The second season of The Last of Us is off and running. The new season features the returns of Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as his surrogate daughter Ellie, both of them survivors of the zombie apocalypse. Overall, response to the new season has been extremely positive, but there's been a weird backlash against Ramsey, who some fans don't think is a good fit for Ellie despite them getting an Emmy nomination for playing her in season 1. These fans often complain that Ramsey doesn't look old enough to play the 19-year-old Ellie in season 2, despite the fact that Ramsey is 21 years old now and would have been 20 when season 2 was filmed. Ramsey is about as close to the right age to play Ellie as it is possible to be.
Questions about Ellie's age often come up in Bella Ramsey's interviews, and it sounds like they're a bit sick of hearing them. “I’ve been on a three week press tour, and this is the most common question I get asked: ‘So, Bella, Ellie was 14 in season one [ofThe Last of Us], she’s now 19 in season two, there’s a five year age gap, how did you prepare to play an older Ellie in season two?’” Ramsey told Heart radio’s Dev Griffin. “I’ve grown up! Ellie’s grown up! There's nothing to tell! I’ve got nothing to say to you! I’m going to get asked that question, probably, every day for the next few weeks, so no offense to everyone asking that question, but that’s the question I am a little bit sick of.”
The exchange is light-hearted — Dev Griffin is laughing — but the question is indeed crazy: do people realize they're asking a 21-year-old who was 20 at the time how they managed to play a 19-year-old? By being the same age as the character! Where's the mystery?
The Last of Us showrunner warned Bella Ramsey's parents about backlash ahead of time
Personally, I think the "Bella Ramsey doesn't look old enough" reasoning is a smokescreen to cover up what these fans are really upset about but are too ashamed or savvy to admit: they don't find Ramsey attractive and they think that matters, even though Ramsey's looks have nothing to do with whether they can play this character. I also think there's a hearty helping of misogyny at play; this is far from the first time the internet has chosen an actress who's just doing her job and chooses the dogpile on them. We've all been here before.
Ramsey is ready for it, as is newcomer Isabela Merced, who plays Ellie's love interest Dina. "We've not chatted about it particularly directly. It's more just this mutual understanding of it and knowing very much that we have each other's backs, and I definitely feel that she doesn't need my protection or my advice, but I feel we're almost protective of all of the new cast coming in," Ramsey told the Associated Press. "None of that matters. I've been through all of that for Season 1, and I'm sure they've been through it for different shows and stuff, but it's just learning how to make those voices not matter to you, is what I've learned." Pedro Pascal, who was also part of the interview, piped in to call the backlash "all just noise and bulls***."
And yet, these kinds of backlashes have become so commonplace that they're predictable. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, showrunner Craig Mazin admitted that he was worried about this sort of thing when he cast Ramsey as Ellie. "There is also, I don't want to say guilt, but concern," he said. "I did say to Bella and her parents when we made the original casting decision, I said, 'Look, there is a world where nobody cares about this show and it just disappears. I don't think that's what's going to happen. I think there's going to be a lot of attention, and I think there's going to be a lot of attention on casting and a lot of attention on all of it, and some of it will be negative because that's how attention works in our world.' I said, 'I want you guys to be aware of it before you say yes, and I will do everything I can, I know HBO will do everything we can, but in the end, it's nothing we can control.'"
Studios have gotten more savvy about protecting actors from these kinds of backlashes over the years. The actors themselves have adapted as well. It sounds like Ramsey knows not to take any of this seriously, which is the right approach.
Expect "intense action" in The Last of Us season 2
In happier topics (or at least less annoying), Mazin also teased what to expect from the rest of this new season. "Our show has a history now of a season where there's a lot of sad things. I mean, we start with a child dying. And then about 10 minutes later, another child dies. And then a few episodes later, another child dies," he said. "We certainly don't shy away from the tough aspects of life."
"I will say that this season, while it does feature tragedy, also I think has a lot more comedy to it, a lot more humor. Just because of the nature of Ellie and Dina's relationship and how they function together. And the fact that Ellie's older now, there's this kind of slightly more grown up wisdom going on there."
The season 2 premiere episode was a fairly mild affair, but people...strap in for the new episode coming this Sunday, that's all I'll say. "And certainly this season features some intense action, and the scope of it has increased dramatically," Mazin finished. He's not kidding.
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h/t Independent