We now have a window into how and why Ashley Johnson was cast as Ellie’s mother Anna in HBO’s The Last of Us.
As HBO’s anticipated adaptation of The Last of Us has approached, more information about the show has gradually come to light. Fans scoured the internet for information on the ways the show will differ from its source material, both large and small. One of the bigger surprises to come out of the recent trailers was the appearance of Ellie’s mother, Anna, played by Ashley Johnson.
The character, named Anna, only appeared in the original game through notes found in-world and a few references in character dialogue. In a recent interview with Rotten Tomatoes (and spotted by TheGamer), series creator and Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann spoke about why he made the decision to give Anna more front-facing role in the TV adaptation.
Discussing the ways the show can meaningfully differ from its source material without diminishing its tone or emotional impact, Druckmann remarked that the show can more easily depart Joel and Ellie’s perspectives. In the game, players stay with Joel for almost the entire duration of the story, save for a shorter sequence where they play as Ellie. This means that the story is delivered exclusively from their perspective. The show doesn’t have to play by those rules, able to focus briefly on other characters, more finely building their relationships with the core duo. For Druckmann, many of the expanded threads of the show came from ideas that were written after TLOU had originally launched.
“And then there are other stories that were written since the game has come out for different projects that, for one reason or another, didn’t happen that when Craig and I started talking about the story and breaking it down, I mentioned some of those to him and he was wide-eyed like a fan and said ‘oh my god we got to put these on the screen, we’ve got to get them on the show’,” says Druckmann.
On the topic of Anna specifically, Druckmann only let slip a small amount of information.”You got to see in the trailer we just put out that Ashley Johnson plays Ellie’s mom, and that was one of those stories that was near and dear to my heart and I’m so glad that it gets to live.”
Johnson, of course, originated the role of Ellie in The Last of Us. Her co-star in that game, Troy Baker, also features in the show, albeit in what appears to be a cameo. Fans had hoped that the two actors would get to cameo in the series, so beloved are their performances in the original. Casting Johnson, who put so much of herself into Ellie, as the character’s mother, could be almost — ALMOST — too on the nose if it weren’t for her immense talent as an actor.
The Last of Us premieres in Australia, January 16th exclusively on Binge.
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