The Last of Us has finally hit HBO, but that hasn’t stopped “fans” of the original game from still trying to push their dream casting on the rest of us just enjoying the show as it is. The casting of Joel Miller and Ellie Williams was not an easy thing to do for series creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, but I think they both nailed it. So that’s why the constant “we could have had this” casting happening on social media is frankly annoying.
What’s even worse is “fans” who deadname Elliot Page in order to wish their dream casting of Ellie could come true. Page, who has talked, in the past, about the likeness between Ellie and himself (the linked story was written prior to Page’s transition), was very open about Ellie’s resemblance to him. But when it came to casting for the series (which is currently airing … you know, in 2023), fans are still trying to push the narrative that Page should have been Ellie—which is problematic for a number of reasons.
One, Page is a trans man. Forcing a female character onto Page just because of your warped sense of importance in the casting of the game’s characters is not only bad for Page (who, again, has talked about the game and his likeness!) but it is also getting into transphobic territory, especially when you’re deadnaming Page in order to make your bad point.
Elliot Page did not want the role. And in any case, Elliot Page was always too old to play Ellie in real life. Ellie is a 14-year-old girl living in the apocalypse and at the time of the game’s release, Page was in his mid-twenties. So, already too old to play the character, and yet, people still want to force it on him!
Bella Ramsey is a perfect Ellie
The Last of Us has been attacked from the start by fans angry that their dream casting didn’t come true. After the premiere of the first episode, it is clear that every actor in the show has nailed the characters they’re bringing to life. Pedro Pascal’s Joel Miller is Joel in every way that counts and then some. And the real standout of the premiere was Bella Ramsey’s Ellie.
Instantly making an audience care about Ellie isn’t an easy feat, and yet we did, because of how Ramsey played the character. So making videos like this in general is in bad taste not only because of the transphobia around it towards Elliot Page, but because it is also shaming Ramsey and their performance.
Pushing this narrative that in a “perfect world” we would have had a casting of a trans man that you’re deadnaming to make a warped point is just all around horrible. Ramsey is a perfect Ellie and doing stuff like this shows that you don’t really care about a good adaptation of the game to live-action. You just care about your own views what you think above all else.
I can’t wait to see what Ramsey does next in the series and how they bring Ellie to life!
(featured image: Naughty Dog)
