As real-life interviews are available in much shorter supply due to COVID, the video game industry has been getting creative. Rogue One writer Gary Whitta's talk show Animal Talking, set inside Animal Crossing: New Horizons, interviewed Laura Bailey and Ashley Johnson, the voice actors for Abby and Ellie from The Last of Us 2.
Spoiler Warning!
Animal Talking broadcasts via a Twitch livestream, with this night's episode making a big splash when Whitta announced he'd be interviewing Bailey, Johnson, and God of War director Cory Barlog. Partway into the stream, Whitta surprised his interviewees with a 90-second clip from The Last of Us 2 and warned his audience that it would contain major spoilers for the game. The clip turned out to be the scene leading up to the final boss fight between Ellie and Abby.
Whitta complimented Bailey and Johnson for their performances in the emotional fight scene, as well as throughout the game. He asked them what their experience was like voice acting and mocapping the game, and they had an interesting perspective. Bailey and Johnson are great friends in real life, and both play Dungeons & Dragons together regularly in the incredibly popular livestreamed Critical Role. All the Critical Role cast members appear in The Last of Us 2, but Bailey and Johnson play the biggest roles and have the most interactions with each other.
Because of their friendship, the voice actors said it was both easier and harder to perform such a violent, angry scene against each other. Johnson calls the day the boss fight was filmed "a tough day" that was emotionally draining for everyone involved. All the people in the interview also remarked on how it's difficult to tell who to root for in this fight, as Ellie has been becoming less redeemable and Abby becomes a character that some people are rooting for. Johnson says she's very attached to Ellie, but she's glad the game gets to "mature her up a little bit."
The voice actresses didn't just use their voices, but got physical during the fight scene. The player-controlled movements were mocapped by stunt actors, but Bailey and Johnson mocapped many of the cutscenes themselves. It's no wonder the performance was so exhausting for Bailey and Johnson, especially considering how devoted they are to representing their characters faithfully.
Ashley Johnson also commented on how groundbreaking and intensive The Last of Us 2 is, saying "the things we did in that game are things that I'd never seen anyone do before." While there was a strong negative reaction from a certain demographic to the game, The Last of Us 2 has sold very well, and Whitta's compliments about Bailey and Johnson's skilled acting in this game are not alone.
The Last of Us 2 is out now for PS4.
Source: Twitch/Gary Whitta