‘The Last of Us’ Bella Ramsey on Season 2’s Emotional Roller Coaster and Evolving Infected

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of The Last of Us.]

The seven-episode second season of the HBO series The Last of Us takes place five years after the events of the first season, with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) at odds in an even more dangerous and unpredictable post-apocalyptic world. Surviving and thriving in a community can give a false sense of safety and security in a world where you should never become complacent. There’s a deeper weight to Ellie in Season 2, as she trains for what could be to come, and while scouting for Infected is risky, the first episode back leaves viewers with a sense that that’s only the beginning of the dangers to come.

During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Ramsey discussed how much fun the physical stunts are to shoot, the moment that got a little scary, the whole sequence in the market, evolving Infected, the dance with Dina (Isabela Merced), why Ellie is so frustrated with Joel, Ellie’s badass arm tattoo, and how viewers are going to feel when they watch the Season 2 finale.

Check back for more interviews with the cast and creators every day this week.

Bella Ramsey Loves Any Opportunity to Do ‘The Last of Us’ Fight Scenes

“I’m terrified of the day that I get too old and decrepit to not be able to do that anymore.”

Collider: When we meet up with Ellie again five years later, she’s in a very physical fight, being thrown around and onto the ground. Even though that turns out to be a training exercise, what is it like to do that kind of physical combat? Is that something you enjoy? Is it something that’s very challenging? Is it empowering to be able to physically overtake someone that much bigger?

BELLA RAMSEY: It’s so fun. I had the absolute best time. We did a day zero of filming, and then day one was this fight sequence. I’d been training for a couple of months beforehand, for all the physicality of this season. I live for that sort of thing. And to get the opportunity to do that and learn how to do that in an environment that’s safe, when no one’s actually getting hurt, was just the best, the dream. I want to do stunt work for the rest of my life. I’m terrified of the day that I get too old and decrepit to not be able to do that anymore.

Then, they could just find a new way to figure out another cool type of stunt scene.

RAMSEY: Exactly.

Do you get scared at all with that kind of thing, or is it just all fun?

RAMSEY: It’s all fun. I get such a thrill out of it. Although, there are certain scenes that are scary. Some of the harness work that you see in episode one, where I fall through the floor, I actually did that, being in the harness and the drop, the anticipation of that. Also, I was so tired going into that scene. We did that right at the end of the day, and I definitely had a small, private panic attack before we did that. But then, we did it and then I was totally fine. Yeah, sometimes it’s scary, but fun. It’s such a thrill.

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What was it like to do that whole sequence in the market? Anything you’re in that would normally have a bunch of people, that suddenly is deserted, just becomes even more creepy. It doesn’t really matter what the exact location is. What was it like to figure all of that out? It’s such a big sequence, and it’s also such an interesting moment that we learn so much from, with the Infected that she runs into.

RAMSEY: It’s so typical. Dina is like, “Stay where you are. Don’t move.” And Ellie is like, “Yeah, got it.” And then, goes in has a wander around. She’s just surveying and thinking about what this place would have been like, back in 2003, before the world as we knew it ended. And then, the stalker that really comes out of nowhere really freaks Ellie out because it’s not behaving in a way that any of the other Infected she’s ever come across have behaved. She screams, “Run at me!” I just think it’s very creepy. She just doesn’t know what to expect, what’s going to happen, what this thing is doing. Filming that was a lot of fun and kind of spooky. Watching it, I find it scary because the sound wasn’t in. The way that it’s been edited together makes it literally a thousand times scarier. When I first saw that, my heart was racing, for sure, even though I knew what was about to happen.

Are we going to continue to learn about and see how the Infected have evolved? Because it’s not just brought up for no reason.

RAMSEY: Yeah, exactly. Yep, there’s going to be plenty of them. Watch out and hold onto your hats.

As if they weren’t creepy enough already.

RAMSEY: Yeah, exactly.

‘The Last of Us’ Bella Ramsey Enjoyed Ellie’s Beautiful Moment at the Dance

“I’m very proud of the work that we did that day.”0

So much happens at the dance too. We learn about Ellie’s relationships with Dina and Jesse, and we learn about how Ellie sees herself. What was it like to shoot that moment with Ellie and Dina at the dance and to figure out what that kiss between them would be like? It’s such a beautiful moment before everything else happens.

RAMSEY: Thank you. Yeah, it was really special. Me and Isabela [Merced] spoke with Craig [Mazin] about what the kiss was and how to show the intensity of it and what it meant. It was supposed to feel very romantic and tender and soft and gentle, but with this desire and this passion that they both had. Balancing that and getting that right was really important. We were supported by an incredible intimacy coordinator, called Kathy [Kadler], and she really protected us in that. Me and Isabela had that trust, and it felt very safe and very beautiful to shoot. I’m so glad that that translated in the way that it’s been edited and cut together, and the way that Craig directed that scene. It’s such a beautiful sequence. I’m very proud of the work that we did that day. It was so nice to have so many people in one space enjoying themselves during the dance. That doesn’t happen very often in The Last of Us, so that was great.

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I actually thought it was also a beautiful moment to see Joel step in and stand up for them, but clearly Ellie doesn’t see it that way. So, what is it that gets her so mad about his help? Is she just mad at him, or is it more of just her wanting to be able to stand up for herself?

RAMSEY: I think it’s a big combo of things. There’s been a lot of frustration and distance that has been created with her and Joel over these five years. We’ll get to understand why that is and what’s happened. So, there’s all of that. And then, when he steps in to protect her, she just doesn’t want to be protected by him. She doesn’t need it. She doesn’t want it. I think she feels like it’s an infringement on her autonomy and her privacy, in a way, and it undermines her capabilities as a 19-year-old fighter, basically. She just doesn’t want to be protected by him anymore because she can handle herself and is trying to establish herself in the community as an individual, aside from Joel.

‘The Last of Us’ Bella Ramsey Says the Season 2 Finale Will Leave You Emotionally Traumatized

“People are going to feel like they’ve been on a pretty intense roller coaster”

Since we have a sense that bad things are going to happen, what do you think people will say after they see the last episode of the season?

RAMSEY: I think people are going to feel like they’ve been on a pretty intense roller coaster. I just hope that people keep their seatbelts on the whole time because it’s pretty mad. I think that people will hopefully feel really satisfied by the journey of it. I hope people are slightly emotionally traumatized because it’s supposed to make you feel a lot.

I feel like I’ll be crying and cursing, at the same time.

RAMSEY: Yeah, probably. You might be angry at the showrunners and everyone involved because of how much it will make you feel things.

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Yeah, and it already does in one episode, which is kind of amazing. We also get to see Ellie’s iconic arm tattoo. What was it like to embody that? It feels like something that she can wear as a badge of something that she knows about and not everybody does.

RAMSEY: Yeah, exactly. I loved wearing the tattoo. We got it down to a fine art, applying it. Like you said, it is like a badge. It’s also a form of rebellion for her, having this tattoo. The bite, we see, is burned now. We’ll get to see how that happened and what went on with that. She really likes the tattoo and thinks that it’s badass, and I agree. I felt very cool walking around with it tattooed on.

I’m sure there will be people getting it.

RAMSEY: People already do because it’s in the game. There are people that I’ve met who have been like, “Look, I have the tattoo.” And I’m like, “Whoa!” That’s such commitment to being a fan of something, to get the tattoo, Ellie’s tattoo. It’s a cool tattoo, to be fair.

The Last Of Us

Release Date

January 15, 2023

Network

HBO

Showrunner

Craig Mazin

Directors

Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado

Writers

Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin

The Last of Us airs on HBO and is available to stream on Max. Check out the Season 2 trailer: