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The Indian Express | 1 hour ago | 19-03-2023 | 11:45 a.m
Did you know that the creator of hit HBO shows like The Last of Us and Chernobyl, Craig Mazin is a screenwriter on comedy films like Scary Movie 3 and Scary Movie 4, and The Hangover Part 2, among others? The man is versatile. It was Craig’s interest as an avid video gamer that first drew him to The Last Of Us. He played the video game, which debuted a decade ago, and was so moved by its portrayal of the father-daughter bond that he wanted to adapt it as a live-action TV show, Craig revealed in a previous interview with the New York Times to . And after the success of Chernobyl, it became so much easier for Mazin to get the green light for another show. The Last of Us, led by Pedro Pascal, the latest internet maniac, and the young and talented Bella Ramsay, hit streams this January and was an instant hit, with almost 30 million views to date (excluding the finale), on par with the Game of Thrones spin-off House of Dragon. But we rush ahead, back to the short but perfect farewell to the show that the creators nailed with episode nine. (SPOILERS) In the final episode of season one, we take a quick trip down memory lane to Ellie’s (Bella Ramsay) birth. And who do we see as Ellie’s mother? Just the OG Ellie, the voice actor Ashley Johnson who played Ellie in the video game. Great casting choice because not only does Ashley Johnson pull off the role, but you feel like she gives a lot of herself in just those few moments that are reserved for Anna and it’s easy to see why that was . In a behind-the-scenes video of the show, Ashley is heard saying, “It was a special level for me to play the mother of this character who is so dear to me. It was the first time I had to give birth on camera and it was an amazing day, we were dealing with real babies which is usually difficult but they got along so well. The scene shows how strong Ellie is, where she came from and what she went through, and that even her mother had such a struggle to live.” There’s something about HBO and violent births. First there was the House of Dragon play with Laena’s birth, and now there’s The Last of Us segment where we see Ellie as a baby. There’s a clicker, deep scar, lot of blood, and multiple deaths in a fight for survival once Ellie comes to life. And it all seems surreal once you know the context — Ellie gives birth to Ellie like an animal eating its own head. According to a Variety report, Ashley Johnson had to put on a 30-pound artificial abdomen to portray Anna as a woman about to give birth. This shouldn’t come as a big surprise, but Anna dies, she dies so Ellie can die live. Merle Dandridge, who played Marlene on the show, said it was heartbreaking for her to film Anna’s death. In the BTS clip, the actress said she has a hard time controlling her emotions when talking about this moment: “I don’t know if I can talk about the scene without crying, they’re fictional characters. We know what it is like to feel powerless when we can’t save the people we love, and Marlene certainly feels that at the moment because Anna is her childhood best friend who had to execute her.” Aside from the wild viewership, The Last of Us has also won over critics, with review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes scoring an impressive 96 percent. In India, The Last of Us is available to stream on Disney Plus Hotstar.
