Ellie and Joel cast in Last of Us TV series - including first look

[DrBloodmoney]

1 minute ago, StewartBros said:

 

When did Gillian Anderson play Thatcher? 

 

Meryl Streep played her several years back in The Iron Lady... is that who you meant?  Or did Anderson also play her in a film/show that I don't know about?

 

Hmm.... to IMDB!

 

The Crown - she's Thatcher in the 4th season 

 

[StewartBros]

Just now, DrBloodmoney said:

 

The Crown - she's Thatcher in the 4th season 

 

 

Can you tell that I don't watch much TV?

[lurch_9944]

I really want to see jack black cast as bill

 

[DrBloodmoney]

10 minutes ago, StewartBros said:

 

Can you tell that I don't watch much TV?

 

Lol - guess so. 

 

The Crown is good BTW - well written and superbly acted. I avoided for a long while, due to not being a fan of the royals, but when I gave in and watched a few, it got me hooked.

 

(Don't really know why it made sense to me to avoided the show just because I wasn't a royalist. I mean... I'm not a fan of the Mafia, but I did watch the Sopranos!)

[Katt]

5 hours ago, Alderriz said:

[citation needed]

guess where I found the first negative reactions for these announcements. hint: not twitter

 

6 hours ago, Alderriz said:

Maybe we should do a poll here

nah, last US election almost triggered another civil war and confirmed that almost half of the country is a xenophobe scum. I'm done with polls that confirms and validates hatred. Let people enjoy things.

[Slava]

Just now, Katt said:

I'm done with polls that confirms and validates hatred. Let people enjoy things.

 

Not liking something ≠ actively hating something. Let people dislike simple things like cast choises.

 

Not sure why you're comparing this to xenophobia.

[Katt]

29 minutes ago, Alderriz said:

 

Let people dislike simple things like cast choises.

Not sure why you want to do a poll then. State your disapproval and move along.

[WhisperingDusk]

I love both Last of Us games but wasn't so interested in a series about it. Don't really feel confident about games in screen format. 

 

That said, I definitely am excited about the main casting, I like them both and now I am looking forward seeing how they'll do. 

[Slava]

Just now, Katt said:

Not sure why you want to do a poll then. State your disapproval and move along.

 

I already said why:

 

3 hours ago, Alderriz said:

I was just interested to see the numbers to know how much the "Silent majority" thing applies on PSNP in this case. 

 

So please stop insinuating. My posts have been pretty neutral.

 

Edit: also, to be clear, I'm no longer asking for a poll, lol. I can see that no one else wanted it. ?

Edited February 11, 2021 by Alderriz

[Wolf_Town_Spider]

Buzzing for this. They were both fantastic in game of thrones.

[BeesTrophies]

I'm apprehensive on the Ellie casting. Lady Mormont was a cool character but she literally only had about 20 lines. And I also applaud them for casting age appropriate but having someone that looks 10-12 at the age of 17 is not going to sit well when it comes time to touch on Part 2 events. So in that case im hoping for a recast of older Ellie.

Pedro is a surprise should be an interesting take on Joel Im looking forward to this.

 

I also have to trust Neil and his judgement just again have concerns with the Ellie casting (beyond acting ability) it just doesnt feel right. I look forward to being proved wrong when the series airs. 

[Rune2303]

Oh ... alright then I guess
 

 

Picture more or less sums up how I feel about this. As a lot of other people have already pointed out looks aren't everything (Though I will say in my humble opinion they absolutely failed to capture both characters likeness with these two) and actors in past have proven they were the right choice for a role even though pretty much everyone and their mother believed they weren't (Take Heath Ledger as the Joker for example). Guess its only fair these two should get a chance to show off their acting prowess first before we pass judgement on them right?

