When Younger Mazino heard there was a task for him in “The Final of Us” Season 2, the beloved “Beef” actor “ran to a GameStop, purchased a used PS4, and performed by the sport” instantly. Mazino instructed IndieWire he was already a fan of HBO’s TV adaptation due to its Emmy-winning first season, however that finding out the supply materials felt important earlier than assembly with collection co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. If solely somebody had instructed him, they didn’t need their actors enjoying the sport.
“It was necessary for Craig [Mazin as showrunner] to know the sport totally,” mentioned Druckmann to IndieWire. “With our actors, what we instructed them — they usually typically wouldn’t hearken to us — we requested them, ‘Don’t play the sport.’ As a result of the video games have performances which are sensible so far as I’m involved.”
Head of the video games studio Naughty Canine, Druckmann co-wrote “The Final of Us: Half II” with Halley Gross. The perfect-selling sequel arrived on consoles in 2020 and went on to win “Recreation of the Yr” from tons of of organizations and publications worldwide. It was necessary to Druckmann that neither of his tasks overshadow the opposite, and that the sport’s voice and motion-capture solid acquired their due.
“Ashley Johnson created an ideal Ellie, and I didn’t need Bella [Ramsey] to attempt to copy what Ashley Johnson did,” Druckmann defined. “I needed to see Bella Ramsey‘s model. That’s why you usher in proficient artists, to allow them to reinterpret the fabric.”
Even having jumped the gun on the video games a bit, Mazino acquired the half. He’ll seem as Jesse on “The Final of Us” Season 2 quickly, becoming a member of a fancy ensemble that’s reverse Ramsey for Ellie’s darkest chapter but. Ramsey instructed IndieWire they have been efficiently steered away from enjoying the video video games after they first signed on for Season 1, and 4 years later, they haven’t made progress.
“I’m not a gamer and haven’t performed the video games as a result of I can’t do it, I’ve tried,” Ramsey mentioned. “I’ve watched playthroughs. That’s my manner in. I’ve such respect for the individuals who try this. Thanks to the individuals who filmed themselves enjoying it and put it on YouTube since you actually saved the day.”
Praising the collection’ broad viewers and “accessibility to non-gamers,” Ramsey mentioned they would typically watch cutscenes from the sport as quickly as a day after filming new variations for the TV present. At occasions, the “Recreation of Thrones” actor mentioned they might really feel these two worlds colliding on set.
“Generally I’ll be directed and I’m like, ‘Oh, I see you’re making an attempt to get me to do the factor that was within the recreation!’ — which is cool,” mentioned Ramsey. “Then having that reference level is definitely actually useful to be like, ‘Oh sure, I do know precisely what you’re asking me to do as a result of I’ve seen this occur already and I’m capable of replicate it,’ however in a manner that also feels prefer it’s not copying however coming from me and recent and new and thrilling.”
Druckmann didn’t cite any particular technical advantages from having Ramsey observe the unique for the variation, however he did applaud the previous “Recreation of Thrones” actor for his or her dedication and ambition.
“They need to know as a lot as potential about carry [those details] and make it their very own, they usually have,” mentioned Druckmann. “To me, that’s one of the simplest ways to honor what Ashley Johnson did is to make it your individual and never simply attempt to duplicate what Ashley did.”
Requested for any final remarks, talking with IndieWire, Mazino shouted out his counterpart within the recreation.
“I do know there’s some strain concerned in enjoying a personality that’s already beloved and that’s being tailored,” Mazino mentioned. “Stephen Chang did such an important job portraying Jesse, nevertheless it’s all simply reference materials. All of it amalgamates into what I hope to be an sincere efficiency of a very well-thought-out, well-developed character.”
“I’m excited for [people] who’re followers of the sport to really feel like they’re experiencing the story once more for the primary time,” echoed Ramsey. “And individuals who don’t know the sport, who haven’t performed the sport, I’m so excited for them to expertise it with out understanding something.”
“The Final of Us” Season 2 airs new episodes on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.