (Pascal). Here are 10 interesting facts about the show.
Bella Ramsey's audition tape, freezing locations, and other interesting facts about The Last of Us
1) Neil Druckmann once pitched the concept of the show to George Romero
Neil Druckmann is a writer and programmer, known for being the studio head of the video game developer, Naughty Dog, the studio responsible for creating the video game, The Last of Us.
The designer has been instrumental in creating the hit video game series and is also the co-writer, along with Craig Mazin, in developing the television series. However, many people might not know that Neil Druckmann once had to pitch a zombie story to the legendary filmmaker, George Romero, who is himself known for revitalizing the zombie genre with his classic 1968 movie, Night of the Living Dead.
Druckmann revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that during a class assignment, he pitched the story of The Last of Us to the filmmaker, who turned him down and chose another student’s story.
However, the writer and programmer have always considered the director to be their icon, and when Romero died, Druckmann even dedicated a tweet to him and mentioned that The Last of Us would not be possible without his inspiration.
2) The Pilot was originally going to be two separate episodes
Ardent fans might be surprised to know one of these interesting facts about The Last of Us series. The first episode of season one is extremely long, coming in at one hour and 21 minutes. The reason for this is that the episode was originally two episodes that were combined into one.
Even before the show was about to premiere, the news was that the series would be 10 episodes long. However, as the date for release got closer, the executives at HBO decided to combine the first two episodes and make the series a nine-part show because they were scared that the audience would not be compelled enough by the first episode.
Despite all the changes, showrunner Craig Mazin was happy with the overall product, as told to The Hollywood Reporter. He even said that while pilot episodes get shaky at times, he was glad that his wasn’t.
3) Bella Ramsey’s audition was undeniable
It is no wonder that the breakout star of the show is Bella Ramsey. The young actor has proven her mettle, and while some fans might criticize her portrayal, the actor has left her mark.
However, one of the interesting facts about The Last of Us show is that many other actors were in contention for Ellie’s role. Mazin and Druckmann were scared that they would not find anyone who could match the original actor, Ashley Johnson.
Maisy Williams from Game of Thrones was first considered, then Kaitlyn Dever even did a table read for the role, but the audition tape of Bella Ramsey stole the show. Mazin commented in a behind-the-scenes Warner Bros video that when he saw the audition of Bella, he felt that he was watching Ellie herself.
The rest is history, and the actor clutched the role and embodied the complex character.
4) Many video game voice actors make an appearance
Many of the voice actors in the video game make an appearance in the live-action version of the series. Merle Dandridge reprised her role as Marlene on the show, the leader of the Fireflies.
Even Ashley Johnson, the voice behind Ellie in the game, played Ellie’s mother Anna in the show. Laura Bailey, who voiced an operating room nurse in the game, made a small cameo in the show as the nurse in the operating room with Ellie.
Jeffrey Pierce, who voices Joel’s brother Tommy in the game, played the role of Perry in the show, resistance leader Kathleen’s right-hand man. Even Troy Baker, who voiced Joel in the game, played the character of James in the show, which was written only for the series.
James is a member of a group of cannibalistic survivors who are led by David. Even Misty Lee and Philip Kovats, who voice the sound of the clickers in the game, became clickers in the series.
5) The show has references to the video game developer Naughty Dog
As mentioned above, Naughty Dog is the studio behind the creation of The Last of Us games. One of the interesting facts about The Last of Us show is that the series has many references to the video game that only ardent fans can pick up on.
The clothes the characters wear are identical to the clothes from the game. Even the posters in the backgrounds make references to things found in the games. Plus, there are musical parallels as well. While all these are references to the game, there are some meta references to the game developer as well.
Some props allude to Naughty Dog. In one of the episodes, Ellie meets Captain Kwong, whose keys are shown. The keychain has a logo of the Naughty Dog video game developers. And in another episode, Tess has a lighter that is a replica of one that also makes an appearance in another Naughty Dog game, Uncharted.
6) Finding an actor to play Sam was difficult which even led to Twitter auditions
In the game and the series, the brothers Henry and Sam play an important role. They are important characters, and Ellie and Joel come across them when they are hiding from the hunters. While the show was being developed, Mazin suggested that in the show, Sam should be deaf. Even Druckmann agreed.
However, finding the right actor for the role was a struggle. The creators needed a young boy who was black, deaf, and knew ASL. One of the interesting facts about The Last of Us is that the search for the right actor took time, and the creators even had to send out a tweet requesting participants with the criteria to come and audition.
Even then, they only received 10 auditions. However, as luck would have it, they found Keivonn Woodard, who, while he had never acted before, still aced the role and even garnered an Emmy nomination for a guest actor in a drama series. Interestingly, he is the youngest actor to ever get the nomination.
7) Ramsey and Pascal were told to avoid the game but they didn’t listen
Probably one of the most interesting facts about The Last of Us series is that writers and creators Druckmann and Mazin did not want their two lead stars, Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal, to dive into the video game. Generally, actors are told to dive into any source material attached to a project for their better understanding of the role and context.
But, in an interview with the New York Times, Bella Ramsey revealed that they were advised and even ordered to stay away from the game. However, both Ramsey and Pascal cheekily ignored the warnings. While Ramsey watched clips on YouTube to understand Ellie, Pascal decided to play the game, but did not fare well.
The actor even joked in an interview with IGN that he could never stay alive in the game, and his nephews got frustrated and took away the console from him.
8) The Last of Us is not the first HBO series for Bella Ramsey or Pedro Pascal
One of the interesting facts about The Last of Us lead actors Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal is that while the two are the new faces of Joel and Ellie in the television adaptation of the game, they are not new to the world of HBO. Even more surprisingly, the two have worked together on another show before The Last of Us. However, they appeared on different seasons of the same show.
The show is Game of Thrones, and while Pascal played the role of Oberyn Martell during season four, Ramsey played the role of Lyanna Mormont from season six to eight. Both characters were ultimately killed off. Therefore, many fans might not know that both actors come from Game of Thrones, and for them, this is one quick and interesting fact to look back on.
9) The sets of The Last of Us were often freezing cold
One of the interesting facts about The Last of Us series is that season one of the show was filmed for about a year in Alberta, Canada, where the temperatures are torturously cold and the environment is isolating and rough.
In some of the episodes, the shoot took place in outdoor locations that were made to look like Jackson, Wyoming. Even the episode’s director, Jasmila Zbanic, stated that they filmed the episodes in weather as cold as -15 degrees, and the episode where Ellie meets David was filmed when the conditions were -17 degrees.
In an interview with GQ, Bella Ramsey stated that the temperature was so cold that her voice changed when speaking, and she could not speak normally as her throat would not work.
10) “Left Behind” was shot in a real and abandoned mall but the top floor was VFX
“Left Behind” is the seventh episode of season one, and the episode is important as its narrative is about Ellie’s backstory and comes from downloadable content from the video game.
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Therefore, Mazin had to recreate a mall for the episode. The crew found a mall in Calgary that was about to be demolished, and because it was a one-storey mall, the highest floor was decided to be rendered by visual effects. The shot where Ellie and Riley watch the entire mall light up is shot in front of a blue screen on a soundstage.
The effects were then added later, which was beautiful but costly. However, in The Last of Us podcast, Mazin was ready to splurge for the beautiful shot. Therefore, avid viewers of the show can check out these interesting facts about The Last of Us, which many viewers might not know about.
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