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

Two Game of Thrones Favorites Are Stepping Into the Roles

It’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 it’s fair to see why rumors of an adaptation were flying for years before HBO officially greenlit a series. Alas, Maisie Williams – the early favorite for the role of Ellie – is too old, despite her enthusiasm, but don’t worry, Game of Thrones fans – two of its stars are stepping into the shoes of Ellie and Joel.

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

As for Joel, he’ll be played by Pedro Pascal, who portrayed Oberyn Martell before shooting into the stratosphere in The Mandalorian. While his name hasn’t been on the top of many people’s betting pools, you can’t deny the guy’s talents, and fans should be excited to see him step into Joel’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 don’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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