From White Walkers to the Infected, Bella Ramsey is the kind of person you’d want on your side in a zombie apocalypse. The young actor made a name for herself as Game of Thrones character Lyanna Mormont, but now she’s treading new territory by starring as Ellie, a young girl mysteriously immune from the Cordyceps virus that has ravaged life and society as we know it.
Based on the hit video game of the same name, The Last of Us TV series will tell the story of grizzled Joel (Pedro Pascal) after he is tasked with protecting Ellie as they fight to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.
The drama series is to be aired on HBO, and with a teaser trailer recently being released, we’ve had our first glimpse of Joel and Ellie in action. However, in a new interview with USA Today, Ramsey revealed that she was strictly instructed to not play the video game the upcoming sci-fi series is based on.
“I was actually encouraged not to,” she explained. “After my first audition, they asked me, ‘Have you played it?’ And I said ‘Nope’, and they said, ‘Keep it that way’! I did watch some of the gameplay on YouTube just to get a sense of it.”
She added, “I’m so excited for it to come out – it was such a big part of my life. I shot for a whole year, which is quite a long time when you’ve only lived for 19 years. Pedro wrote a little card to me at the end, saying, ‘How interesting that something so huge and life-changing should happen so early in your life and so late in mine.’ I thought it was a really sweet observation and I just had the best time.”
While we wait for The Last of Us TV series to come out, why not check out our guide to the best zombie movies. We’ve also got a breakdown on The Last of Us cast where we explain who’s playing your favourite The Last of Us characters.