“There’s Incredibly Painful Distance Between the two of them”: Bella Ramsey & Pedro Pascal talk About The Last of Us Season 2

The Last of Us is returning for a highly anticipated second season, but the journey for its characters—and the actors behind them—is more complex than ever. During a press conference in Los Angeles, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey opened up about the emotional challenges of portraying Joel and Ellie’s evolving relationship, which takes a dramatic turn due to a five-year time jump.

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey Reveal What to Expect in Season 2

Pedro Pascal described the first day of filming The Last of Us season 2 as both comforting and difficult. The actor revealed that the emotional distance between his Joel and Bella Ramsey's Ellie made it challenging. However, he thanked the makers for letting the actors shoot a quiet moment between them. He said to Ramsey (via Variety):

"I feel like it was a beautiful setup by Craig and Neil that the first thing that I got to shoot was just you and I and in kind of an intimate setting."

He added, “There’s incredibly painful distance between the two of them and the playing of the scene, but we still got to be on set and f**k around and laugh and stuff like that. And that was incredibly comforting, that was like coming home.”

Ramsey reflected on Ellie’s growth, noting how the time jump significantly shaped their approach to the character. “Obviously, a lot has changed over those five years. Ellie was 14 and now is 19. Those are formative years in any teenager’s life, so that definitely informed it,” Ramsey explained. (via Forbes)

They also admitted that the on-screen estrangement from Pascal was difficult. “I didn’t enjoy the feeling of being estranged from Pedro within a scene. It wasn’t a nice feeling when the cameras were rolling. In real life, we still kind of like each other, just about,” Ramsey joked. “It was definitely interesting.”

For Pascal, playing Joel has been uniquely challenging. “My mindset was grateful to be back and yet, at the same time, this experience, more than any other I’ve had, is hard for me to separate what the characters are going through and how it makes me feel, in a way that isn’t very healthy,” he admitted. “And so I kind of feel their pain.” (via Variety)

New Faces and Expanding Storylines

Season two not only deepens the existing relationships but also introduces new faces. Kaitlyn Dever joins the cast as Abby, a major character from The Last of Us Part II video game. 

Dever, who was once rumored to star in a movie adaptation of the game, shared how surreal it felt to finally be part of the franchise. “It was just pure magic and so wonderful. I was a fan of the game, and it was a real bonding moment for my dad and me to play it together, so to have it come back around ten-plus years later was something I would always think about,” she said. (via Forbes)

“I admired this story so much, and when it came back around, it felt like, ‘Oh, things that are meant to be in your life will happen if they’re supposed to,' and it felt right. Abby felt right. It was very cool,” she added.

Isabela Merced and Young Mazino also join the series, bringing fresh energy to the post-apocalyptic world. Merced admitted she felt “like the new kid at school,” while Mazino was struck by the scale of the production. “Seeing the huge gate they built was when I started to feel tripped out,” he said, but he quickly realized the set was “so warm and inviting.”

The Real-World Parallels of The Last of Us

Beyond its gripping narrative, The Last of Us continues to reflect real-world themes, something the cast and creators acknowledge. "Storytelling is cathartic in so many ways, and it always has been," Pascal explained. "It’s the way that human beings have given testimony to life, whether it was hand prints on the walls inside of a cave to a television show. Growing up, all of my development is based on books I’ve read, movies I’ve seen, and television that I've watched, so it is very much going to reflect the human experience,” he added. (via Forbes)

“Under such extreme circumstances, I think there's a healthy and sometimes sick pleasure in that catharsis and a safe space to see human relationships under crisis, in pain, and intelligently draw a political and societal allegory and base it off the world that we're living in,” he further added.

Gabriel Luna, who plays Joel’s brother Tommy, added that season two taps into timely global issues. “The second game, as Neil [Druckmann] wrote it, and the second season, as Craig [Mazin] wrote it, is about conflicts. Where do they start, and who started it? Right now, all over the world, we’re dealing with these conflicts. People are stuck in the wheel of engines, and can it be broken? Will it be broken? That's where we are, so catharsis is a big element of both,” he said.

Where can you Stream The Last of Us Season 2?

The Last of Us season two will premiere on Sunday, Apr. 13, 2025, at 9 pm ET on HBO and stream on Max. It will consist of seven episodes and will air weekly on Sundays.