Years after the release of the game, the actors reveal how terrible a scene in The Last of Us Part II truly was – they even had to cry while shooting.
The Last of Us Part II made a huge impact in 2020. Although there were many controversial discussions surrounding the game’s plot, there was ultimately agreement: This game would go down in history as one of the greatest video games of all time – especially because of its bold and extremely emotional story.
It was therefore not surprising that The Last of Us Part II was showered with numerous awards – the game alone won 7 awards at “The Game Awards.” We also found the game fantastic.
However, the actors of the characters revealed that they did not need to act for some scenes – it was pure emotion.
Spoiler Warning: If you haven’t played The Last of Us Part II yet, there are some major spoilers in this article.
Nearly 4 years after the release of The Last of Us Part II, developer Naughty Dog has now released a documentary that followed the development process of the game. Originally, the documentary was supposed to be released years ago, but due to the corona pandemic, work on it was halted and resumed only in 2023.
A few days ago, the documentary was released on YouTube and provides some exciting insights into the development and the problems faced by the artists – not only the developers but also the actors of the main characters.
Which scene is being discussed? It refers to perhaps the most emotional and important scene in the first half of the game. Joe Miller, the main character from Part 1, is cold-bloodedly and brutally murdered by Abby before Ellie’s eyes. For Ellie, Joel is somewhat of a father figure, and they have supported each other over the years – both likely would not be alive if they hadn’t stuck together. This scene triggers a cycle of hate and revenge that defines the rest of the game.
What did the actors say about it? The scene was not only emotional for the players – but also for the actors who had to portray it. Troy Baker (the actor who plays Joel) explained about this scene:
The worst part for me was watching Ashley. […] There was no acting. It was pure, raw emotion – and I stared at that.
Ashley Johnson (the actress who plays Ellie) also seems to have been quite affected by the scene:
I lost a bit of my voice during it. I just couldn’t scream as loud and frustrated as I wanted to.
The other actors were quite impressed and touched by it. Laura Bailey (the actress who plays Abby) even had to cry during the scene’s filming and said:
Ashley was already beyond crying and … knowing that Abby would take that away from her, that was pretty difficult. That’s why I was even crying when we shot this scene. Yes, it was quite emotional.
You can see the corresponding passage at 53:50 in the documentary:
But even beyond this small detail, the 2-hour documentary is interesting not only for fans of The Last of Us. Because the developers also discuss many exciting details that one would hardly notice otherwise in the video game industry.
In this case, one of the biggest points is likely the incidents surrounding the leaks prior to the release. A “fan” managed to copy video material from the servers and then post it online. This also included the scene shown above with Joel’s death.
This led to death threats against the developers, story writers, and voice actors, as well as a lot of hostility and hate messages, which is collectively referred to as “the low point of their lives.”
Anyone who likes The Last of Us and hopes for a third part will also be positively surprised. Because “there is a concept” Druckmann shares in the last section of the video.
