‘The Last of Us’ Stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey on Their Post-Apocalyptic Chemistry

why are you so important somewhere out west they're working on a cure I think what really impressed them was the fact that I didn't turn into a monster okay first of all uh Bella Pedro congratulations on the series it is literally incredible I just spoke to Craig and one of the things he remarked on is he knew the chemistry between you two had to be great and he said it was instantaneous I'd really love for you to talk about when y'all kind of knew that this was gonna work the way it did in the game and if there was any aspects of the relationship in the game that you thought would be key to what you guys were doing in this one great question um well yeah we just we met for the first time just as I was getting my haircut and you just come off set it was a very like brief meeting we didn't have like time to get to know each other and and but yeah the chemistry it was just immediately this Bond unspoken like connection of like we're both embarking on this huge journey together like as Jordan Ellie but as two people as well like suddenly we have we're spending a year together in our birth to Canada like not knowing what the hell we're doing and we're just like having to trust the trust the process but you know what I mean like it it really was that um I feel like there was all of this kind of like little unspoken relationship developing even before we got to Canada yeah like little like you know we started following each other on Instagram and starting to kind of like I don't know I feel like sending little signals I a little little signals to to one another kind of you know shyly but but the the excitement and the anticipation was obviously so clear and then I guess to avoid the pressure of of what it would mean for this to work between the two of us we just we're as casual as we could be you came in for to get your hair cut I was shooting and then we and then the next and then the first time we were together I was like throwing you up against a wall yes and um and holding a gun at you um and I'm like hey what's up several times yeah several times in the show seriously in the script absolutely um I will say I would have said that you two bonded over being fan favorite characters on a little show elsewhere just saying like an element you know yeah I watched the show before I got on that show and continued to watch it after I departed and was able to meet and fall in love with Lady Mormont um like everyone else so yes I was a little Fanboy don't even tell don't even say that you watched my season I didn't I get my teeth punched out my eyes squished in in my head you might like it based on what you said I don't want to get out of here though without getting this in there really quickly I know both of you are not maybe like diving into the game like I was and playing it two times through but you have to know what the clicker scene means anybody that knows anything about that and having that in the trailer what was it like for you guys how much did you know what you were going up against would look like did they do that practically or did you really just have to imagine it it was a little practical it was very practical it was too practical practical um yeah I I didn't I didn't I knew that they were gonna pull something really brilliant out of the Hat as far as that was concerned but I didn't expect it to be as real looking on the day and um and and some things sometimes you know the opportunity for everything to be at your disposal in that way and to to immerse you into the experience to to to to to to shoot the story but sometimes some things are better left to the imagination because that was very disturbing is her birth giddy up giddy up they looked really scary I they were scary in the show when you talking about it's like it's it's very scary on the show I know we're used to it but it's not like it's less also Pedro I definitely want to talk about this because I just think it's really cool that you know whatever with Mando protection I mean there's a little solo man on a mission maybe cutting himself off from the world is this you therapizing on screen I'm just curious It's too similar not to at least remark on it I guess it is you know I didn't even realize it until now really um it is like the the the most uh the most special double dip that I could possibly uh have experienced um where where they are so similar and so different and and and and and it's just been like amazing to step into those shoes and that armor I'll take you with me say what I said get any advice on the best way west yeah go east Merle Neil it is great uh to see you all I will say that uh you already have a debt of many of my hours as I played the game I think it's many hours for way too long but I'll start with you Neil um you've said that the show allowed you to include a lot of things that you couldn't and maybe do some things that maybe at the time of the first game or even in the remaster you couldn't talk about some of these new places you got to explore with this different medium the big the biggest difference I think for me is in the game one the game has to support A Lot More Action I think than is required in the show for the sake of gameplay right you have to there's a certain Mastery that comes with the game that once you do have that Mastery there's this Bond you feel with the playable character that's very unique to games that we knew for that's the strength of the game and we shouldn't try to replicate that in the show so with the show what we can do is leave Joel and Ellie's perspective and really focus on these other characters and get to flesh them out and by fleshing them out it makes their interactions with Joel Nelly that much richer so for example like we get to see Marlene what what is she struggling with right because um there's certain goals that she wants that are has an inner conflict with what she feels is right and wrong and she has to sacrifice her own morality to kind of achieve these goals um likewise there's all the like the character of David and like these other things that we get to show the humanity of the antagonist the quote unquote again there was no real villain in this story there's just people with competing goals and then there are some other just like other stories that were written since the game has come out for different projects that for one reason or another didn't didn't happen that um you know when Craig and I started talking about the story and kind of breaking it down I mentioned some of those to him and he was just wide eyes and like like a fan he was excited like oh my God we got a visual we gotta put these on the screens we gotta get them in in the show and you've got to see in the trailer