The Last of Us bosses praise star after heartbreaking episode
The showrunners for The Last of Us have praised actor Keivonn Montreal Woodard, who plays Sam, after the airing of an emotional storyline.
In the fifth episode, titled ‘Endure and Survive’, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) went on the run with Henry (Lamar Johnson) and his deaf brother Sam.
Speaking on HBO Max’s dedicated The Last of Us podcast, creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said they were hugely impressed with Woodard’s performance, with the latter saying he built on the character from the original game.
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“The word I think about [when thinking about Woodard’s performance] is ‘enriches’. It adds this extra layer to this tale from the game,” said Druckmann. “I was rewatching [the episode] in preparation for this [podcast]... and that hug between Henry and Sam hits me right into my core.”
Mazin also said Woodward, who, like his character Sam, is also deaf, deserved to be featured in more projects in the future.
“He was astonishing. I have never been in a circumstance where a kid, who has never really acted on film before, shows up and is so naturally good at it,” said Mazin. “He was a joy to have around, and a total dream. He’s incredible and I cannot wait to see more from him.
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“I hope that when people watch this episode, here in Hollywood and in our business, that they don’t just stop at the end of it and go, ‘Boy, that kid was really good playing the character of Sam’. I hope that they go, ‘That kid ought to be in a lot of things’.
“The fact that he's deaf is a fascinating aspect of representation that is underrepresented on television. But more importantly, his story in our show wasn't about him being deaf. In fact, the biggest factor to his character was that he had had leukemia. That was a bigger deal for Sam.
“And I hope that people in Hollywood think about casting Keivonn again, and not in stories about being deaf, but just in stories about people because, boy is he good.”
‘Endure and Survive’ also saw Melanie Lynskey’s original character Kathleen given more screen time, and the actress shared a tweet in tribute to the HBO show.
“Other than the moments after action is called, when you feel like you’re actually in someone else’s body, the most exciting part of my job is subverting expectations,” she wrote. “I’m so grateful to Craig and Neil for creating a truly new character. And for trusting me with her. And for letting me be on THE MOST AMAZING SHOW.”
The Last of Us airs on HBO in the US, and on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW in the UK.
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