Next Sunday the The Last of Us series premieres on HBO and as we told you in our review, it is a very faithful adaptation of the acclaimed PlayStation video game. However, fans of Naughty Dog’s work were not always happy with the actors who were chosen to play the roles of the protagonists and there was no lack of toxicity on social networks.
The actress playing Ellie, British Bella Ramsey, has opened up about how criticism from the gaming community has affected her. In an interview with The New York Times, she talked about the way she was insecure about reading what people were saying and that she kept coming back to the negative comments because she didn’t believe the positive ones:
This is the first time I have had a negative reaction to something.
There were times when I found it funny. After a 10-minute screen-swiping session, I’d put my phone down and say to myself, ‘Maybe that was a bad idea.’
Those in charge of the series praise the work of Bella Ramsey
The actress who also played Lady Mormont in Game of Thrones has her first major leading role as Ellie in The Last of Us series. Despite the insecurities caused by the criticism, those in charge of the adaptation have praised her performances on more than one occasion.
Neil Druckmann, co-director of Naughty Dog and producer of the series, assured that there is no one more capable of playing this role. “We were looking for a specific combination of contradictions: someone who could be funny and quirky, violent and rude,” said Druckmann, whose first reaction when he saw the actress audition was: “I didn’t see Bella acting as Ellie, I saw Ellie.”
Bella Ramsey herself accepts her interpretive abilities despite her doubts, although she continues in the process of overcoming the effects of criticism:
I’ve only recently accepted that I’m Ellie, I can do it, and I’m a good actress. But this will last a few weeks and then I’ll think I’m terrible again. It is a process.
Despite her doubts, Craig Mazin assures that the actress is capable of overcoming crises and giving her best in front of the cameras: “She overcame occasional episodes of doubt, anxiety or panic. There are few better people between the words ‘action’ and ‘cut,’ ”said the director.
The worst thing about this whole situation is that many of the criticisms have been made in advance without having concrete elements in this regard. The adaptation of The Last of Us to the small screen opens next Sunday and only then will fans be able to know if the cast met their expectations or not.
For now, you can see how fans placed Bella Ramsey in a mod for The Last of Us: Part II, and read Neil Druckmann’s statements about the stories he still has to tell in the franchise.