The Last of Us creator reveals why he didn’t want the cast to play the game

The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann recently spoke about the TV show adaptation and how – despite already being very accurate to the game – he didn’t want the main cast to get bogged down watching or playing through the source material.

So far, the first two episodes of HBO’s The Last of Us have been massive hits. Not only have they been critically acclaimed but they have been getting some of HBO’s best viewership numbers of all time. 

The growth between the pilot and second episode broke an all-time record for the streaming service.

Part of what has made the show such a massive hit is the dedicated and nuanced performances of the cast. And while so far, the cast has done a fantastic job of bringing the video game characters to life in an authentic and faithful way, it turns out they were actually discouraged from playing or watching clips from the game. By none other than one of the game’s co-creators, Neil Druckmann.

During his recent appearance on The Last of Us podcast, Druckmann revealed why he felt it was better that the cast did not see or play through the first and second Last of Us games. In case they then felt they had to replicate a performance rather than create one themselves.

“Instead we wanted Pedro and Bella and everyone else that’s a part of the cast to make it their own,” he said. Druckmann then added, “and that’s why it’s like, trust us that we put everything on the page that needs to be there. We’re not asking you to replicate anything else, because great performances come from the inside not from the outside.”

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