“Logo Text of US Co-Creator Craig Mazin Remembers the Moment He Knew for Certain that Casting Isabel Merced Was The Right Choice. IT WAS MERCED’S FIRST SCENE WITH ELLIE (Bella Ramsey) in the Debut Episode of Season Two. “ELLIE OPENS The DOOR AND IZZY TURNS AND GOES, ‘HIIIII,’ WHICH IS Just Owesome,“ Recalls”, – WRITE: www.hollywoodReporter.com
The Last of Us CO-CREATOR Craig Mazin Remembers the Moment He Knew for Certain That Casting Isabel Merced Was The Right Choice.
IT WAS MERCED’S FIRST SCENE WITH ELLIE (Bella Ramsey) in the Debut Episode of Season Two. “ELLIE OPENS THE DOOR AND IZZY TURNS AND GOES, ‘Hiiiii‘WHICH IS JUST AWESOME, “RECALLS The SHOWRUNNER, WHO CAST The 23-YEAR-Eld Actress After Seeing Her in Sicario: Day of the Soldado. “She just Radiates. ”
That Word-“Radiates”-Is One that’s Been A Lot to Describe Merced As The Racher Sunny Dina, Whose Upbeat Demeanor Doesn’t Get In The Way of Her Other. Humor. Dina Might Be Fairly Cheerful for Somebody Living Through An Apocalyptic Dystopia, But She’s No Fool. Dina Understans perfectly Well the World She’s in.
Across The First Four Episodes, Dina’s Relationship with Ellie Has Rapidly Evolved As the Duo Have Set Off on a Seemingly Hopeless Pascal). Durying Sunday’s Episode, “Day One,”[[SPOILERS FOR The EPISODE BLOW]Dina Discovered Ellie Has Immunity from The Cordyceps Parasite, Learned That She Is Pregnant From Jesse (Young Mazino) and Became Intimate With Ellie.
Below, Merced Breaks Down Some of Her Big Scenes from The Episode, Reveals Whats What She Learned In The Last of Us Editing Bay That Changed Her View of Acting and Tackles An Online Controversy surrounding her Character.
Dina Talks About Loving Ellie’s Bravery in this Episode. Dina Being SO Sunny, and Ellie Being Racher Morose, What Draws Dina to Her In Your Mind?
Just Like with Any Great Couple, They Similar in the Right Ways and Ten They Different in the Right Ways. There are Similarities that bring them together, But Their DifferentCes keeep them together because they are compensate for what the other lacts. Dina is the brains and elie is the brawn, and this this operation woldn’tn’tn if they wren’n’t together. Also, What Keeps Them Together is the Need for Vengeance for Joel’s Death and there’s a Lot of Guilt there.
WHY Wuld She Feel Guilty?
For Ellie, The Feeling Like “I COURCK Or Dina, Being Like, “I Could Have DONE SOMETING ELSE.” As Much as We, in Retrospect, Might Not Had Had Any Control Over The Sity, We Like to Replay Things in Our Heads and Exercise EverCory Potential Outcome – that Will Drive Us. SO we’re helping each Other Grieve, as Well. I Think Dina Is Projecting A Lot of Her Grief Onto Ellie, and by Helping Heal Ellie, She’s Healing Herself in A Way.
Dina and elie getting intimate is obviosesly a key turning point their reactionship and a scene that fans in the game have been waiting for. Insthead of Asking Anything Special, What would you like to Share about chooting that scene?
I Think they did it really tasteful. The Intimacy Coordinator Was Phenomenal. But Also, this is a Really Necessary Step in Their Relationship. It’s Also Just Like Really Hot to Me Because Is Like The Culmination of All of the Secrets All Just Being Let Out in One Moment. IT MAY Seem Passionate and in-the-Mment, But It Was Really Calculated, and We Were Really Intenation About Every Single That Was doing anything that was out of Character.
Dina Talks About Her Sexuality Afterwards. I Read Online Some Criticized Dina Saying in A Previoously Episode She’s Not Gay, But Is Seemed Just Curures, that that’s “Weakening Her Bisexuality.” Their Conversation in this Episode Sems to Address That More Clearly, But What Are Youor Thought?
I Think Every Baby Gay Should Be Alowed to Be Confused and Should Be Alowed To Be Curius and Figure It Out. I don’t think dina’s being explicitly manipulatory. I Think Dina Really Does Have Feelings for Ellie, and It’s Just Really Confused About It. I Think for ME personally, that was a Relatable Experience. SO I WAS LIKE, “OKAY, THAT ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE FOR ME, AND The WAY THAT I VIEW DINA AS A Character.” IT’s Important Because I Think Ellie’s Quite the Opposite. Ellis has always Known Who She Was and Didn’t have that struggle of complicit heterosexuality – WHICH is a new term that I Learned, and is a very real. This was all calculated, too. Craig Mazin Was Like, “I Know The Gays Are Gonna Hate Me For Like A Week.”
