Fans of the video game franchise The Last of Us seem to be enjoying the new HBO series. After all, a live-action adaptation of the property has been in the works for quite some time. So it’s exciting to see that world finally come to life on television. Interestingly, however, the show’s creators did have a weird request for the cast when making the series.
The weird request to the cast of The Last of Us was explained by creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin. Of course, for those fans of the video games that are watching the series, they might’ve already noticed what’s going on. Specifically, the creators didn’t want the cast to be too heavily influenced by the video games.
This can be shocking for some fans. After all, when an adaptation is announced, many fans hope it will adhere to its source material word-for-word. Others, on the other hand, are fine with seeing the work reinvented for a new medium. For The Last of Us, the creators chose to do the latter route.
As explained below by Neil Druckmann:
“People have seen this reaction online, which is like, they’re like, why did you tell the actors not to watch the game? And it’s for this moment you’re describing right now. It’s like, that flinch doesn’t exist in the game. If he was just trying to copy your performance, the best he could do is a poor imitation of your performance,” he began.
“Instead, we wanted Pedro and Bella and everybody else that’s part of the cast to make it their own. And that’s why it’s like, trust us that we put everything on the page that needs to be there. We’re not asking you to replicate anything else, because great performances come from the inside, not from the outside.”
“We wanted Pedro and Bella and everybody else that’s part of the cast to make it their own.”#TheLastOfUs showrunners @clmazin & @Neil_Druckmann join host @TroyBakerVA to discuss bringing beloved characters to life without being an imitation. Listen now. https://t.co/fSs8pbORCj pic.twitter.com/lLt3NKbJ3R
— The Last of Us (@TheLastofUsHBO) January 24, 2023
The Last of Us was developed by Craig Mazin who worked alongside Neil Druckmann to write and executive produce. Kantemir Balagov directed the pilot episode with Jasmila Žbanić and Ali Abbasi having directed additional episodes.
The cast of The Last of Us includes Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Troy Baker, and Ashley Johnson, as well as Gabriel Luna, Merle Dandridge, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Jeffrey Pierce and Anna Torv.
Fans can currently stream The Last of Us via HBO Max. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for additional updates regarding the fan-favorite series as we have them.