Recently, some sneaky images from the set of The Last of Us season two were revealed online, drawing immediate concern from the franchise’s fanbase. In these leaked shots, we see Bella Ramsay in character as Ellie, the co-lead character in the series (alongside Pedro Pascal’s Joel).
The concern comes from the fact that Bella Ramsay hasn’t ‘aged up’ enough to realistically portray Ellie as she exists in The Last of Us Part II (2020), given that a substantial time jump takes her from being 14 to 19 between the two games.
That’s a Problem
Bella Ramsay naturally looks very young for her age (20), and she was relatively perfect in the first season of the show, which was so good it picked up a few Emmy Awards and a BAFTA. However, her youthful visage is proving to be a letdown for some fans eager to see how the second season of the show will unfold.
In terms of the game, The Last of Us Part II was infinitely grittier and more intense than the first outing. Ellie had grown up and was vengeful, brutal, and determined, stopping at nothing to cut down those in her way. She’d aged noticeably too, with the stresses of post-apocalyptic life perhaps making her look older than her 19 years.
Bella Ramsay, from the recently leaked set photos, still looks like a young teenager.
Some fans have stressed that Ellie should have been recast to recognise the time skip, and the consensus is that while she’s a fantastic actor, she’s no longer ‘right’ for the role of Ellie. But given that it’s an adaptation, many are claiming that it doesn’t need to be a like-for-like replication. In the first season of The Last of Us, some characters are dramatically different to their in-game representations, and everything panned out just fine.
It’ll be a while before we see Ramsay in action again as Ellie, as the second season isn’t expected to drop until 2025.
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