we just put out um Ashley Johnson plays Ellie's mom and that was one of those stories that was very near and dear to my heart and I'm so glad it finally like gets to live oh I love that uh Meryl I will say uh I actually have listened to you and the character embodies so much of your physical uh representation as well but I know that when you put on the wig from what I heard from Craig it was a real emotional moment for you because although you voiced this character for literally you know several several years going on almost a decade that was the first time you felt in it is that true yeah well you know and I will take one more step back which was my costume fitting which um as soon as I walked in I was I you know saw the the mood boards and I saw the choices and and was not prepared for how I was going to feel when I actually put the clothes on for the first time and it just felt like worlds colliding I was like what's happening Nia look at this picture I don't know what's going on I was it was really um an unbelievable moment and then to step you know even further and um you know yes put on the wig and and and see the the the full situation the uh completely fleshed out in front of my eyes was remarkable because I've been on such a long emotional connected Journey with her for a decade now again there's so many moments I think of I'm just thinking of like some of the mocap bloopers that you guys have done singing and all kinds of stuff I'm like I've gotten all the Easter eggs but in the end it's still no matter whether it's the game or the TV show it's these two characters and I would say for both of you seeing another person reimagine what these characters are it's almost maybe an uncanny valley what was something Neil that you saw watching Bella and Pedro's interpretations of the characters that maybe felt brand new to you I'd be really excited to see something that they brought that you hadn't seen before yeah it's such a privilege you know I get to work with such amazing artists and you know give them this material that um is inspiring them and they get to interpret it they get to internalize it it and then we get to see what comes out on the other side that uh it's hard maybe to articulate those differences there's definitely differences but like like Pedro is so charming and he has to suppress all that when he's Joel and then you get to see these moments where he like kind of peeks out and when he smiles several episodes later it feels like a set piece like an action like it's such a reward for like people that have invested a time in this relationship likewise with with Bella uh like I feel like we you know we got lucky twice with this with this with these casts of like Ashley Johnson was able to capture Ellie so well and then you have another person that's interpreting them and at first like there's a resistance like there's a fear that they're not going to do as good of a job or it's going to be too different and I just my mind just keeps going back to you know I was my Batman was the Tim Burton Batman and I think of Jack Nicholson as the Joker I'm like in my mind that is the Joker and I remember when I heard like Heath Ledger was cast as a joke there's no way in hell Heath Ledger is going to do as good of a job as Jack Nicholson and he did it was different and they were both the Joker and that's kind of like how beauti is it's like Ashley Johnson is Ellie and Bella Ramsey as Ellie um and it really kind of like now there's like a clear separation it's almost like I can see two dimensions and they're both really true and honest as those characters you've come this far and you know what's out there you're not gonna scare us scared who Craig uh congratulations on the show as a fan of both the uh video game and now this you should be so incredibly proud but I would say having watched this and also having watched True Noble let me just say you really love people in Desperate situations I do so is that what brought you into this or were you I would love to love the idea of you just being like playing the game being like you know this might make a good show that's exactly what happened I mean I do love people in Desperate situations I think desperate situations show us who we really are but what what happened was exactly the way you put it it's 2013 I'm sitting on my couch I'm like uh all right I'll play this game it's got monsters whatever and I get through the first 10 minutes I'm stunned and I'm crying and I don't understand what just happened and then that just carries through and I was just I was obsessed and I I actually remember feeling sad that I was probably never going to get a chance to like make a Last of Us show you know and like meet Neil and work and then here I am now like what a dream come true you know for a fan it's it's so it's so funny thing to you because I list podcast for Chernobyl and then out in some respect or the more recent work I should say yeah uh but I maybe I don't know maybe it's after you go through the trials and tribulation of a show like this because adapting a video game is already a hard thing to do and then when it's a game that you know arguably people say is like the best video game ever like was that it the idea of bringing it to a new audience like like what was the the main draw once you actually started adapting it through well I think initially what I was just driven by was how much I loved it but also I could see how The Last of Us the the game experience was kind of begging to to be this other version you know I loved playing the game but it you could see how it was almost like wanted to be a television show a little bit you know and thinking about how to do that was so exciting and doing it with Neil was the best because Neil was incredibly flexible and brave and and had no problem like stress testing everything and how could we make it better and how could we expand it but also I knew like I was never going to be able to do anything that like broke the last of us because I got druckman next to me that's not happening so you know the two of us were like this together the whole way through and just like I don't know it was just a joy to fill that world out and and give everybody the things that I would desperately want to see and then more I love how it was the two of you really sort of locked in behind the scenes because obviously we know the last of us it's right there from the you know the the game poster the game cover now also the cover of this one what was the dynamic between Pedro and Bella that you saw that you really wanted to translate to the game because there's a lot that you could play up with these characters and even I would even say how you cast them in this version well we were looking for people that we felt just embodied the soul of Joel and Ellie and we got those people for sure we had no question about that but then it was sort of like well but what will they be like together and that's where kind of luck happens because they bonded so fast and so profoundly I mean they are like a unit you couldn't tear them apart if you tried they love each other and and and we love them you know we wanted to replicate for everybody whether they had played the game or not the experience of a man who was closed off and broken just opening up even you didn't even realize it's happening opening up and letting this love back in which is a dangerous thing to do and we also wanted to feel the ache of this girl who is lonely and lost and has never had a family has never had belonging and has never been protected or cared about like this we wanted to see that coming through and they just delivered it in the most beautiful way playing The Last of Us means you're gonna cry watching The Last of Us means you're gonna cry but it it kind of feels good you know it kind of feels good it's just because Pedro and Bella made it true and and what else can I ask for is somebody making a television show wow I mean I love what they did obviously they made it so authentic but before I get out of here I couldn't not talk about Troy and obviously Ash let me it's just the fact that you guys were able to bring them into this and then like have uh that Dynamic be a part of this at this you know however many years later but also especially with particularly with Troy but with both of them they've become such icons in the video voice game world it's almost weird seeing them not the way we all right yeah what was that like for you Troy's Troy is the really weird one because he's been 400 people and he looks like none of them as far as I'm concerned there is like you can see Ashley's face and Ellie particularly in the new versions of Ellie um I mean obviously I'm deeply connected to their performances I love them and they're both just the most beautiful people and I loved having them on set and and their their eyes looking around I mean remember Troy walking around going oh my God I'm in it it was so like moving for them and and don't forget Merle Dandridge who plays Marlene she's the one person who was the same character in the game and in the show Marlene has this great kind of like gray streaked hair but Merle her hair is perfect so you know we're working with a wig she gets this wig on and just starts bawling just instantly because she's like it's I'm Marlene I'm it just happened you like so having those touchstones of people that did the game and and were with us and working the show and telling us that we were getting it right and that we had casts well and that Bella was amazing and Pedro was amazing it just meant everything to me everything [Music] could have ever imagined careful who you put your faith in [Music] you might not be her father she was someone's one thing I will say is look Tess is a bona fide like action hero uh in her own right is that something that really Drew you towards it like this sort of shade of it because man you guys really take it in the series yeah of course that and working with Pedro Pascal um yeah it's always fun and you kind of because I'm not really like that but um I'm always surprised at how I'm like oh like I'm shocked when I go oh I buy that I see myself doing something like well I bought that like well done yeah yeah they make me look good yeah they do all this stuff I don't really have to do anything but I mean you are you I will say this you are believable in it outside of every moment so I will take that all to you but if you want to make it a team effort make it a team effort uh one thing that is not is is a dual effort is your Chemistry with Pedro and just the whole test Joel of it all if we will go ahead and say it for those of us that are fans of the book um how did you guys talk about that part of it I mean obviously it seems like he was part of that was the draw but then you also have to like work it out and there's the actual getting it done and what you see maybe in chemistry tests has to then translate on screen well yeah we talked about it and and actually the first scene that we shot was the first scene that they were together and there's not really that many moments but we were adamant um Pedro and I that we wanted I mean I would have liked to have made it I would have liked to have gone further but but part of it is that you've got to be true to the characters and um and we just went I we both wanted them to we wanted them to have been together for a long time we wanted them to like be incredibly loyal to each other we wanted them to be in a relationship in a partnership but as Tess and Joel like not it's it's Tess and Joel in a relationship and a partnership and then we went well how do we do it and you go because you don't want to over you don't want to overdo stuff too because exactly and it's sort of like when you when you agree on all of that stuff and you you know you're just a there's an ease between them and the first time you see them Tess walks in the door jumps into bed with him he rolls over she puts her arm around and it's like that's you know then like the audience goes oh one of the things we got from the trailer is this epic clicking scene which I again even if you weren't me obsessed with the video games you have to know just how incredible that scene is can you talk about sort of working up the choreographer the choreography for that one because yes I know you guys have brilliant stunt performers but there's still a lot that goes into everything before or after and sometimes during those those moments oh look uh then that was all choreographed and then we came in and and did it but I mean it was creepy because the actors playing um the clickers that's all them like the um the disjointed kind of like the the physicality of them they had practiced and they did it for day like that was them and also that like all the sounds that was all them in the room and so that was my first experience of a clicker and so that was frightening so that was all prosthetic most of that's prosthetic and then these really big tall beautiful like unbelievably like just the just the the movement was nuts they'd worked on it they were amazing and then the sounds all of the sounds was them in the minute so it was frightening it was really scary probably not hard to stay in character in a moment like that because again they're terrifying and it's just where we're looking at it on screen well then you didn't really want to talk to any of them so you didn't make like I that we only met them out of the prosthetic like one time and then you kind of wanted like hi like you just didn't want to look well but incredible they were in that for days I love it um last question