 

Now if you'd asked me personally whether or not I'd believe they could pull off their respective roles I honestly have no clue. Haven't seen a lot movies/shows featuring either actor/actress so I don't really have a lot to go off. Game of Thrones and the Mandalorian are probably the only two properties I can honestly say come to mind (I know Pascal is in the Mandalorian though I haven't actually seen that show so what do I know if his performance in that is any good or not) From what I can seem to remember from Game of Thrones though I'd say they both seem like alright actors. I would say neither Pascal or Ramsey ever delivered any crazy or memorable performances (You know stuff were it almost seems criminal to consider any other actor in the role such as Robert Downey Jr. as Iron man, Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator ect.) but on the flip side I dont think they ever delivered a truly bad or immersion breaking performance either so eh, could be worse to be fair.

 

Actors aside though I must say I have close to zero anticipation/excitement for this series (Obviously I do have some otherwise why would I bother to check any news on the series). Could easily go into more detail on why since I've already rambled on for too long I'd quickly summarize my feelings on the matter with a simple question: Why do we really need a "Live action" Last of Us 1? (Immediate comparison that comes to mind would be more or less all the Disney live action remakes. All right movies on their own I suppose but compared to the originals a lot of people would say they feel inferior in almost every single way rendering them for all intents and purposes: Pointless)

 

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by Rune2303

[dieselmanchild]

11 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

He isn't, but to be honest, I think any 'fans' that would be 'alienated' by the casting of an actor of the calibre of Mahershala Ali just because he is black, most likely already feel 'alienated' by what they see as 'progressive' story elements in The Last of Us Part II.

 

The most vocal of whom have most likely been bleating about their regressive views on the subject on forums since it's release.

 

Ironically, they are most likely going to be the one audience the show creators can truly count on - they will hate-watch the crap out of the show, just so they have something to bemoan on 8-chan afterwards.

I respectfully disagree with you on this point. It’s been shown time and time again that fans get really upset when creators deviate heavily from the source material, and I don’t think this would have been any different. Most of us have come to know Joel as a middle aged, white, redneck/country type from the Deep South, and so casting an actor in the role (as fantastic as he is) who is drastically different than the game’s version of Joel would likely have upset a lot of people. And not just the vocal haters you are pointing to, but regular fans too who just want to see a faithful adaptation of the material they fell in love with. We’ve seen it happen time and time again in many other franchises and movie/TV adaptations that stray too far from the original.
 

Not to mention, I personally believe this would be problematic in other ways. You wouldn’t choose a white actor to play an iconic black character, so why would you do the reverse? I know that progressives usually have the best of intentions and mean well, but I truly think sometimes they don’t realize they can actually harm more than they help in a lot of cases. In recent years, I’ve seen more and more examples of black voices (and other groups like LGBT+) speaking about their annoyance and frustration with “white allies” and the way they appropriate these causes and struggles as if it belongs to them.

 

I’m of the opinion that diversity and inclusion should start in the writer’s room. The writers and show runners should be working towards developing deep and interesting original African-American characters, rather than just plugging them into roles of characters that were originally white and acting like they’ve done them a great service. I think it’s very insulting to a lot of people and risks alienating the very communities they claim to be trying to help.

PS - I realize this whole debate is a non-issue now. Like a dumbass, I didn’t read the full OP before I went to Google and started reading articles about the show’s casting that were outdated by several hours, so I edited my post when I realized this. Apparently I wasn’t fast enough. ?

 

4 hours ago, kdogg_gamer_ said:

I'll take Mahershala Ali every damn day for Henry though! (Hope Henry gets a bigger role in the show). And if Bill isn't the guy who played Bill (W Earl Brown) then I will be very salty.

He would be a great choice for Henry! My only problem with this is that Henry’s role in the game is quite small, and an actor of Mahershala Ali’s caliber deserves a leading role where he’s front and center and gets a lot of screen time. They would either have to expand the role of Henry, or perhaps create a brand new character and introduce him into the story? I think I would prefer the latter.

 

When they originally announced this show, I was actually hoping for more of a spin-off set in the same universe rather than a direct adaptation of the game. I think that whenever you adapt something as brilliant and beloved as The Last of Us, you run the risk of falling short of the high expectations fans will have, and betraying their vision of the story and characters. I also think the story of TLoU has already been told, and it was told very well.  It wouldn’t be such a bad idea to just leave it alone.