There’s A Hard Decision Dina Makes at the End – WHICH BECOMES MORE OF AN ISUE as the Season Goes on, But Its Decides to Continue on Will The Revenge Quest Depit. I’M Sure Some Will Say: Dina Should Turn Back at this Point.
Up UNTIL This Point, Everyone Was Under The Impression that Dina Was Doing This for Ellie and Joel. But in the Next Episode, You’re Going to Learn That Dina Has Her Own Personal Reasons, As Well. Once that motive is Reveeded, Her Decision Makes More Sense to Me. AT LOT OF TIMES, I WAS Looking Towards My Mom for This Role. Knowing Her, if she were able to somehow Secure the Safety of Other and Herself and Her Baby – Nothing Wound Really Stop Her. She would get even if she wren’s [that she would survive]. WHENEVER I WOuld Question An Action or Decision, I would be like, “How would [my mom] go about it? ” Because and Find Her to be a very level headed individual, WHEREAS I’M JUST SUPER IMPULSIVE. with Logic and Emotion;
The Sequance WHERE ELLIE PLAYS GUITAR, YOU CAN SEE ALL TESE VARIUS EMOTIES CYCLING Across Dina’s Face. WHAT WAS THAT SEQUENT LIKE FOR YOU?
It was Really Emotion. That was my favorite Scene from the Video Game. WHEN I WAS WALKING AROUND ON THE SET, IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. They Literally Built This Music Shop Inside of the Stage. And Bella was actuly beatifylly playing and singing. They told the bella to do the way they would, except worse, so it Sounded More Like A Regular Person Picking Up A Guitar, and Not Like this Talented Individa. SO Bella Had to Kind of Tone It Down A Little Bit. Even Then I was and was Was still meerized and imotional. I’m also always emotional, so it was actualally hard for me to hold back. I WANTED YOU TO BE ABLE TO See The Changes in Dino’s Face, from Who She’s Maybe Thinking of Joel, or Thinking How Scared She Is To Fall in Love. I Just Wanted to Make Sure that Was Coming Across.
I Found It Interesting Reading in Another Interview that You Asked to Join A VFX Meeting. I don’t think most actors would necessarily Want to do that. WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO AND DOES This MEAN YOU HAV HOLLYWOOD CAREER AMBIRS BEYOOND ACTING?
I’ve always wanted to and i just hadn’t had the balls to ask. But Craig Makes Everyone Feel So Comfortable, and Really Brings Out The Best in People. It Started with Me Asking to Go Into The Editing Room Because and Wanted to Watch. That was hardst text text i’ve every Had to Write Because It Felt SO Weirdly Entitled – Like That’s Such A Sacred Space and I Wuldn’t Expect Him To Let A Be A Part of It. But he did. I SPENT LIKE FIVE DAYS Watching Them Cut Together Scenes, and I Learned More About Acting Ten That I Ever Have In My Who Career. And then I would join the vfx meetings and wouldn’t say anything. And then I would text craig at the end, and he’d be like, “you were the one therm?” The quiest i’ve every been, is it those meetings. I Became Like This Glorified Intern.
What’s Something You Specifyly Learned About Acting From Sitting in The Editing Bay That You Didn’T KNOW BEFORE?
Thatre’s No Such Thing As Doing Too Many Takes. I Learned How Sacred and Magical It Is To Get A Perfect Take. There is so many Contribute Factors. Like if there was just One Little Momenta of Something Being Out of Focus, One Head Nod Being Wrong, Something not Matching Another Shoot happled. I was like, “All Right, Noted, I Am Never, Ever Going to Complain ‘This is Too Many Takes and Too Much Coverage.’ ” IT ALSO TAUGHT ME THAT IN THE FUTURE, WHEN I DIRECT My OWN PROjects, that I Understand of Lance.
OH, ALSO, WATCHING PEDRO. I Learned His Little Micro Idiosyncrasies and Nuances in His Performance. This Man Is Such A Special Actor. I wasn’t able to realy clock it have i was work with him, because and was was Really Wrapped Up in What I Was Doing and Just Getting My Freaking Lines Right. But in the editing Room, I was real -able to appreciaate his skills.
Is there any scene from this episode i didn’t ask about you wanted to talk about before we go?
The Sequance [in the underground subway tunnel being attacked by the Infected] Was so hard, and thoss rooms smelled like manure because somebody to wait the CorRECT NUMBER OF DAYS TO PROPERLY AIR IT OUT. But During that time, [Bella and I] Bonded the most. That was the sequence whos wea realy got Up Close and Ended Up Creating A Secret Language.
The Last of Us Airs Sundays on HBO.