“Maybe one day people will get to see them.”
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey have exceeded even the highest expectations on The Last of Us, perfectly bringing Ellie and Joel to life.
Episode by episode, they’ve won over viewers as Joel and Ellie’s bond gets stronger, with episode 4 even showing Ellie annoying Joel with, objectively, some absolutely terrible puns.
However, it’s now been revealed that there’s even more footage out there of the pair’s brilliant dynamic that didn’t make the cut.
Jeremy Webb, who directed episodes 4 and 5 of the HBO series, told RadioTimes.com: “What I loved about it is the levity that Craig [Mazin] and Neil [Druckmann] give the story and how much humour there is with the pun book that runs all the way through the episodes.
“It all really comes from the game, but it’s been enhanced and made even funnier. It’s quite interesting, if you talk about stuff that was cut out – during their montage of their trip across the States, there were a few little bits in episode 4 where they would be refilling cars and chatting and she would be telling him more jokes and stuff.”
Webb continued: “We improvised quite a lot of stuff that didn’t make it to the cut. But just to see Pedro and Bella off-script inhabiting those characters was a delightful thing to watch.
“The ones that are in the final episodes were scripted mostly – they go off-piste a little bit. But those improvisations [that were cut] were completely spontaneous. Maybe one day people will get to see them!”
The director also said of the pair’s bond: “If there’s anything that surprised me about them, I thought they were good, I thought they were really good actors. But I didn’t know that they were extraordinary.
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“And I didn’t quite understand how well they would work together and how much they clearly cared for each other so much and would find the details of the interplay. I’ve never, ever seen something like that before.”
Pascal and Ramsey have been widely praised for their roles in The Last of Us, with some fans even dubbing the series the greatest video game adaptation of all time.
Thankfully, we’ve still got half a season left, with episode 5 hitting screens early in the UK and the US. Plus, the show has been renewed for a second season – so there will be lots more of Pascal and Ramsey’s amazing dynamic to see.
The Last of Us is available on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV. Episode 5 of The Last of Us will be released in the early hours of Saturday 11th February in the UK.
Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on this week.
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