Although the full world of The Last of Us and all the supporting characters are fascinating and heartbreaking, the original game really centers around the found family relationship between Ellie and Joel. The dynamic between the two leads are at the heart of the story and HBO turned to Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal to bring that same level of emotion to the live action adaptation.

The Last of Us simply doesn't work if audiences don't believe the connection and bond between Ellie and Joel, but luckily the characters are in great hands with HBO's adaptation. Bella and Pedro have an amazing chemistry in the upcoming series and it seems like new and old franchise fans are going to be in for plenty of tears and the occasional shared laugh over a bad pun.

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Game Rant recently had a chance to sit down with the cast of The Last of Us and chat about the upcoming show. During the conversation we spoke with Bella and Pedro about how they managed to make the Ellie/Joel found family relationship so believable. It turns out it had a lot to do with diving right into filming...

joel and ellie salt lake city

Game Rant: The relationship between Joel and Ellie is core to the heart of the story and you two both sell it so beautifully. Anytime Ellie makes Joel crack I smile I just start crying. And I was wondering what sort of things did you two do to develop that chemistry and make that bond so believable? Were there trust falls involved?

Bella Ramsey: "We didn't get as chance to meet or bond before we started filming. We were very much just thrown in. And that chemistry was just there immediately and just grew and developed as Joel and Ellie's did. As their relationship developed so did ours. And I think that was a very nice parallel and, yeah, maybe it was intentional on Neil and Craig's (the creators of the show) behalf. To not give us time to like meet and bond. I think it worked really well. We initially had this connection in that we were about to embark on this year-long shooting process together and even longer than that in terms of the impact of the show and all of the press we're doing now. So we sort of had to get along and thankfully we did and it wasn't hard at all."

Pedro Pascal: "It's true, it was very parallel in terms of like getting to know each other by stepping onto the set at the same time and getting in front of the camera and getting the story. And our shyness with one another and invented expectations of one another just faded away. And since I got the Daddy vibes in place from the get go, I guess I just had to take it from there."

Bella Ramsey and Game Rant: (Laughing at Daddy vibes in unison)

Pedro: "And we did get to take it from there and we liked each other immediately, but we knew each other by the end. And that was a really, really fascinating experience."

Fans will have to wait until January 15 to see the premier of the series and see the performances and chemistry for themselves. Be sure to check back in the coming weeks for lots of coverage of The Last of Us on HBO.

The Last of Us premiers on HBO Sunday, January 15 at 9:00pm ET/PT and will be available to stream in 4K on HBO Max.

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