Bella Ramsey Opened Up About “Fixating” On Evaluating Themselves To How Ellie Bodily Appears In “The Final Of Us” Recreation

“It was a problem for me to let myself off the hook for not trying computer-generated.”

It is no secret that The Final of Us is among the most talked-about TV reveals proper now. And on the heart of every part is Bella Ramsey, who performs Ellie Williams.

And whereas Season 1 of the hit HBO collection concerned Bella primarily being in virtually each scene, alongside Pedro Pascal, Season 2 ups the stakes and makes Bella’s Ellie the principle main character.

As Ellie’s story in Season 2 unfolds, which is predicated on The Final of Us Half II recreation from Naughty Canine, audiences will see a ruthless and extremely expert fighter who’s keen to go to the ends of the earth for the folks she loves, particularly after the occasions of Episode 2 titled “By The Valley.”

There’s additionally a five-year time bounce between the tip of Season 1 and the start of Season 2, which implies Ellie can be older than the final time followers noticed her.

All of that is to say that within the video games, Ellie seems to be visibly completely different from how she does within the first recreation vs. the second. It is simple to age up a online game character, give her extra muscle groups, and so forth. However for the TV adaptation, that every one fell on Bella’s shoulders, which isn’t any simple process.

Earlier than the beginning of filming for Season 2, Bella went by way of intense bodily coaching. They educated in boxing, jiu-jitsu, and weight coaching. Then, Bella continued coaching whereas filming came about, this time alternating between filming and stunt coaching.

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Bella advised the outlet, “I acquired fairly fixated on the way in which that Ellie seems to be within the recreation and her bodily stature and, to be particular, the muscle definition in her arms. And I did not seem like that. My physique kind is not that.”

“I talked about this loads with Craig [Mazin, the co-creator of the show], and he by no means put that expectation on me. He wished me to look robust and really feel robust, and that was in how I carried myself, my posture and the arrogance you may have. It was a problem for me to let myself off the hook for not trying computer-generated,” Bella added.

The expectation that Bella one way or the other must look precisely just like the online game character is one thing that continues to swirl on social media, with critics usually criticizing how Bella seems to be in comparison with Ellie in The Final of Us Half II. They advised the Hollywood Reporter the discharge of the second season is among the causes they deleted their social media accounts earlier this yr.

Bella stated, “It wasn’t like this huge dramatic factor, however there was a component of it that was fascinated by the present popping out for Season 2. If I simply keep away from Twitter and Reddit, which now I’m doing, then every part’s completely high quality.”

For the TV present adaptation, the vital factor was that Bella feels snug doing all the bodily demanding stunts and scenes the present will now demand of them. So it was by no means a matter of needing to LOOK like Ellie within the recreation, however moderately really feel snug, which was achieved. Bella added, “It was cool to really feel actually…succesful.”

Co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckman, who additionally created the sport, have constantly shut down critics who’ve even gone so far as saying that Bella wanted to be recast for Season 2 as a result of they bodily appeared completely different than Ellie within the recreation.

Craig doubled down on his reward of Bella, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “I am not within the bodily facet, I am within the emotional maturity and the change in persona. I’ve watched Bella develop and begin to discover her personal two toes. … And I really feel that in Ellie utterly.”

Personally, Bella’s skill to emotionally painting Ellie is what’s most vital, and I am excited to see them sort out absolutely the heartbreak and brutal moments which can be nonetheless to come back in Season 2.

You possibly can learn Bella’s full cowl story with The Hollywood Reporter right here.