Exclusive footage Entertainment Weekly offer a new look at Ellie (Bella Ramsay) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) in the second season of «The Last of Us», as well as reveal more about other characters.
The post-apocalyptic HBO series, based on the Naughty Dog game series of the same name, in the first season told the story of smuggler Joel, who is tasked with guiding teenager Ellie through the US regions devastated by a parasitic fungus pandemic. The sequel will bring in another key character from The Last of Us Part 2, Abby (Caitlin Deaver), a choice that many fans have taken negatively — mainly because her physique is very different from the image provided by the game.
Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have a response to these claims.
«We need someone who really captures the essence of these characters… So we don’t focus so much on whether the actors look like the character with their eyebrows, nose or body,» says Druckmann. «We would have had a hard time finding someone as good as Caitlin for the role. In games, this is important because we need the characters to act differently, so that Ellie feels smaller and Abby is rougher and more like Joel. In the new version of the story, the difference doesn’t play a big role. It’s more about the drama».
The second season takes place five years after the events of the first one: Joel and Ellie have settled into a commune where Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and sister-in-law Maria (Rutina Wesley) live in relative peace, until Abby and her crew arrive on the scene.
It should be noted that Caitlin Deaver at the beginning of filming even I had to hire security because of the hate towards the character. Interestingly, the actress is extremely similar to Ellie in The Last of Us, and it was her fans who were promoting her for the lead role when the idea of a film adaptation came up in the 2010s.
«I personally think we have an amazing opportunity to delve into a person who is perhaps more physically vulnerable than Abby in the game, but has a stronger spirit,» Mezin adds. «And then the question arises: “Where does her formidable nature come from and how does it manifest itself?” This is something that will be explored now and later».
In addition to Deaver, the second season of The Last of Us will feature such characters as Dinah (Isabela Merced), Jesse (Young Masino), and Isaac (reprising his role from thedubbed on television by Jeffrey Wright). Also in an unknown role in the seriesa star will appear «Home Alone» Catherine O’Hara.
In Dean’s games — is Ellie’s new love interest. In previous interviews, Mercedes herself said that she was a big fan of the show in the first season and played both parts of The Last of Us all weekend to qualify for the casting.
According to the showrunners, the second season will be only the beginning of a series of important events that have every chance of developing in the following seasons.
«I think it’s likely that our story will continue beyond the third season,» says Mezin. «How far? I can’t say».
«We have a plan,» Druckmann adds. «We know what we need to do in the future, but we can’t say exactly how many episodes or seasons it will take to get there».
According to Druckmann, planning the season’s trajectory involved splitting The Last of Us Part 2 into parts to figure out which stories were worth telling and expanding, and once the moment of the finale was determined — the detailed work of adding the story necessary for a seven-episode season began.
«Each episode is like a meal. You can have a simple dinner, or you can go to a 12-course French restaurant,» says Mezin. «We have seven episodes. They are high-calorie and dense. If you consider action, drama, and scope to be what creates epic nature, each of these episodes has a lot of that. You won’t be bored».
The creators note that they have included some deleted materials that were once considered for the game in the season (some of them were first introduced in the updated Part II edition). There will also be several characters that were not in the games: Catherine O’Hara is in this issue, as well as some yet to be revealed roles.
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