The Last of Us: why Ashley Johnson’s casting in the HBO series as her video game character Ellie’s mother was ‘perfect’

Ashley Johnson played Ellie in the original video game in 2013, and was surprised when she was asked to play Ellie’s mother in the TV series 10 years later

Ali Abbasi, who directed the last two episodes, was initially sceptical of hiring voice actors from the video game, but says they give the series authenticity

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HBO series The Last of Us started as a video game, and Ashley Johnson (above), who voiced Ellie in the game was surprised to be asked to play Ellie’s mother Anna in the series, but the using voice actors from the game added authenticity to the TV series. Photo: HBO/TNS

Published: 8:15am, 17 Mar 2023

In The Last of Us, nothing ushers in more devastation than desperate acts of love – not even mushroom zombies or government rebels.

Ellie spared her best friend, Riley, from life as a zombie with a single bullet in episode 7. Henry did the same for his brother Sam, only to end his own life shortly afterwards. Then there were Bill and Frank, who ended their love story on their terms.

These heartbreaking compromises drive The Last of Us. In the season finale, viewers learned that Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) grim cross-country journey began with a mother’s dying plea to keep her child safe.

“The decision that Anna makes – knowing that she could not cut the umbilical cord in time – it is another one of those decisions [you make when] you’re caring more for the person or thing that you love most and will burn the world for it,” says Ashley Johnson, who portrayed Anna, Ellie’s mother.

Pedro Pascal as Joel (left) and Bella Ramsey as Ellie in a still from the season finale of “The Last of Us”. Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO/TNS

Johnson first played the role of Ellie in 2013, performing the motion capture and voice for the character in the video game franchise. A decade later, Johnson says she feels “really lucky” to return to the post-apocalyptic world she helped create.