The Last of Us

Naughty Dog

Cailee Spaeny is having a rocket-like career trajectory at the moment, starring in the titular role of Priscilla, co-leading Civil War, about to head to season 2 of the Emmy-winning Beef, she’s currently the star of the well-reviewed, well-performing Alien: Romulus.

But now some viewers are wondering why she didn’t land a different role, that of Ellie Williams in season 2 of The Last of Us. Or at the very least, it’s fun to wonder what could have been.

If you’ve both watched Alien: Romulus and played The Last of Us Part 2, you should immediately understand this. The resemblance between Spaeny, especially in this movie, and the aged-up, grittier Ellie is uncanny.

What makes this even better is the fact that Spaeny’s acting partner for much of this movie is Isabela Merced, quite literally the actress playing Ellie’s love interest Dina in the next season of The Last of Us. So it’s not only Spaeny looking like Ellie, it’s scenes with literal Dina as well.

Of course, Spaeny has nothing to do with season 2 of The Last of Us as that adaptation of Part 2 begins. That role continues to be played by Bella Ramsey, who was nominated for an Emmy for season 1. Many wondered how they might take on the role before the season aired, and they did not much resemble Ellie from the games, but they did an excellent job.

Part 2 is a different story. It’s a five year time-jump from the games and Ellie is supposed to noticeably physically age and become more hardened and intense. So now people are wondering again if they should have stayed on in the role, and I’ve seen some actually saying that Spaeny should have replaced them for season 2/Part 2, given how much she looks like Ellie from that game. She likely would have been too old to play young Ellie before this, though (Spaeny is 26).

The Last of Us

Naughty Dog
Isabela Merced has gone out of her way to praise Ramsey’s performance in season 2:

“I’m really proud of Bella. I think, if I were to close this out as one of the last interviews I did before we wrapped, I’d say that I really hope Bella gets their flowers. They’re working really, really hard, physically and emotionally. One thing I’ve learned throughout this is, ‘Wow, you can really admire people who are younger than you.’ You can really look up to them.”

Ramsey has been seen on set and while they have changed their hair, still looks young, even though they are indeed a touch older than Ellie in Part 2 now at age 20. Given their performance in season 1, I’m sure they will do great here. And it’s not like her co-star, Kaitlyn Dever, is hulking, muscle-bound tough girl like Abby is in the game. At least we don’t think she’s put on 40 pounds of muscle for the part.

Looking forward to both more work from Spaeny and Ramsey in The Last of Us season 2. This was just a funny thing to notice in Romulus.