The Coolest Behind-The-Scenes Details We Never Knew About HBO's 'The Last of Us'

As the show managed to incorporate the original actors for Joel, Tommy, and even Marlene, how could they not find a way to include the original Ellie? Luckily, they did just that when they cast Ashley Johnson, who voices Ellie in the game, as Anna Williams - Ellie's mother.

Interestingly enough, Anna doesn't appear in the games, though Ellie does mention her; as such, the inclusion of her character is a great opportunity to further flesh out Ellie's history. Fans even spotted her in the role before the show premiered, as she flashed on screen during the trailer in a blink-and-you'll-miss it moment, in which Anna appears to have just given birth and holds up a newborn Ellie.

Fans of the show who've played the game may have recognized a familiar voice coming from within the ranks of Kathleen's Kansas City hunters in episodes four and five. In fact, Kathleen's right-hand man was played by Jeffrey Pierce, who originally voiced Tommy Miller.

Pierce's character, Perry, is new to The Last of Us lore, created specifically for the show. But the actor certainly didn't mind stepping into fresh shoes rather than reprising his role as Joel's brother. Said Pierce,

I knew that Tommy was not gonna be something that I was gonna play in this go round… But I emailed [Neil Druckmann] early on and said, “Look, man. If there's anything that I can do to help support this story, if there's something that I can come in and create that's different from Tommy or that stands in the back and carries a f*cking spear, I'll be there in a heartbeat because I wanna support this thing that we've been a part of for so long.”

While there are plenty of new faces to fall in love with in the cast of The Last of Us, showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann still managed to sneak some of the game's original actors into minor parts. Case in point: James, one of David's men from episode eight, is played by none other than Troy Baker, who voiced Joel in the game.

Of course, this will come as a delightful surprise to old fans, but Mazin says bringing back cast members from the game was more than just an Easter egg: “It's a dramatic genetic connection between the game and the show… They needed to be there," he explained in an interview.

A dearth of time and money on TV productions often means special effects are left for digital post-production, but the cast of The Last of Us got a lucky (or perhaps unlucky) treat when they showed up to set to shoot the show's first clicker scene. Turns out, they would be tussling with these monsters face to face.

Anna Torv, who plays Tess, revealed in an interview that clickers were fully practical. Actors were in full costume and prosthetics and had been trained on how to make the creepy, jerky movements seen in the show. They even made the iconic sounds themselves, emitting growls, snarls, and guttural clicks throughout filming. Fittingly, they were also just as blind as their characters, since the prosthetics completely covered their eyes.

For the cast, this realism sometimes got a bit too real. Torv said, “It was pretty easy to feel kind of a little bit panicked… because so much of [it] was real. So the faces and the prosthetic and everything was just unbelievable… even the sounds, that was all happening in the room.”

Pedro Pascal concurred: "It was very practical. It was too practical. Yeah… sometimes things are better left to the imagination. Because that was very disturbing.”

The show's first appearance of a bloater comes at the horrifyingly awesome finale of episode 5, when a tidal wave of infected emerge from beneath the streets of Kansas City and wreak havoc on Kathleen and her hunters.

This lumpy monstrosity, a result of a human surviving with the cordyceps fungus growing inside of them for many, many years, needed to inspire as much fear for viewers as it did for the characters, and it took a top team to bring it together.

At the head of this team was Barrie Gower, a four-time Emmy award-winning makeup artist and prosthetic designer whose creations you may have seen before: Not only was he the architect behind the villainous Vecna from Stranger Things, but he also created the Night King from Game of Thrones.

As for the bloater, Gower brought it to life by coating 6’6” UK stuntman Adam Basil in 88 pounds of prosthetics, then topping that off with plenty of lubricant to keep him looking nice and shiny.

Plenty of voice actors from the game ended up returning to the world of The Last of Us for the show, albeit as new or different characters. But Merle Dandridge doesn't just cameo - she fully reprises her role as Marlene, Ellie's original caretaker and leader of the Fireflies.

According to the actress, being asked to return for the part was completely unexpected, as she hadn't played the character for 10 years. “When I heard it was happening, there was a part of my spirit that was like, 'Ah, that would be so cool,' but it’s such a big show," she said in an interview.

Then she got the call: “I was on the phone with Neil [Druckmann,] and I might have said something like, ‘Are you serious? Are you kidding?’ I was deeply, deeply honored and thrilled.”