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Filming The Last of Us season 2 saw a growing distance between Joel and Ellie, something star Pedro Pascal hated
The two spent almost the entire production of The Last of Us season 1 together, but had to deal with the tension between their characters while filming the follow up season.
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Acting is all about relationships, both building them with your fellow actors and making the audience believe the attachment between two fictional characters. For Pedro Pascal, his relationship with The Last of Us co-star Bella Ramsey has become a core part of himself. However, filming season two of the HBO show has kept the pair apart for most of the production, which Joel’s actor has described as “painful.”
Thinking back to season one of The Last of Us, it makes sense. Joel and Ellie are together throughout almost every major scene throughout the season, giving Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey ample time to bond. The plot of the second season, which follows The Last of Us Part II, keeps the two characters at a distance. “While Bella and I are forever joined, to not have them near me for every part of Season 2 felt like a cruel separation,” Pedro Pascal said in a recent interview. “Good for my co-dependant nature, bad for my heart.”
We noted the growing divide between the two characters during the trailer for The Last of Us season two, which saw Ellie inflict apparent psychic damage on Joel with two little words. “It felt like Ellie maturing and growing up,” Ramsey said of filming season two. “Me and Pedro were with each other literally through everything all the time the whole [first]season. This season was much more of an isolated one for Ellie. It was a lonelier experience, but I don’t say that in a negative way.”
We won’t have to wait long to see the growing divide between Ellie and Joel in The Last of Us season two – the new season starts airing on HBO on April 13, 2025.
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