Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal have formed a special bond thanks to their time filming The Last of Us together, and following the latest episode's seriously heartbreaking scene - maybe the most anticipated and dire of the entire show - Ramsey is opening up about their feelings around the big moment.
Be warned, I'll be getting into some spoilers for The Last of Us season 2 episode 2, so turn back now if you don't want to know what's coming.
In the scene, Pascal's paternal Joel, who has guarded Ramsey's Ellie across the show's wasted landscape, is brutally murdered right before Ellie's eyes. It's a horrifically violent scene that players of the game knew was coming, but is nonetheless bloodcurdling. But Ramsey was able to get through it as an actor thanks to the close bond they share with Pascal, and thanks to their strength as a performer.
"Understanding [from the show's outset] the limited time me and Pedro have together has made us really cherish each other more," Ramsey tells THR. "It was something that we got quite emotional about while we were shooting. We'll be in each other's lives forever, and we'll be in each other's hearts forever."
Pascal has opened up about the moment himself, explaining the weight that filming it carried on set, while also joking about how the violence of the moment stacks up against his equally hardcore death scene from Game of Thrones.
For Ramsey, getting through the moment with authenticity as a performer actually involved separating themself from what was coming. "The most intense scenes to shoot are often the easiest for me because I know exactly what that scene needs to be," they explain.
"I almost went too far and made it too normal and pretended it wasn't happening right up until the moment where it did happen," Ramsey continues. "That's how I approach scenes like that. If I think about it too much, then I've got too much anxiety and stress about it."
The Last of Us season 2 airs weekly on HBO and Max in the US, and Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK. For more, check out our guides to the best Max movies and the best Max TV shows to stream right now.
