The Last of Us Creator Praises HBO’s Casting Choices

Neil Druckmann, creator of The Last of Us, has expressed contentment with HBO's casting choices for the upcoming adaptation.

Since its initial announcement, fans of Naughty Dog's award-winning survival horror franchise have shared concern over HBO's questionable choice over the TV adaptation's casting choices. Specifically, Ellie, one of the primary characters that helped carve the narrative alongside Joel (originally voiced by Troy Baker). Turns out, though, that Neil Druckmann, the writer behind the console phenomenon, is all for the selected roster, which of course includes Bella Ramsey, who will portray Ellie over the upcoming first season.

“Ellie took longer because it's a harder role to cast,” The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin told Collider. “We're trying to cast a 14-year-old girl and acting is an incredibly difficult thing to do, right? It's an easy thing to do terribly. It's a hard thing to do okay. But it's a really, really hard thing to do brilliantly. And children haven't had that much life experience. It's hard to find kids that can embody this.”

“The Most Remarkable Performer”

“I was panicked that [Druckmann] wouldn't like it and I would have to live the rest of my life knowing that we couldn't have the best Ellie ever,” Mazin added. “But happily, he loved her. And we couldn't have done better. She's just the most remarkable performer.”

Apparently, Mazin saw over 100 potential candidates for the role of Ellie before finally seeing Ramsey. In a stroke of luck, both Mazin and Druckmann felt the instant connection with the actress, and even went on to praise her by saying she was “the most remarkable performer.”

The Last of Us is set to release on January 15 on HBO Max. For more information on the upcoming adaptation, you can check in with the official social handle here.