‘The Last of Us’: The word “zombie” was banned on the set of filming

The director of photography of ‘The Last of Us’, Eben Bolterhas revealed that during the filming of the HBO Max series a word was prohibited on the set of filming: nobody could mention the concept “zombie”.

Bolter has affirmed it in the podcast The Credits, clarifying that the use of the word “zombie” was prohibited on the set for at least the 4 episodes of season 1 of ‘The Last of Us’ in which he worked. While the various terrifying forms of Cordyceps victims share similarities to the monsters in the best zombie movies ever, Bolter revealed that the word was banned to keep a greater focus on the characters, who are the real focus of the series.

“We weren’t allowed to say ‘the word that starts with Z’ on set. It was like a forbidden word. They are Infected. We are not a zombie show. Of course there is tension and there are scares, but the show is really about our characters; The infected are just one more obstacle they have to deal with.”

Bolter does nothing more than confirm the true focus of the series and the video game, defended tooth and nail by its creator Neil Druckman. The key to ‘The Last of Us’ is in the relationships of its protagonists and the concept of humanity as such. Although the Infected are a constant threat to Joel and Ellie, most of the show’s time is spent showing the evolution of their relationship and their bond with the people they meet on their journey.

Interestingly, this “ban” could be considered another parallel with a series that has been compared a lot to ‘The Last of Us’ on social networks since it premiered on HBO. In ‘The Walking Dead’, created by Robert Kirkman, it was surprising that no one mentioned the word “zombie” when the nature of the undead was apparent. However, Kirkman justified it by claiming that their events occurred at an event where zombies were not part of popular cultureand therefore there were neither movies nor the best zombie series.