here real quick because I will say this it's I guess scary in a good way scary how talented they are at their age but I will say uh Bella is just absolutely incredible in this and I know that if there is any Dynamic that folks are more interested in than the Joel and Tess it's obviously what Bella and Pedro are doing with that with their characters with Ellie and with Joel talk about your chance to work with them and what Bella brings to the table as a young performer oh it was really fun I'm sure she'd say the same thing too because I'm money in just the beginning of it and it's just Bella and Pedro and so Pedro and I had worked together and it was kind of we got to do it almost chronologically so we kind of like had this thing and then it was really different all of a sudden Bella came in and we were like oh this is a different vibe and then in the same way it happens with the thing Bella and I started to really get on and get the giggles together and by the end like we really all we cracked each other up a lot and I think partly part of it was because we were you know just it was just everything was so serious all the time and you're constantly looking at this revolting fungus everywhere and like everything that we would you just would and one of us would go and then the other would go I mean the crew would be like come on a lot of days that's okay well I think it reads I think it reads that we'll get you trust me I'm so excited to talk to you because I know you actually played the game so I'm I'm also a fan of the game well I just have to ask as a fan of the game knowing that you were signing on to this besides the daunting task of doing everything you could with Tommy was there anything you in particular were looking forward to like Easter egg type stuff you were like okay this is gonna be cool when we do it yeah yeah absolutely there was I I um I wanted to see how we were going to recreate Austin Texas in Calgary Alberta Canada because I'm from Austin and so I was really thrilled to see what we were going to do in terms of the production design to bring my entire home up north to Calgary and it didn't disappoint I mean there was not only did it match uh my experience and my what I know to be the authentic elements of my hometown but it also matched the game in a really incredible way so I was all over the place taking pictures of uh you know movie posters or or um you know certain buildings and certain kind of architecture structures that all of the Texas Longhorn paraphernalia that was everywhere so I think that's what I was looking forward to and it didn't disappoint I really love that I also love the Austin Texas shout out I'm I'm also I'm not an austinborn but I was Austin Brad I went to school there and lived there many years so I'm I also will say they did a very incredible job which is incredible desolate Austin but one of the things you did have to sort of create in whole cloth for this series is the bond between Tommy and Joel with your bomb with Pedro and I know that you guys had a fun set but again sort of playing Brothers in this the dynamic between these characters in the game is interesting and you kind of like have to make that translate on the series or did you guys want to explore it completely different well we were and we had different entry points because I knew the game I knew the whole story I knew the experience he had uh he had watched a lot of the playthroughs and a lot of the cinematics on YouTube so he was familiar with it [Music] um so we uh but what we were dealing with was uh superbly crafted script that Craig and Neil you know laid in front of us we just we need only stay true to the story and how he was unfolding in this grid I mean a lot of the way that they the their their the Tit for Tat that Brothers you know that that brothers are apt to kind of engage in was there in the script and I know it very well because me and my brother only 22 months apart and we used to always you know knock heads so all of that was very very uh easy to slip into because it was written written so well but beyond that he and I both Pedro and I were both raised in Texas he was born in Chile raised in San Antonio I was raised in Austin we just we just thought that it was important that we just draw on that and lean into it and allow it to uh inform our relationship and it did and it did in a very it gelled in a very uh in a very quick way which was important because we when we were when we were off and running we were certainly off and running so uh I just uh yeah I couldn't have asked for a better obscene partner until he's so giving and so playful and and uh immensely talented the other thing I would really ask since you were definitely somebody that had the full experience of playing the game and really living in that is you were probably a little bit like the you know on set if you can't grab the technical advisor ask Gabriel that was it you're right about that um did you put a lot of that expertise into the clicker scene because that has that's a that's a moment in the game that is just literally instructive so so much just learning how to deal with them like that first attack from them is like one of the scariest moments in the game uh Did you sort of like Circle that day and really sort of pay attention to how they they translated that as a gamer did you just let yourself be a gamer for a day with that moment you know we um you you kind of prepare for it and you know which which parts of the script are are married to the game that you really love you're like excited okay I'm gonna can't wait for this and and but then you get there and and you just forget all about that and your preconception of what it was going to be because of how you know it's it becomes uh it becomes what happens what happened with me Pedro Nico what just happened in a moment and you're not really too concerned about uh applying it point for Point you're you're really just everything is there it's constructed in a way that honors the game and and uh if you live in the moment honestly it'll you'll you'll have contributed the important part that you need to bring and um and so that was uh that was yeah that was kind of effortless but the but you're right no I was I was always called on to be uh a bit of a technical consultant when it came to the game a Pedro turned to me a lot is like is this what happens in the games itself it's like no dude this is exactly how it happens in the game or or no we're doing this differently you know I really appreciate that um one thing that for at least when I saw I didn't get to see there's lots of solo episodes and I didn't get to a Tommy solo episode so are we gonna get one this time do you know can you teach you have to watch and see yeah oh come on I see they taught you well they taught you well

