Episode 5 of The Last of Us introduced viewers to Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard), brothers who were trying to escape the ruins of Kansas City alive despite the army of raiders out for their blood. They immediately connected with viewers, which just made it all the more heartbreaking when their story ended in tragedy.
While The Last of Us has stuck pretty closely to the beloved 2013 video game on which it’s based, one of the more interesting changes is that Sam is deaf in the TV show. This affected not only how the episode was acted, but also the production.
HBO Max released a video to get viewers better acquainted with Woodard, and gave a glimpse into what it was like to incorporate a deaf character so fully into the story of The Last of Us:
Get to know The Last of Us star Keivonn Woodard in fun behind-the-scenes video
Bringing Keivonn Woodard into The Last of Us meant that the series needed to not only portray a deaf character well on screen, but also make accommodations so that everyone on set could easily communicate. As such, dialect coach CJ Jones was brought on to be the show’s Director of ASL (American Sign Language). Jones coached Woodard, helped everyone communicate on set, and ensured that the sign language appearing in the show was accurate. “I have to admit, seeing a young, black deaf actor appearing in this role and working on set is the greatest honor, because I had the privilege to work with him and help him act well, and to show how much talent he has on-screen,” Jones said.
Woodard himself also weighed in: “Sam is deaf, and I am deaf — we’re the same. That is so important. It’s nice to have so many people see that deaf people can do it, that we can act too.” Woodard shared that one of his personal goals is to one day win an Oscar for Best Actor.
“Working with him and his team, it was fantastic,” said Bella Ramsey, who plays Ellie. “It was honestly one of the highlights for me of the entire show. And I’ve continued to learn ASL now afterwards, ’cause it just gave me such an appreciation for the language and the culture is just so beautiful. Watching them communicate, even if I couldn’t always understand, it was just so cool to be immersed in it.”
The Last of Us cast Keivonn Woodard from Twitter
According to Pedro Pascal (Joel), Keivonn Woodard and Lamar Johnson were yet another example of “magical casting.” In Woodard’s case specifically, casting him was an unusual process.
While the idea to make Sam a deaf character was one which The Last of Us showrunners Craig Mazin and Neill Druckman firmly embraced, finding the right actor was no small feat. The series needed a Black child actor between the ages of 8 and 11, who was ideally shorter than Bella Ramsey (who herself is only around 5’1” tall), who was deaf and fluent in either American Sign Language or Black American Sign Language.
“We were in trouble,” showrunner Craig Mazin said on the latest episode of The Last of Us Podcast, recalling how the casting call went largely unanswered. “Not a ton of people. And you’re like ‘ugh, this is frustrating because I know the problem is the pipeline.’ It’s a pipeline problem, it’s not a ‘are there kids out there who can do it?’ problem.”
With the clock running down, Mazin decided to abandon the traditional casting channels and do what any reasonable person does when they’re under duress: go on Twitter.
"So after a certain point we were really up against it. We needed to cast somebody, and I just went “Oh, fuck it” and made, like, a Google email for our casting and just went on Twitter. And I just said “Here’s what we’re looking for. Open to the world. Send us stuff.” And I thought we were going to get 80 auditions…and I think we got five. And one of them was Keivonn.Now, Keivonn wasn’t just the best of the five. He was astonishing. I mean this is where you start to think maybe this is a simulation because, I mean, I have never been in a circumstance where a kid who has never really acted on film before shows up, and is so naturally good at it, and is a joy to have around. He was just a dream. Still to this day, I just…I’m kind of puzzled by it."
Considering how utterly perfect Woodard as Sam are in the series, it’s amazing to hear how he very nearly missed out on the part — and how The Last of Us going outside the usual casting methods opened the door for his performance in “Endure and Survive.”
The Last of Us premieres new episodes Sunday nights on HBO and HBO Max.
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