 

Creating an original story would negate these risks, and also open up the doors for something new and fascinating. New characters, new communities, a whole different perspective on the outbreak and post-apocalyptic world. We still don’t know that much about this series, so I hope that it does end up incorporating some of these elements and adding some depth to the story we already know. There’s just so much potential to expand the world of TLoU, rather than just rehashing the story we are already so familiar with. ?

 

 

[Charizarzar]

I can see Pedro pulling this off. He's physically different to the Joel we know but I can picture him acting out certain dramatic scenes. I'll have to wait and see for Bella. She was good in GoT but was playing a different kind of character, and I found her acting honestly pretty wooden more recently in His Dark Materials. That said, Heath Ledger and Daniel Craig became fan favourites despite a cold reception to their castings as Joker/Bond, so it's best to just wait until you see them actually perform.

 

What I'm most excited for is live-action clickers!

[DrakeHellsing]

Aww man, and here I was hoping for Danny DeVito as Joel and Ellie.

 

Heck, they should have just cast Danny DeVito in all the roles. Now that would have been perfect casting.

[Conor]

I would also love if they actually got Annie Wersching to reprise her role as Tess (assuming Tess is still going to be a part of this and not cut out by the changes they're inevitably going to make), she could definitely still pull it off

[NOWITSREYNTIME17]

4 hours ago, Katt said:

guess where I found the first negative reactions for these announcements. hint: not twitter

 

nah, last US election almost triggered another civil war and confirmed that almost half of the country is a xenophobe scum. I'm done with polls that confirms and validates hatred. Let people enjoy things.

wow, just wow ?

[ser_davos]

Anyone concerned about Pascal as Joel should give a watch to an underrated sci-fi film he was in from 2018 called Prospect, I never in a million years would’ve associated him with Joel until I watched that film and ever since I’ve thought if they couldn’t get my first choice Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to play Joel then Pedro would be a solid option. Even just watching the (spoiler heavy) trailer I linked is something I highly recommend to everyone who hasn’t seen it and has doubts whether he can pull this off.

 

No opinion on the other casting, the actress was ok in Game of Thrones but not really how I pictured Ellie so I’ll have to reserve judgement for a trailer.

[MarcusPunisher]

[MarcusPunisher]

At least this will now make for some good memes ?

 

[DeepEyes7]

After TLoU2 everything TLoU related became so polarized... I don't want to see what will happen when they announce Abby's actress if this series get more seasons...

[PooPooBlast]

I don't know about you guys but I think it's a crime Nick Cage isn't casted as Ellie.

[AJ_Radio]

Really couldn’t care less. I was an avid viewer of The Walking Dead before that series went to crap. Watched a lot of melodramatic TV series and sort of burnt out on them. 
 

17 hours ago, dieselmanchild said:

Not to mention, I personally believe this would be problematic in other ways. You wouldn’t choose a white actor to play an iconic black character, so why would you do the reverse? I know that progressives usually have the best of intentions and mean well, but I truly think sometimes they don’t realize they can actually harm more than they help in a lot of cases. In recent years, I’ve seen more and more examples of black voices (and other groups like LGBT+) speaking about their annoyance and frustration with “white allies” and the way they appropriate these causes and struggles as if it belongs to them.

It’s been done for ages. Laura Bailey can tell you she got a lot of shit her way for playing Nadine in Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, which is yet again another Naughty Dog product that was under fire for that reason. 

 

I think this television show should deviate from the video game franchise it came from, but still incorporate many of the things that made The Last of Us special. 

Edited February 12, 2021 by Beyondthegrave07
Let's leave the off-topic politics for another thread... Or not at all.

[NxtDoc]

I don't like the castings for Joel and Ellie.  In my opinion, I think the PlayStation castings for both Naughty Dog games are poor

 

Maybe they could be good.  I doubt it though.  Especially Tom Holland and Mark fuckin Wahlberg.

Edited February 12, 2021 by NxtDoc
Add info

[JohnCenaSong-]

Who and who?

 

I feel like it's a good thing that I don't recall seeing these actors in anything else because then I have no expectations based on their previous roles. I don't think they look the part but time will tell.

 

I don't have high hopes translating the game to a show but if it's any good I'll be happy