Entertainothe Last of Us: Return of Joel and other secrets of the 6th episodeneil Druckmann, co -creator of the work, talks about the challenges of driving from the episode, chemistry between Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey and difficult choices in the season writing

Neil Druckmannco -creator of The Last of UsHe directed the penultimate episode of the second season of the post-apocalyptic drama-quite a mission. In just an hour, Druckmann had to portray five years in the life of Joel and Ellieinclude a flashback of Joel’s adolescence and presenting complete versions of Joel’s father and Eugenehusband of Gailin a few scenes. He also directed Pedro Pascalwho has been away from another project since his character was killed in the second episode of the season.

As the main creative mind behind the two games of the franchise, Druckmann felt that he needed to be even more careful than normal to give fans the moments they expected to see in live-action for years.

Last week, Druckmann talked to Rolling Stone about the chance of driving again Pascal and Bella Ramseywork with the guests Tony Dalton and Joe Pantolianoand seeing Pascal and Ramsey together ever made him doubt the decision to kill Joel.

Rolling Stone: Logistically, was that filmed with the first two episodes of the season?

Neil Druckmann: No. We filmed Pedro for episode two, and then he went to work on another project.

RS: So not even the scenes of the New Year’s party were filmed while Craig Mazin recorded their version for the debut of the season?

ND: We had to reenact everything. I played saying that it should be how Robert Zemeckis felt filming Back to the Future II (1989). Fortunately, I had two monitors: one with what Craig filmed in the episode one and the other with what I was recording live. I managed to fit some images of that episode, but we had to refill everything – including the discussion of Seth with Ellie and Dinafrom Joel’s point of view.

RS: This was a very emotional episode, and probably the last one with a lot of interaction between Pedro and Bella. What was it like to direct both on this occasion?

ND: It is a joy. They are very talented. Now they completely understand these characters. I am in a unique position, because I lived with these characters and these scenes for so long. Being able to revisit them at times that mean so much for fans-and also to me, personally-made me very nervous. I wanted to be sure that I would do justice, not just the series, but the The Last of Us As a whole, and what gamers expect from these scenes from the game.

At the moment, I was very pleasantly surprised by what they were delivering in front of the camera. There are certain moments in live-action that are happy accidents-you can’t plan. When they are in the space capsule, and Joel asks Ellie how he did, and then you see that beautiful smile on his face, and he turns, and there is a tear shine on wrinkles … You don’t see him cry; That’s just that. We didn’t have to plan it. And the fact that we captured this moment … It’s simply … you capture these beautiful moments that are there and suddenly go. This is the beauty of live action.

RS: So Pedro was away for a while, and then returned to play Joel once again. Was he more emotional than normal in filming?

ND: Yes, though in everyday life you didn’t notice. But as we approached the end, we could feel that the farewell was coming. And on the last day specifically, everything became very emotional when we finished the last scene. We spent time together, hugged each other, talked and remember everything.

RS: When you were doing the first season of the series and seeing the magic chemistry between Pedro and Bella, did you rethink Abby’s story? Did you think a chemistry like this is rare and maybe it would be better to keep it?

ND: No. I knew that because of their chemistry, what they brought would be painful. And I needed to be painful to tell this story. If they had no chemistry, then, yes, I would have been worried about how to tell that. For me, it was more a question that this story could be complete, it could exist by itself. That’s how we made the first game. But we included certain changes and adjustments preparing the ground for the next story if we had a chance to tell it. And fortunately, the series was so successful that HBO was enthusiastic and with open arms to continue this narrative.

RS: I suppose the commitment version would have been to keep Abby for another seasons, and in the meantime, only give us more adventures of Joel and Ellie during the five -year break. Was this discussed?

ND: Yes, because we discuss everything. We even discussed “What if we didn’t kill Joel?”just to question this. Because everything should be at the table. Everything should be questioned to ensure that we are making the best decisions for this version of history. We even argued: could we tell this other story? Could we prolong this moment? But the more we argued, the more it seemed wrong. It seemed that we would be doing this just for commercial reasons, to maintain that feeling that people have longer. But there was no story there to motivate it. The incitant incident, the origin of this story, is the death of Joel. Any inciting incident, you need to get it as soon as possible. What motivates all this journey that Ellie runs begins with Joel.

