THE LAST OF US Series Saw Maisie Williams and Kaitlyn Dever Audition For The Role of Ellie

HBO Max’s upcoming series adaption of The Last of Us looks great, but one of the biggest complaints I’ve seen from fans is the casting of the character Ellie. She’s being played by Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones), and from what I’ve seen it looks like she gives a great performance, but some fans aren’t happy with the fact that she doesn’t look like the character from the game. Regardless of that, it’s the performance that matters!

Before casting Ramsey in the role, the studio and creative team met with a number of high-profile stars for the role of Ellie, and in a recent profile that covers the development of the show shared by THR, it’s explained that when The Last of Us was still being developed as a film, Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams auditioned for the role, as did Dopesick and Booksmart actress Kaitlyn Dever.

So why weren’t they cast? Because almost every major actress in consideration had aged out of the role and it didn’t make sense to cast them.

Ramsey ended up in the role after series showrunner Craig Mazin saw her audition tape, and he knew that she was the one. The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann said, “Bella felt so real. It was like Ellie realized in live action. It didn’t feel like watching an actor.”

Ramsey secured the role in less than a month, which is super fast for a non-household name vying for the lead in a tentpole project. So, she was obviously meant to play this role and I can’t wait to watch this series! I have no doubt she’ll be great!

Pedro Pascal stars in the series as Joel, they are joined by Gabriel Luna as Joel's brother Tommy, Anna Torv, Merle Dandrige, Nick Offerman, Storm Reid, Nico Parker, Gabriel Luna, Jeffrey Pierce, and Murray Bartlett.

The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed by a deadly virus. Joel (Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone to the Fireflies, a cure-searching organization. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

Craig Mazin, the creator of HBO’s acclaimed limited series Chernobyl, wrote The Last of Us and is also executive producing with Neil Druckmann, who is the writer and creative director of the game.

The series drops on HBO Max on January 15th, 2023.