Channel: Rotten Tomatoes TV

Views: 404,027

Keywords: bella ramsey, bella ramsey interview, certified fresh, craigh mazin, craigh mazin interview, gabriel luna, gabriel luna interview, hbo, hbo max, neil druckmann, neil druckmann interview, nick offerman, nick offerman interview, pedro pascal, pedro pascal interview, playstation, ps4, rotten tomatoes, rotten tomatoes tv, rt, rttv, the last of us, the last of us tv, video games, xbox

Id: vR3JMhfzvH4

Length: 29min 16sec (1756 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 06 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/InterstellarCapa]

I've had a crap day today, but every time I see Craig in an interview he's so excited and it pours out of him as he's speaking about the show. It makes me happy to see people who are happy and excited about the things they do. It also makes me pumped for this show.

And hearing about everyone's relationships and experiences on set is exciting too. It must have been a rewarding experience to do the show.and Anna is <3

[u/im--stuff]

this was probably just a slip of the tongue but it was a little funny hearing the interviewer constantly reiterate how much of an obsessed fan she is and then "something that was a dual effort was your chemistry with Pedro and the whole Joel/Tess of it all, if we can go there for those of us who are fans of the book"

Anyways I appreciate how overt they're seemingly going to be about Tess and Joel, Anna says their first scene together is her getting into bed with him and cuddling

[u/Brilliant-Problem-84]

I really like the face of Pedro and bella when at the beginning, the journalist tells them "Congratulations, it is incredible"