The Last of Ushas become one of the more important and powerful forms of storytelling in the medium. Even ifThe Last of Us 2came with controversies, the games are largely beloved and the narrative behind the character development and world building has been praised as gripping, emotional, and remarkable.The Last of Usis regarded as an amazing video game, but the world is also set up nicely for HBO’s take on it as a television show.
One of the major announcements to come along with HBO’s TV series adaptation of Naughty Dog’s incredible series is thatPedro Pascal will be playing Joel. Pascal as most notably known as The Mandalorian from the Disney+ series. Ellie has also been cast, and one YouTuber thought it would be a good idea to deepfake the actors into their new roles.
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Along with Pascal playing as Joel,Game of Thrones' Bella Ramsey will be Ellie inThe Last of Us.Because the top two characters have now been cast, Stryder HD on YouTube put together a video using some of the cutscenes from the firstThe Last of Us. Using deepfake technology, which allows the YouTuber to merge Pascal and Ramsey’s faces with the characters in the game, it makes it look like the new actors have replaces the ones from the game. For anyone who has not yet played the game, there are some spoilers.
The result of the video is a combination of amusing, astonishing, and even revealing. It is very interesting to get a taste of what these actors may look like in their roles in the show. Of course, what Ramsey andPascal will bring to HBO’sThe Last of Usis much more than a face, which is all that the deepfake provides. The final product will have so much more emotion, full-body acting, the actors' own interpretation and influence on the role, their voices, etc. And the story itself could be rather different, as there is no telling whether or not HBO’s take onThe Last of Uswill differ than the game.
There are many fans ofThe Last of Usand the actors who are extremely excited about the casting choice. In fact, oneMarvel artist createdThe Last of Usartworkwith Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in mind, and other amateur artists have shared work online as well. The deepfake video may be the best example yet of what the show could end up looking like, but with no timetable in place yet, it may be a while before fans get a true idea of what the HBO series will be.
The Last of Ustelevision series is in development.
MORE:The Last of Us Fan Shows What Pedro Pascal Could Look Like as Joel