RS: Do you remember what was discussed about the version you didn’t kill Joel?

ND: I don’t remember, because it was a very short conversation that had no impact on us. Because we knew we were exploring something we weren’t going to take much of it – and we didn’t take it.

RS: I didn’t play the games, but friends who played told me that the scene on the porch, where Ellie tells Joel that she wants to try to forgive him, does not appear until the end of the second game. Why did you put it at this point in the series?

ND: The reason we move it, and the reason for not being a difficult choice for me, is that when we were playing the game, we knew we wanted this scene. This scene was written. We didn’t know where she should go, and for a long time, she was in a very different place from the end of the game. AND [ela foi para lá] Only when we were finishing the production of the game. It’s hard because I don’t want to talk about why we put it at the end, because then I enter where the series will end. But it seemed appropriate to put it there.

And the way the game is delivered is: you buy the game and then you have the whole story, and decide how you want to try it. The game is 20 to 30 hours long, depending on how you play. You decide: I want to play an hour a day or an hour a week, or do I want to go to 30 hours without sleep? People have already done all these versions, but the story is all there for you.

With the series, the way it is delivered, are weekly pieces of about an hour, and [nós sabíamos] that we would not finish the story this season. Then there is a break – potentially several years – before we continue. Therefore, there are certain introductions that are resolved, that we feel, in our conversation about how this story would be delivered, that would be too long and potentially would not have the same impact when contrasting with these events. And that will be clear when you watch episode seven and come where the series goes, because we couldn’t wait so much to show the porch scene.

RS: Before, you talked about having a responsibility to the people who know and love the game, to deliver these moments that they know so well. How do you have balanced this with trying to please people like me, who haven’t played the game and just trying it as a TV series?

ND: In my conversations with Craigwe talked a lot about where the series goes. What is this series about? What is the soul of this story that, for me, must remain the same? If we lose this, then we went too far. Because it is an adaptation, it is a different means, there will be changes. It is simply so. It is a highly collaborative art – both on the games side and in the series.

So the best way to honor both is just making the best possible version of history, and ensuring that our destinations are the same. The way, as we get there, with different choices – this can vary. I know people will analyze this and some people will accept, some not. This is just the nature of the thing, it is part of the package. When you do something so popular and are watched by millions of people online, you will receive all possible reactions, especially when it is an adaptation of something people love so much.

But I also know that to do a good job, we need to make certain changes. This is fundamental to what we do. I just need to protect your soul all the way.

RS: Finally, we should talk about the two notable guests of the episode. Let’s start with Tony Dalton.

ND: The most charismatic and intimidating man of TV. It is a half difficult role. It is very short and very striking. He needs to go on the scene and be so intimidating that you have to think that this guy can lose control and hit the son. But at the same time, he needs to have so much empathy – and maybe you even feel sympathy for him – because he is someone who, with the tools he has, does the best he can to raise his child, and is insecure because he thinks he may be doing it wrong. But the hope is that he is doing better than his own father, who beat him. It was important to bring this idea not only of generational trauma, but also of generational hope and repair. Because it connects with the balcony scene. And this is a message that Joel leaves to Ellie. When we write this scene, Tony Dalton It was my first choice. I immediately imagined him in that role, and I remember coming into a zoom call with him and Craig, describing this scene to him – I was very nervous that he said no – and he just stumbled. He said: “It looks amazing. When we started?”

And Joey Pants [Joe Pantoliano]? In just a few minutes, he made me cry.

ND: This says a lot about the brilliance of Joey Pants. And it’s very interesting, because when we climb, I don’t think we gave enough credit to his versatility. The scenes originally had more humor because we could see Joey bringing a kind of morbid mood. When he is looking at the lake, there was a speech initially in which he said: “I don’t need a painting from Bob Ross. I need the gail. ” On paper, this is funny, and we could imagine Joe saying. But he took acting to another place. There is an innocence and a purity in this. And he delivered this beautiful performance, which was a pleasure to see. But when you watch the episode, you are seeing a version of that performance. There were so many other beautiful choices that he gave us, and it was really hard to choose just one.

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