HBO Casts Joel and Ellie in its The Last of Us Adaptation

Two Game of Thrones Favorites Are Stepping Into the Roles

Itโ€™s fair to say that video games have grown into a legitimate art form, and The Last of Us is a big part of that. The series has excelled at telling human stories in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with themes like love, hate, revenge, and humanity. Coupled with top-of-the-line graphics, a beautiful score, and some brilliant gameplay and itโ€™s fair to see why rumors of an adaptation were flying for years before HBO officially greenlit a series. Alas, Maisie Williams โ€“ the early favorite for the role of Ellie โ€“ is too old, despite her enthusiasm, but donโ€™t worry, Game of Thrones fans โ€“ two of its stars are stepping into the shoes of Ellie and Joel.

First of all, Bella Ramsey โ€“ who played the role of Lyanna Mormont and quickly gained a reputation as one of the showโ€™s most badass characters โ€“ will be playing Ellie. While sheโ€™s not a household name (yet) sheโ€™s repeatedly shined in roles in His Dark Materials, The Worst Witch, and Requiem. Could The Last of Us be her big break? Well, thereโ€™s a lot of reason to be optimistic. The Last of Us is being co-created by the gameโ€™s director, Neil Druckerman, and HBO know a thing or two about making big TV shows โ€“ Game of Thrones dominated the public consciousness for years, and with Druckerman on board we donโ€™t need to worry too much about a Season 8 style carastrophe or conflicts between the source and series.

As for Joel, heโ€™ll be played by Pedro Pascal, who portrayed Oberyn Martell before shooting into the stratosphere in The Mandalorian. While his name hasnโ€™t been on the top of many peopleโ€™s betting pools, you canโ€™t deny the guyโ€™s talents, and fans should be excited to see him step into Joelโ€™s shoes.

Despite both starring in the same show, the two never shared a scene, with Oberyn dying before Lyanna was introduced. As such, we donโ€™t have any past work to judge their chemistry, but we have a lot of reasons to think that the series will be a big success.

What do you think of the casting? Let us know in the comments, on Twitter, or on Facebook.

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