The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin discusses the amazing chemistry between Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, which is the heart of the series. The Last of Us, based on the 2013 Naughty Dog video game of the same name, follows Joel, a hardened smuggler, as he is tasked with protecting and transporting fourteen-year-old Ellie across America. The Last of Us is set in a world ravaged by a fungus outbreak that wiped out most of the global population. The relationship between Ellie and Joel is the emotional core of the game, with the story built around it, and the same will be true of the HBO series.
In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Mazin explained that the amazing chemistry between stars Pascal and Ramsey came naturally to the two actors. He shared how important he and Neil Druckmann knew this relationship would be to the success of the HBO series. Mazin also revealed the moment he knew that Pascal and Ramsey had captured the essence of Joel and Ellie as well as their compelling dynamic while working on The Last of Us.
Craig Mazin: We didn’t have to find that chemistry. Neil and I understood the chemistry from a dramatic point of view. We poured all of that into the page. It obviously is all taken from Neil’s game. That’s why we’re all here, that relationship between Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us 2013. Awesome. So we know it. We feel it. We breathe it. We put it on the page. We find two actors that we know embody the spirit and soul of Joel and the spirit and soul of Ellie, and then we put Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey together and go, “I hope this works,” because chemistry is chemistry. It’s a mystery.
I was directing that episode when they come together for the first time, and I just remember sitting back in my chair going, “We’re going to be okay.” They just had something, and the chemistry that they have both on and off the set is remarkable. They are in love with each other in the most beautiful way. They take care of each other. I think that Bella looks up to Pedro and I think Pedro looks up to Bella, and they look out for each other, and they advocate for each other. Whenever I see them on these press things, they’re just always like, “Oh, God.” It’s real. It’s real, and you can feel it all the way through.
Ellie & Joel Relationship Is The Heart Of The Last Of Us
While the success of The Last of Us will be dependent on a number of factors, one of the most important is the relationship between Ellie and Joel. The chemistry between Pascal and Ramsey is key to making this dynamic work. Ellie and Joel are both closed off after experiencing tremendous loss, but they bring out pieces of each other that they believed to be lost. Ellie recovers some childlike wonder of the world, which bleeds through while Joel’s fatherly instincts take over.
Ellie was born into this world, never having experienced what it was like before the outbreak. Because of this and the losses she has suffered, she is closed off and fiercely independent. Joel has also suffered great losses, both personally and in terms of the world he once knew. He initially sees Ellie as a means to an end, referring to her as cargo in The Last of Us trailer. The game beautifully portrays how this relationship builds from this starting point, and it seems Pascal and Ramsey have the chemistry needed to recreate this compelling dynamic.
The Last of Us is one of the strongest video games narratively, with the evolving relationship between Ellie and Joel as the emotional heart of the story. In the game, jumps in time allow The Last of Us to show how this relationship grows without getting stuck in the day-to-day. The game can show the moments, both big and small, that mark the change between Ellie and Joel as they go from reluctant traveling partners to each other’s closest companions. While the horror, action, story, and worldbuilding are all captivating, Ellie and Joel are what truly bring The Last of Us to life.